Can I add anything to clay to make it harder?

Question

I use self-hardening clay for my sculpts, but I still think it's too fragile. What can I do to make the finished product more durable, short of casting it in another material?

I do lots of figures with tusks, ears... things like that. They keep breaking off. Can I add an additive like cement or something similar?

Answer 1

Part of the answer might depend on what type of self-hardening clay you're using, the size and shape of your sculpts, and what you mean by durable.

You can make any clay more durable in one sense by using an armature inside it, but that wouldn't necessarily make it "harder" as in your subject line. So by too fragile, do you mean that you're afraid an arm might get knocked off, or that the surface will get little dings or scratches.
And what kind of clay are you using?


Diane B.

Answer 2

All clay products require a certain boldness of structure to have strength, so thin arms, legs, and weapons or tools are likely to be weak. You might check and see if your self hardening clay can be "fired" in an ordinary oven and become stronger. Depending on what you want to do, it may be best to think in terms of plastic or the tough waxes used in making jewelry castings.