Custom Wing help - LARGE huge wings! Need bigtime advice...

[Sunshine]

Okay I really appreciate everyone who ever posted a clay sculpted wing tutorial, as they are SO impressive and I still have yet to master them completely... HOWEVER, I now have a new project that I'd love to try and tackle, and it is going to require me to create wings that are probably... 12-14" in length. Each wing 12-14" in length, maybe 4" at widest? That's just a guess at this point because I have to sketch it out to see how big and what I need... but... I don't know how to like - scale up the wing tutorials I've seen...

I need some advice on the materials and ways to sculpt something that would end up being so large and so heavy? I'd like to sculpt them so I can paint them easily, so I'm probably not making the really neat like "film" type wings, I'm going for "bird wing/pegasus wing" look.

Can anyone recommend some beefy materials that I could use to build a base and how to... start scaling up on the sculpting? Should I do a base, bake it, do feathers on one side, bake 'em, etc? Do it all at once? Ahhh So overwhelming! But if I can learn, it can make my vision come to life!!

I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense I just have no idea how to progress with a big sculpt project, I haven't really done anything so... intense since like, high school art class. So, it's been a while.

Thank you all for anything you can help me with!

[Roogna]

I would use a good strong wire (not just a crafting wire - go to the hardware store) for the "spine" of the wing and to anchor it into the body. Each spine should be one long piece of wire that's bent in half with 2 ends entering the pony. I would also recommend having enough wire inside the pony from both side's anchor points that  you can twist the together (left side to right side) for extra security).
I would also use wire mesh to build on, and try to get the "feathers" as thin as possible (so sculpt in a zillion small stages)

[BlackCurtains]

^ Great advice.

You'll also want to sculpt even. As in, do a few feathers on one wing, then do the same on the other wing. This ensures that everything stays balanced. If you go nuts on one side you might find that it totally throws everything off (and even if you DO sculpt even, it might end up being unbalanced). I wish I could show pics of my Things with Wings swap piece because those are some huge heavy wings... but he is still in transit to my partner.

Bank sinker weights found in the fishing section at like Wal-Mart are great to stuff down in the legs or sculpt inside the head to add extra balance.

Also, I want to say that you should make your initial armature smaller than you want the finished wings to be. The clay is going to bulk them up, even if you go for thin feathers (which you should), it's still going to be bigger than you think it will.

Good luck! It's sounds like a cool project

[Sunshine]

Thank you guys!!

I never thought about doing like, "even sculpting" one wing and the other to make it more symmetrical but it makes perfect sense! I can see how one wing can get the better of you, or in my luck, the 2nd wing would end up nicer than the first because of the "practice" I gained making the first wing.

So, I did have one other issue the last time I used Sculptey clay... I tried last time to bake it on about 170 (since that's the lowest my oven goes) and tried to get it for the appropriate time, and even after 2 bakings for 15 minutes at 170, the clay was still... very soft and breakable and broke right off my sculpture. Do you think I just miscalculated the time I needed and it was undercooked? Can you overcook the clay?

Would you guys recommend putting a mesh "innards" between the wire skeleton of the wing? I figure I will need to make a few wire "backbones" within such a large wing to keep it from breaking in half but, wasn't sure if the mesh would be a good idea again? Do you think I need stronger mesh than what I would use for "normal pony wing" size wings? Something else from like a hardware store versus the craft store?

Sorry about the questions! I appreciate all the guidance and help!

[brighteyes]

^ Great advice.

Bank sinker weights found in the fishing section at like Wal-Mart are great to stuff down in the legs or sculpt inside the head to add extra balance.

This is pure genius!  I'm totally going to do that the next time I make a pony with sculpted wings.

[Sunshine]

I would also use wire mesh to build on, and try to get the "feathers" as thin as possible (so sculpt in a zillion small stages)

Whoops I completely missed this little tidbit!

[StrawberryMeadow]

Steel wire armature will be your best bet for the wing "bones". I'd then use wire mesh sewn onto the bones with craft wire. I'd suggest trying the bulk of the structural sculpting in an air drying epoxy clay such as magic sculpt as it's much stronger than thin sculpey. You could try steaming your sculpey inside a huge pan with a thin layer of water in for a couple of hours. Just make sure you let it cool to room temp overnight or longer to avoid cracking after.

If you're going to ship the pony you might want to consider making them removable using two pieces of crimped tubing to "slide" the wings into the pony. One stump poking up from each shoulder with some covering sculpting which slots onto the other tube with the wing on.

[Sunshine]

Thanks! That gives me a bit better visual in my mind on how to structure the wire-skeleton!

So my biggest issue is.... Apoxie sculpt = expensive, and these are going to be BIG. So... can I use a combo of Apoxie and Sculptey bake clay? Would it be more advantageous for me to make the "base" from something harder like Apoxie and do feathers with the bake? Or should I really buckle down and buy a large container of Apoxie for the whole project?

Also - steaming Sculptey? I am totally unfamiliar with that... what does that do? Help make it less... dry and cracky I assume? Do you keep the clay above a pan of water or, actually... in it? Sorry dumb questions, but this is a completely out of the box project for me, haha!

I know I've said it before but I REALLY appreciate all this advice!!

[StrawberryMeadow]

No, to be honest I only found out about steaming very recently and I've never needed to do it myself. I'm considering it on my latest sculpt, but that's as brave as I go! It's a mugh higher heat so apparently it's amazing for sculpey. I dunno tho. And yeah, don't put it IN the water (though apparently lots of people do but that's a different thing!) just above it.

Buuuut Personally I've started using Milliput (another epoxy air dry clay) to bulk up armature, instead of tinfoil as it's just so much stronger. However it's hard to get Milliput to look pretty and I'm lazy so I use sculpey to do detail (half and half firm and normal mixture). You can use a combo of both. Have a look on Deviant Art for some tutorials, and possibly just start fol lowing some good sculptors. The best ones are usually really good at sharing tips and advice. ^__^

Hope some of the info is helpful!

[Sunshine]

^^ Thanks! I will definitely have to spend some time gawking at DA!

I hope to at least be able to print out my wing design and start working on the frame within the next week...

Now, if I use all apoxie-type air-dry clay...I'm worried about the connection TO the body? But perhaps that's the easiest part to blend in via some feathers? Like, I actually... can't... get inside my project, it's a solid piece? So, I will be using a dremel to drill holes in order to insert the wires into the body... which is going to be a challenge. Any advice there?