How can I make glow in the dark models of tv characters?

Question

My kid keeps begging me to help him with one, cuz' he swore he saw one on tv. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Several materials can be purchased in a glow-in-the-dark version... paints, powders, glues, polymer clay, even self-adhesive paper for making stickers, and maybe Friendly Plastic, etc., I think.

So depending on the size, complexity, and type of characters you want to make, you can choose a GITD medium like one of those above, or you can just buy GITD powder and mix it into a clear carrier (even white glue).

I work with polymer clay and have used glow-in-the-dark clay to make ghosts and various things, so I know that would be suitable.
Currently, two of the brands are selling a Glow-in-the-Dark clay:
Premo (#5703)
http://polymerclayexpress.com/premo.html
FimoSoft (FS04 "Nite Glow")
http://polymerclayexpress.com/fimosoft.html
And there are also some colored GITD's put out in a kit by Sculpey/Polyform (but most colors don't glow quite as brightly as the regular greenish GITD's, I think)
http://polymerclayexpress.com/sculpey.html (bottom of page)
...It might be good to just buy the kit though for your kid to play with. Or you can lightly tint regular GITD polymer clay with oil paints, acrylic paints (just a little), etc.to give some color variation.

Most of the other colors of polymer clay are opaque or reasonably opaque (except for "Translucent") so if they want to add details or lines, etc., that will show up against the gitd clay (like a mouth, e.g., just use an opaque colored clay over on top of the gitd clay... some really cool effects are possible. I supposed that a couple of coats of an acrylic paint would work too for opaquing (clean baked clay with alcohol before painting).

You can probably buy all 3 of those versions of gitd polymer clay at a craft store like Michaels.
(TIP: some gitd's can be stiffer than other colors, so always squeeze the bars from the sides before buying... if they have no give, either pass them up, or be prepared to take a hammer to them when you get home, still in the package, then to do more "conditioning" to make them pliable than normal (roll, twist, roll, twist)... if still too stiff, add a smear of Vaseline or vegetable oil, then continue rolling and twisting.

You can also buy "liquid polymer clay" which has been mixed with gitd powder and various pigment colors, which can be fun, but sounds like you should stick with the regular solid polymer clay if you're a beginner.

Polymer clays are not air-dry clays, by the way, if you didn't know, and they will never dry out... to harden them, they need to be cured with heat (in a low-temp oven, or even toaster oven, at about 250-275 degrees for about 15-30 min. (depending on thickness). The gitd's can darken more easily than some other colors, so you'd want to watch them and use an oven thermometer if at all possible ($6 from a grocery store).

There's lots of info on gitd clays on this page at my website:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/translucents-glow.htm

There are also many more examples and lessons re glow-in-the-dark polymer clay items in Halloween:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/Halloween_etc.htm
(hit Ctrl + F ...type in the word * glow * ...then just keep clicking Next, Next, Next to find them all on that page)


And if you want info on making little figures, etc., there are pages there that deal with those:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/kids_beginners.htm
(... click on *Sculpting*...)

http://glassattic.com/polymer/sculpture.htm
(...click on *Whimsical* under Websites...)

And you might want to check out the Baking page or the Conditioning page too:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/baking.htm
http://glassattic.com/polymer/Conditioning.htm


Have fun!

Diane B.