Once upon a time, on a screen in front of me, there appeared an advert for a new non-fired clay that promised to be weatherproof when cured. That clay was called Pal Tiya, and it was new to the UK having travelled far from New Zealand (via manufacture in USA, but let’s not mention its carbon footprint). And that advert caught my eye, more than once (ah, the joys, and effectiveness, of placed ads). And so it came to pass that I joined Bob and Joe at a workshop to make my very own castle. 
The model starts with a tin foil armature – ours was built around jam jars so that we could eventually illuminate the windows. Copious amounts of hot glue held everything in place.
Then came the Pal Tiya. Strange stuff – consistency of slightly wet clay, complete with nylon fibres. It has a tendency to slump, hence the need for the armature. It’s a little tough under the clay tools, in part due to the fibres. These can be sieved out for a weaker, but more workable fine clay.
The piece is workable for a few hours, before hardening – even wrapped in damp cloths. By the next morning it was very hard work to add detail and the day after I had to use a Dremel to make marks. To fully cure, immerse the whole thing in water for 28 days. I managed a week before I lifted it out and started work on decorating. Pal Tiya will accept paints, so I used acrylic washes to enhance the texture.
Finishing touches
Adding a bronzed dragon would finish it off. I admit to cheating a little – it started out as an articulated 3D print, which allowed posing on the castle before supergluing each joint in position. I added some [amazon_textlink asin=’B000V58DS0′ text=’Apoxie Sculpt’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’themanicstamp-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’59827ad1-85b8-11e8-8d73-01990aa4a67f’] (an epoxy clay) to make it look hand modelled (that’s the cheat) since the Pal Tiya didn’t like being a thin layer. A lot of sanding and smoothing later, I coated with Powertex bronze liquid and then pigment drybrushing.