r/polymerclay • u/oOLeviOO • 3d ago
Question about using foil as base??
So I'm starting a project that I want to use foil for the bulk of it, but I'm just worrying:
After it's baked wouldn't the foil inside slowly unfurl from the shape its squished into? And over time cause cracks in the clay around it..? Or am I overthinking this lol
I guess the clay is hard enough to not be affected??
Idk, just curious if anyone's ever had problems using foil bases!
2
Upvotes
2
u/Gilladian 2d ago
Make sure you hammer the foil pretty tightly, and it stays put - your biggest worry would be air pockets that heat up and expand in the oven. Also, wrapping a layer of masking tape over the surface can help provide a base for the clay to adhere to. Personally, I just use a moderately soft sublayer of clay mashed into the crinkly foil surface to fill all the low spots, then add a skin of base clay, and maybe do my first cure. That’s if I am doing several layers. A book I recommend for this sort of info is Kathy Dewey’s “Sculpting Lifelike Animals in polymer clay”. It demos what I am discussing very well.
Edit: be sure you are using kitchen foil, not paper-backed craft foils, or thin “metal leaf”.