Hi Seeria

No doubt you'll get some helpful answers here.
My penn'orth is that you can do a surprising amount with newspaper type paper as a laminate first.  You can then paste up a few layers of tissue on a smooth board and lay them on, pinching and poking to get the detail you want.
My method now tends to be a fine pulp made as follows: -
Take a length of about a dozen pieces of toilet paper.  Separate the layers as far as is reasonable and tear into pieces (they don't have to be too small);
Put them in a tin can filled to the brim with water;
With a paint stirrer on a drill or an electric hand held blender, wizz them into a soup texture;
Strain and squeeze out most of the water;
Add Methylated Cellulose paste, a small drop of linseed oil and mash with a fork until totally smooth;
Add finely ground chalk and mash again until you have a thick paste.
Apply with a small spatula or similar to create the relief you want.
This can be smoothed with sandpaper or, better still, a Dremel grinding attachment.

Now lets see what the others come up with!!
DavidO

Sounds great! Thank you. Will post results eventually. *bounces off to testing*

Why buy make your own and i bet you can make it faster than you can go down the shop and buy it.  .

Sue

Why buy make your own and i bet you can make it faster than you can go down the shop and buy it.  .

Sue

Oh yeah? How much are you willing to bet?

Your way is make the goop, which is gonna turn out lumpy. You gotta strain it. You gotta drain it. You gotta clean up after making the goop. Then you gotta work it.  They you gotta apply it, and let it dry. After drying, it's very hard, and to carve it requires a lot of time, and perhaps even a Dremel tool.

The clay way, you go buy it, and it's ready to work. Plus it has all the properties of clay -- you can hand form it, roll it, coil it, sculpt it. When it's dry, it can be carved and sanded VERY easily, with results that can't obtained with glue hardened pulp (which is much harder than this clay).

The caly way saves you a bunch of time! I know this for sure, because I have both ways.  When you've tried the clay, let me know. Until then, you really don't know, now do ya?

Time can't be replaced. Money can. I'd rather lose the money. Trust me. Go spend $5.00 and see. I'm sure you'll come to the same conclusion that I have -- Paper clay is superior.

p.s. I'm only trying to help. If you don't want it, that's your decision, but don't ridicule me.

The paper clay is very light. I'm doubtful about making something wholly out of it, but some people do.

No, you don't need to use it all at once. I've been working on 8 oz for over 4 weeks, and still have about 3 oz  left. I recently bought some more 'cause it was on sale, but it'll be a while before I get around to opening it.

Once you open, though, keep it moist. I put it in a ziplock freezer bag while still in it's original bag. I include a soaked a paper towel to keep the humidity high in the bag.

You can get detailed information and see some projects made from it here:

http://www.paperclay.com/

Personally, I love this stuff! I find it most versatile. Gus wouldn't exist if it weren't for this clay. 

http://www.iinet.com/~lengoforth/Gus2small.jpg

I find a mixture of Kleenex and undiluted white glue is light weight, highly malleable, dries relatively quickly, and holds small details well.  Granted, my stuff is so small, it's hard for me to accurately judge how heavy a larger scale project, like a mask, would be.

I've never tried Paperclay, but I know a number of artists who sing its praises.

Try using dental tools.  Here in the U.S., they are easily available through American Science and Surplus http://www.sciplus.com  They have two sets of 3 double-ended tools for $6 or less.  Get their small paper catalog, you'll see other stuff you 'need'.

They do have a $10 minimum order.

Sue

I've known a lot of sculptors who swear by dental tools.  I like to use sewing needles, in a variety of sizes, myself.

Veterinarians use dental tools, too.  A little rust won't hurt anything for your uses.

Also check out places that sell pottery supplies (clay, tools, etc) and see what they have that might be useful.

Sue