New Paperclay Alternative - Witches Brooms and Wizard Staff

My friend Debbie from Piskies and poppets sent me some Papier Mache to try out a few weeks ago. It was a different brand to what is showing here but all of them are the exactly the same.
If you remember i posted all about paperclay a little while back which is a mix of paper and real clay, plus glues and other ingredients. I also blogged about which was my favourite and the difference in prices and also its uses.
I've been struggling to get hold of my favourite and by accident i found papier mache an equally good alternative. This is not the type of papier mache we did at school but a ready made powder you just need to add water to and mould and shape as desired. Its also known as celluclay or instant papier mache.
My intention was to make some large unicorn horns with it for my full scale potion jars but this didn't go to plan. Annoyed it didn't work i stored it in an air tight plastic bag for about a week.
Yesterday i thought I'd best check it was still ok and found that in the space of a week its consistency and feel was exactly the same as paperclay. Then i jumped about as happy as punch at my discovery, lol.

Here is what the bags come like - look on the net for various brands and location.
Some brands as white while other makes have a natural creamy colour. The type Debbie sent me was a cream colour. But if you're paintint it the colour doesnt really matter.



All you do is mix with water in a bowl until its like dough or soft clay.
Once made its quite rough and far too lumpy for miniatures, but if you put it in a bag and seal for a week or two its consistency is a lot better, its smoother and brilliant for making stone floors and walls etc.

Here is a quick example: It picks up texture well by stippling and also by scoring patterns. It can be rolled with a rolling pin and treated in much the same way as other clays. If you wanted to apply it to floors and walls you would first need to pva the wall/floor surface, and apply the papier mache already rolled out. It would really work in much the same way as paperclay and could be used exactly how rik pierce makes his miniature houses. Look to your left for some rik pierce tutorials for more ideas. He uses creative paperclay but culluclay will be a much cheaper alternative and probably easier to buy at your local craft shop.




I've found it doesn't crack on surfaces such as walls and floors because the papier mache is quite thin, but on items like this pot I've covered below it can crack at the thick areas. Once this pot is fully dry i can fill the cracks in with more of the ready made papier mache.
I'm going to turn this into a pot with a face and dress with a cloth top for my full scale potions (not minis).


Here is some more info and places to buy from:
Link to product.

http://www.homecrafts.co.uk/products-Celluclay-Instant-Papier-mache_M327.htm

http://www.shopwiki.co.uk/Celluclay+Instant+Papier-Mache.


Witches brooms and Wizard Staff.

This morning i started to make two witches brooms and one wizards staff. I've made them with prosculpt and then painted. They are not fully complete and the brooms need the bristles. Thought i would share with you.