How I made the Taiyaki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiyaki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorayaki

WARNING: NOT A TUTORIAL, just showing my process. will not be answering technical questions cos i'm a grump like that :X all resources and tips and tricks can be found under the "Important Resources" section in my links to the left. or, you can always consult Google.

i rate this process under intermediate difficulty.

you could, alternatively, just find a fishie charm at some accessory store and mold that, but i want to start *ahem* sculpting my original works and stuff. so....HERE WE GO!



first, sketch out the fishie onto tracing paper. i'm terrible at drawing and after 5 failed attempts i finally got it to the shape i'm satisfied with. then reverse the paper, and trace over the fishie onto some spare polymer clay so the pencil marks the clay. do this lightly.

using all the tools you have at your disposal, in my case, a needle tool, ball stylus and some wire (for the scales bit), gently notch the clay where the pencil marks are. i guess this can be considered sculpting? OMG I'M ON MY WAY TO BECOMING AN ARTIST ZOMGZORZ!!! XD XD XD *snurk*

bake the clay, and after it's cooled, dust it lightly with cornstarch or using a little mineral/baby oil and a cotton bud, coat the fish lightly before molding it with molding material of your choice. i use alley goop, it's a 2-part silicone putty, but i've found that at such tiny scales (*snort*), it has a tendency to stick to the master itself, or not solidify as it should. maybe it's the temperature change, but this never happened to me before until recently :(



here i tested out the mold with some polymer clay, and dusted it lightly with ochre and other appropriately coloured chalk pastels. i forgot the exact shades :( most of the time i just 'eyeball'-colour my works. this fishie doesn't look crispy enough to me, i made this last night.


this afternoon, i made another pair, but in my excitement i neglected to let the clay rest and cool down before i jammed jam into it. sigh. which explains the broken piece on the left. but i decided to go ahead and use it anyway, to show the red bean filling.



kissing fish! i like the colouration of the one to the right. at least it looks more crunchy. that, and i prefer the shape too. did the mold this morning, but it's almost time to set the table for reunion dinner, so can't play with my stuff anymore today ; ; will try and even out the two sides hopefully tomorrow, or later tonight.


so that's how i made the 1:12 Taiyaki!


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i really shld make separate posts, but i'm quite lazy, so.....XD


dorayaki! did this for a trade with Yuki/Amatheria. hope to get a set of taiyaki done for him too before i send out the package.




and cos i had a lump of 'pineapple jam' remaining from my 1:12 pineapple tarts, decided to make a larger scaled one. this is approx 2cm across, i guess it could pass for 1:3, but in my heart i know it's 1:2 *sulk* will be chucking it in my portfolio for larger scaled items, and will be scaling this down to 1:3 and 1:4.

off to set the table! have a happy weekend everyone :)

(oh yeah, i know it says murder book XD was looking for something to hold up the items and the book happened to be on my bed. yay for libraries and crime mysteries!)