and is the armature wire base connected to the cracking or not?
You don't say what kind of clayAnd the wire armature can ceritianly be connected with the cracking All clay that dries shrinks and tends to crack if it is solid - wire armatures are normally only used with non-drying modeling clay (oil moistened)Solid clay or reasonable thickness can be reduced in cracking if it is kept wrapped in thin plastic so it dries slowly and all the way throughClay figures of any size have to be made hollow with uniform wall thickness, although polymer clay can have a scrunched up or shaped heavy duty aluminum foil core to give the clay supportCeramic clay is built up to a certain height and before it starts to sag is allowed to partially dry to stiffen it to support the further weight of higher upAir dry clay can be treated the same way, but any clay needs to be used with consideration for its weaknesses - horses legs are too thin for their weight and thickness needs to be cheated into the design - Russell and Remington's bronze statues have bushes and dust clouds to support the legs.
