Green Stuff Questions

I have a few questions about "Green Stuff," I have read a good deal on the boards and on some websites about how great it is.

1. How much do you usually buy at a time, and what is it's normal "shelf life."

2. Is it really toxic to the touch or anything that would keep the toys from being "safe." (i.e. if I used it and gave a custom to a kid, would it be a toxic-hazard to them).

3. Is it self-adhesive? Basically do you have to shape it and then glue it to the figure (like sculpy) or do you basically just let it cure on the figure and it is now a part of it.

Please forgive me if these are repeated questions - but this looks like great stuff and I might like to try it.

I do hear it smells like corn chips so don't know if you really want to give it to a kid unless he/she knows not to eat it.
Didn't someone say that greenstuff is what they used to put a figure in a bag with and the greenstuff took the paint off the figure or was that sculpty???

Try it Wolfman, it's way better than sculpy for details.

To the best of my knowlge is it not toxic. I handle it with my bare hands all the time. I bought the kind that came in a pre masured roll istead of the tube kind and I've kept in it's original box and it's lasted me for over a year. It will also stick to anything you want it to if it's dry and can be sculpted directly on the part.

And yes it does smell like corn. Wonderfly tasty green corn.

I do hear it smells like corn chips so don't know if you really want to give it to a kid unless he/she knows not to eat it.

It loses most of that smell after it hardens (and once it hardens, trust me--no kid is going to be able to bite into it. That stuff is like stone when it's fully cured. ) In fact my batch has started to lose that smell just in storage, which could be because I haven't stored it properly. Not sure about the shelf life though; I should probably keep mine in a plastic bag. Seems to preserve Sculpey pretty well (and does wonders for cheese in the fridge, so hey...same principle. )

Didn't someone say that greenstuff is what they used to put a figure in a bag with and the greenstuff took the paint off the figure or was that sculpty???

Sounds like Sculpey Flex (Bake & Bend). It will remove paint, even original paint, though it takes some time (a few hours of contact to a few days depending). I've used it to remove the camouflage from an ST Grunt face, though it took a few days to do so, and unfortunately it also took the paint from the eyes with it. 91% isopropyl alchohol (kudos to GITrekker for posting this tip when he discovered it) works a bit faster and is easier to clean up though, so I mostly use that.

Wolfman, I can't recommend this stuff enough. Back when I first got it Chief showed me some things he was working on using it, and I was floored. It's a tiny bit harder to work with than Sculpey in terms of it being stiffer, but it holds its form better and you've got more open time to work with it, and it takes paint beautifully. Just keep water on hand when using it--the water helps to smooth out fingerprints (anytime before it cures you rub the water in and it smooths it right out) and keep it from sticking to your fingers and tools. I've also found the water helps to "blend" areas where you add more Green Stuff to an existing piece.

This is the site where I got mine from, it's just one of several online distributors: http://web.inetba.com/anyinc/item330642.ctlg

And you can find quite a few tips on what you can do with Green Stuff here: http://www.polymericsystems.com/GreenStuffMoreTips.htm

Thanks guys. That sounds like good stuff to get Doc. I bought sculpy a while back but never used it because I didn't want to bake or boil the figure, so this sounds like good stuff to try. I'll try those links out thanks.

Once its dried...Is it possible to dye it and will I have to boil it to the figure part...If so how high?

Once its dried...Is it possible to dye it and will I have to boil it to the figure part...If so how high?

It dries out without boiling.. and no it probably won't take dye. You'll have to paint it.

I do hear it smells like corn chips so don't know if you really want to give it to a kid unless he/she knows not to eat it.
Didn't someone say that greenstuff is what they used to put a figure in a bag with and the greenstuff took the paint off the figure or was that sculpty???

It actualy started to melt the head of a DTC Foot Lose head I was sculpting on. So I wraped the face with sculpty and left it on for 2-3 days. I ended up making a unmasked Snake Eyes with him.