Page 3 - Sculpting the Body and Final Assembly

 

Step 1

Now that you have a head, two arms, and two legs all sculpted and baked, it’s time to put it all together. Start by making a ball about the same size as the baby’s head. Mold it into an egg shape and flatten slightly, especially the ends. Pinch the broader end of the egg to create the pelvis and then use the toothpick to define the bottom of the stomach in the form of a curvy line that dips in the center of the body.

 

Step 2

Replace the dummy body with the new body, posing the head as desired. When the head is in place, use your toothpick, dipped in some baby oil, to bring some of the clay from the body up to the head to secure it. Smooth with the toothpick and paintbrush handle, but keep in mind that a baby’s neck is squat and often covered by their faces, making it look like their heads are just set into their bodies.

 

Step 3

Now take a small amount of clay and roll it into a ball.

Using your fingers and some baby oil, attach the soft clay ball to the hardened upper arm and smooth. This can be a little hard because, like before, hard and soft clay do not like each other much and you’re going to have to force them to cooperate.

 

Step 4

Next, stick the arm to the body, blending the soft clay attached to the arm to the soft clay of the body. To help the process, lightly shove the end of the arm into the body to encourage it to stick. Once you have it roughly in place, move on to attaching the other limbs by repeating the steps above. Assembling is one of the trickier parts of sculpting, especially when you have two or three limbs already attached and you’re trying not to knock them off while attaching the last couple limbs. This part requires a lot of patience.

 

Step 5

With the forearm about finished, figure out where the top of the baby’s shoulder would be (it should be about the length of the elbow to the wrist) and cut away the unneeded end of the log. Again, drag out your poor little pin and toothpick and make a few creases on the upper arm. The amount of creases will depend on how fat you want your baby to be.

 

 

Step 6

Make sure you add the belly button and some minor creases and fat folds. You’ll want the body as smooth as possible before it’s first baking. When you’re ready bake it for the average 10 minutes and 275 degrees.

 

Step 7

After it’s cooled, start touching up the body. Using small pieces of clay, add a little more fullness to wherever the body needs it, most likely where the limbs were joined to the body. Since it was baked, the body should be easier to work with so you can be bolder in your sculpting.

 

Step 8

Oh, and let's not forget the ears. Roll a small ball about a 1/8" and divide in half. Attach the halves over the small dents we made earlier in the head, using the toothpick dipped in some baby oil.

You don't have to get too detailed with the ears; just flattening them out a bit and making the ear hole with the toothpick should do fine. You'll want to make sure they look orderly from the front and are level with each other, however.

 

Step 9

After the touch up and the ears, bake that baby again for the average time and temperature and you’re done!