How to Make a Moon Out of Clay
Polymer clay is an ideal material for modeling our solar system. The clay is easy to work with and can be baked to harden the finished product. The moon is an ideal starting place for a beginner who wants to learn to work with polymer clay. Using a photograph of the moon as a guide and applying simple etching, you can turn a ball of polymer into a replica of the moon in any of its stages.
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Things You'll Need
- Polymer clay
- Moon photo
- Toothpick
- Water
- Cookie sheet
- Aluminum foil
- Acrylic paint
- Paint brush
Instructions
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1
Roll polymer clay into a ball. How much clay you use depends upon how large you want to make the moon. The process is the same regardless of how much clay you work with. Roll the clay around on a hard surface and in your hands until the ball has been roughly shaped and the clay becomes more pliable.
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2
Wet the palms of your hands with water and continue to run your hands around the ball of clay to smooth it out. The water softens the surface of the clay and allows it to be spread evenly to create the smooth surface you will need to add detail work.
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3
Create small indents in the surface of the moon for craters by pressing your thumb against the surface of the ball. Use a toothpick to etch lines into the clay to give the model some texture. The moon can look different at various stages, so follow your image guide and use some of your own imagination as you create the craters and textures on your model.
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4
Bake the finished model on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Set the oven to about 215 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for about an hour. This will vary depending upon the size of your moon and the variation of heat your oven puts out. The recommended baking time is about half an hour per quarter-inch of thickness.
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Remove your model from the oven and allow it to cool thoroughly before you begin painting. For a moon, the natural gray color of the clay works well. Paint the craters with dark gray acrylic paint to darken them. This will make the craters stand out in contrast to the rest of the moon and give you a more realistic model.
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References
- Photo Credit Chad Baker/NASA/Digital Vision/Getty Images
