Firing a Standing Polymer Clay Doll - By: Jenna Zadymov
Author: Jenna Zadymov
Instructions
 |
- Here I have a 3″ dollhouse girl. Later on I will be making her shoes so I sculpted her feet in a shape of cute sandals. You need to make a flat sole. Although you can do it with bare feet, sculpted shoes make it so much easier. Besides, you can make them a little bigger to get more support surface. Once a doll is finished, I place her on a flat surface. I use a kitchen plate, works just fine. Although at this point your doll wouldn’t balance well (she needs to be baked) you can make her stand up for a couple of seconds. Find that position. Hold her by the armature hook with one hand fire her feet in that position with a heat gun or hair dryer. This way you can make sure her feet won’t reposition in the oven.
|
|
 |
- Now it’s safe to fire the whole doll. I attached a wire hook to the upper rack and hang the doll on it. I built a podium out of plates and dishes so that her feet would be touching something flat. DON’T USE ANYTHING METAL, use glass or ceramic plates or even get yourself a tile - the perfect flat surface.
|
|
 |
- This time I had to add a piece of wooden board just to get the perfect height. And I used a piece of parchment paper so that it doesn’t stick. This is a first firing, so turn the oven to 130F and set the timer for 8 minutes. After that, remove your sculpture from the oven and scrape with a carving knife and polish with sand paper (400-600) I always get some unwanted pieces worked into my clay no matter how much I clean my hands and work space. So this way I can remove them. Then I wipe my sculpture with acetone to smooth the scraped parts. Try not to do this on the face because acetone might eat the features!
|
|
 |
- Now the doll is ready for the final firing. Make a polyfill bed and place your figure on it. TIP* If making a mermaid make sure you support her fin with some polyfill bump or it may change its position while baking.
|
|
 |
- Cover tiny fingers and features with a little bit of polyfill so that they don’t burn. Set the oven at 275F for 25 minutes (I’m using ProSculpt, other brands may be different) Get yourself some tea. Turn off the oven after 25 minutes, but don’t open it. Clays like FIMO and Sculpey really don’t like it and you may get tiny cracks in your sculptures. Let it slowly cool down. Some artists wait up to an hour. I don’t have the patience, so the best I can do is 15 minutes. Then I open the oven a little bit to let the heat out. Wait until the sculpture is cool enough to touch. Done!
|
|
Do you have a problem with the polyfill fibers sticking to your art work? What do you do if it does? I think your baby is adorable!
Pat,
Thank you!
Yes, polyfill sticks to clay sometimes, but usually I can just carefully remove it with no marks left on a sculpture. If it doesn’t work, you can fire your piece with an embossing gun a little bit so that the top layer of it is no longet sticky.
Perhaps you are using a different polyfill fibre, the one I use doesn’t melt or anything, so I find it pretty safe to use.
Thank+you+for+your+site.
Are you using a home oven or a toaster oven? I understood that a home oven was a no-no