I wanted to make a clay model but searching around I found there seems to be quite a number of different types of clay and various different brands. I want a self hardening type that doesn't need heating and that can be hand sculptured (i.e you don't require a mould). I'd also like it to harden sufficiently so that it can be sanded to give it a smooth finish. Any suggestions as to what type or brand of clay I should be looking at?

Also, I want to paint the clay to give it a metallic finish. Is there a specific type of paint that has to be used to avoid damaging the clay?

Thanks a lot for any advice you can offer.

I had a change of mind and decided it would be easier to use clay that had to be baked so went for polymer clay. I ordered some Sculpey III and some Fimo which are ideal as they won't need painting.

I think that you are not understanding the reasons for using Styling Clay in the first place.

Clay has been used in Automotive Design since 1926, its still very much the only way to go, even with the advent of CAD/CAM because of its " Freedom of Expression ".

With any medium that becomes hard like Bondo, Fymo and sculpy your work is hard to modify, change or develop due to the its hardness.

Styling clay on the other hand allows you to Design, Develop, Modify at will until the final Design is achieved, then if required can be finished and painted to look like a real vehicle, its done all the time ,every day throughout the Design Industry.

Look back over the Posts on this Forum you will find all the tricks on finishing and painting.

As to what Clay to use, dependant on the size, the environment you are working in, but the best would be something like Y2 from Chavant, www.chavant.com over a base of Extruded or Expanded Styrofoam shaped to a rough armature, then use a heat gun to anneal the the foam ( Harden up the surface ) apply the warmed styling clay ( Don’t use a Microwave ) a Styrofoam six pack cooler with a 60watt bulb will heat all the clay for a good size model allowing you to reuse the clay that’s been removed with very little waste.

Take a look at www.claymodeler.com or http://claychat.proboards3.com/index.cgi and look for posts in this forum from Steve Austin.

Keep at it and you will soon find` out why Clay is the only way to go.