Beginners Clay- Quick Sculpey Claws!

This quick little Deathclaw...paw is made with Sculpey, a craft knife, and a handful of paints. Use it as a prop, keychain, or part of a bigger sculpture.

Let's get started!

Bakeable Clay (I used Sculpey)

Acrylic Paint (Red, black, tan, yellow, orange, brown, white..)

Craft knife/blade/pointed tool

Hand and Fingers

Roll out a tiny tube of clay, and slightly flatten the top between your fingers. Make three tiny cuts, and gently separate and pinch out four longer tubes. Use a tool to press the clay down between each finger to create a slope/knuckles.

Add relatively thin lumps of clay in the areas shown, and blend down around the edges to create a more shapely appearance for the hand.

Thumb & Details

To make the thumb- make a short, thicker tube with a new piece of clay, and attach it slightly under the fingers. Make sure one end is really thick so you have room to smoosh the pieces together. Continue to gently pinch the clay to create the slope of the knuckles and blend the thumb into the palm.

Now that all the fingers are there, pinch each finger into three sections, using your own hand as a model. You can start to bend them into place and think about how you want to position the claw.

Nails

Roll five thin tubes. For each tube, roll one end to a point.

Push the end of each finger to a flat base, and press each nail into the base. You can use a tool to gently push and seal the pieces together. Bend each nail slightly to give each one a nice curve.

Top of the Hand

Use your Xacto blade to sharpen and angle the nails, as well as add horizontal cuts to the top of the hand. I also used a curved tool to press into the wrist for a more scaled/fleshy appearance.

Palm

I made two versions of this claw, one that simply cut the palm for loose texture, and another that added finger pads. Follow the pattern shown, and again, very gently press around the edges to seal these lumps of clay. Continue to smooth the pieces, and then bend the fingers into place to bake.

Details

Remember to turn and look at your piece from all angles! You may have lost definition in some areas and want to add thickness, texture, or want to move the fingers to spread and bend in different ways.

Bake your clay according to package instructions- this went in at 275 F for 14 minutes.

I painted two hands, one with grey-brown and red paints to give a dusty appearance, and another with darker browns/blacks/reds for a fleshy/shinier version. The Deathclaws have different colors depending on the version of Fallout, some are more black-dark green while others appear more on the grey-red side.

Paint Colors Used

Black - Red - Tan - Yellow - Orange

• Mix red and black with a bit of water, and cover the whole hand. Then, using your finger, wipe off the paint. The cuts you added for texture should still have paint in them, and the rest have a light stain. Let this layer dry.
• Using a light tan, paint the fingernails. Let dry, then mix the same tan with a little yellow/orange/brown and coat the tips. You can also use this color to add highlights around the top of the hand. The grey-brown version started with the same red-black wash, but didn't have much technique- I just dabbed on a mix of brown, tan, and black.

• Continue to mix and experiment with layers until you're happy with the look!

Hope this was fun to make- let me know how your pieces turned out!