After I wrapped up my first Stance vinyl toy, I wanted more. This time I wanted to put some real time into one and break away from the 2D surface with some Super Sculpey polymer clay. I decided to try my hand at recreating the Nike Jordan 4. I chose this sneaker because it was A) one of the best looking Jordan models ever made, and B) proportionally close to the last shape of the Stance kicks.
I started by roughing in the pattern and midsole with blue pencil lines. Once I nailed down the proportions, I began building out the three dimensional layers by outlining each pattern piece in a thin strip of Sculpey. Next, I rolled out thin sheets of the clay to cut the forms for the plastic lacing and heel components. To get the correct collar height and shape, I had to cut away the stock collar to build up the achilles notch and lengthen the tongue.
The real challenge was to create the appearance of material layering without building the surface out too much. It took several rounds of priming and sanding to blend the clay with the underlying vinyl form without a notable textural difference. The laces were another tricky one. It took a while to get the laces rolled out to the exact same thickness and width to make them look natural.
Once the the sculpting part was clean enough for me to get over my OCD, I baked it in the oven at 275F for 15 minutes and let it cool overnight. I painted the base model with off-the-shelf flat black Krylon spray paint. I then painted the accent details in a combo of French Grey, Neon Yellow, and White artists grade acrylic paint. I was pretty happy with the end results and learned a whole lot about working with polymer clay.
