Free Polymer Clay Tutorials

Learn How To Make Your Own Soft-bodied
Polymer Clay Creatures

By Maddy Gwenyth Norval
www.Magweno.com
Maddy on Etsy

[The following series of Free Polymer Clay Tutorials is written by Maddy with edits by Amanda DeVirgilio for SEO.]

Tutorial 3: Hands and Feet Part 1

In this section of free polymer clay tutorials I have used:

Pliers
Jewellry wire
Fimo
Permanent Marker
Aluminum tube
Sculpting tools
Hot glue gun or araldite
Nail polish remover
Scraps of card
Floral tape

Firstly preheat your oven.
We are sculpting the hands after we have finished the head because the hand is approximately as long as the face. This may or may not be the same as with a Gryphon but it’s a good guide.

What I will show you is a very unique way to make hand armatures. Another way to make the armature is to cut the wire into four lengths (for birds feet) and insert them into the aluminum tube, then crimp it to keep them in place. However, if you don’t have a crimper, they do tend to fall out.

Measure the wire against your gryphons face then fold in half.

Measure until you have created 3 “U” bends then cut of the excess wire.

Take the two ends and bend them back until they touch. Pinch the bottom of the two loops and twist a couple of times to lock.

Hold the end of one of the loops and the joint and twist them to make a finger.

Repeat for the other finger and the two strands.

Put the armature into the oven to cook for 30 minutes and repeat the above steps 3 more times.

Now take the 2 “Y” shapes and twist the legs together. Congratulations! You have a hand armature.

For a birds’ foot, twist one of the fingers around to the back to form the thumb.

Repeat the process to form the other foot.
If it’s ready, get your other armature out of the oven. If not, have a cup of tea then come back. :)

To attach the feet to the leg, you need to take your aluminium tube and hold it against the armature. Mark on the tube where the armature ends and use a tube cutter to cut it, (or roll your pliers gently around it and then snap it). Straight snipping the tube with your pliers will crush the tube and make it useless.

Slide the tube down 50mm and mark the leg armature. This is so when we glue the tube on, there is enough room at the end of the tube for the foot armature to slide in.

Mix your araldite using a toothpick on a scrap of card and put a small amount on the end of the tube. Then put some more Araldite on the end, just in case.
Do the same for the other leg, then lay your armature down so the weight doesn’t push the tube further up the armature.

Araldite isn’t very viscose, but just keep an eye on it and catch any drips with your toothpick. If you make a mess with the Araldite, you can clean it up before it dries with some acetone or nail polish remover.

Free Polymer Clay Tutorials- Hands and Feet Part 2

Go back to:
Free Polymer Clay Tutorials- Sculpt a Face for the Creature

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