Ok, I know some of you have built models of your design and I want to do the same with clay. Big question is where do I start? Do I just plop down some clay and give'r? Or should I build a buck first and mold from there?

Ohh and dont tell your wife you want to go to the craft store and see what kinds of clay there is, you will be there for hours looking at lacey things!

You need to make a rough shape to apply the clay to, use something like styrofoam or mdf, then cover it with a good layer of clay. Its probably a good idea to make a model of your chassis wheels and engine first, so you know that the body will fit over it. If you can get some proper automotive modellers clay, it is excellent.

have a look here

[Edited on 25/1/04 by MK9R]

If you are allowed into the kitchen and have enough ingredients you can make your own salt dough for modelling. My wife used to make it when we had kids.

http://www.multihobbies.com/saltdough/recipes.htm

Might be a bit much for a car body though. A 1/2" hole chicken wire frame is easier to make than a solid one, just bend it roughly to what you want and finish with your clay.

yours, Pete.

I started a clay model a while back, but gave up after a series of mistakes and missteps. I will make another soon, but I can tell you the mistakes that I made on the first one so that you can benefit from my pain.

I made a series of outlines of the shape of the car (like ribs on a boat) out of foam core board because it was easy to cut the shapes with an X-acto blade, but the moisure in the clay delaminated the cardboard from the foam... Don't use any paper products against the clay.

Cover the clay well between sessions so that it doesn't dry out.

Don't use clay that doesn't dry out. It is much harder to mold and model than standard clay. The stuff I bought could be left uncovered and then at the end I was supposed to bake it to harden, but the clay was so oily and stiff... and I couldn't add water to soften it either.

Do use wheels/tires from an RC car, and then build to the scale based on them.

If you get the wheel arches the wrong size to the body, the whole car can look wrong.

Steve

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Originally posted by Peteff
...you can make your own salt dough... My wife used to make it when we had kids.

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Thanks guys!

Ihave about 30 1/10 scale R/C tires hanging around (some nice 5 spokes even!) so I was gonna use them as scale.

Thanks again for all the tips! I think I have to make a run to the craft store in the morning.