So...sculpting clothes and air dry clay

[TexasGal]

So, I am wanting to get started on making corset ponies, merponies, and ponies with lavish dresses (I'm aiming high for a beginner, I know) and I wanted some tips.

I need a cheap-ish clay to use that would be air dry, as I have heard that is best for things like the dresses.  What do you recommend? 

I also want to start working on a Merpony, but I was curious, after you cut the legs off, I know you can use either mesh or foil, but if you use foil for the shape, do you just sculpt right over the top and smooth it out the best you can? 

[babystargazer]

Most air dry clay doesn't work well for sculpting over ponies because it shrinks as it dries.  So it ends up cracking all over the place because it's no longer big enough to encase the pony, if that makes any sense.  Plus it's very brittle and breaks easily.  Apoxiescuplt is really the only clay I know of that doesn't require baking and works well for ponies.

[Colorscapesart]

Air-dry clay has the advantage of being very light and the disadvantage of being very brittle.  I second recommending Apoxie Sculpt.  I is better to invest a little rather than losing all your hard work at the end b/c the clay breaks.

[lovelauraland]

to sculpt a merpony tail I use foil, I make the shape I want and push it into the end of the pony and hot glue in place- I do 2 layers of sculpt, I  sculpt a layer of apoxie clay over the foil and bend it in the direction I want the tail to sit and smooth down as much as possible and leave to dry, once dry I put the second layer on and sculpt the scales.
hope this helps

[maycrestmom]

LLL is spot on for merpony tails = I used foil as armature than sculpey over that as the underlayer to get the shape just right and bake it then go back over with the tedium of the scales, jewels etc. and a second bake than any paintwork is last

If you don't want to bake I agree on the apoxie sculpt for durability purposes

totally aim high = it's how you improve :-) have a blast creating and can't wait to see results!