Sculpting with AIR DRY vs. POLYMER clay : PROs and CONs explained
I’ll give you my take on 2 of the most popular and easy to use clays.
To show you the PROs and CONs of each of these, I’m going to sculpt 2 identical sculptures - one in polymer clay and one in air dry clay.
0:00 - Two Popular Brands of Clay
0:21 - Preparing the Armatures for Sculpting
0:36 - Air Drying Clay Basics (JOVI)
1:13 - Using Water to Smooth Air Dry Clay
1:33 - Polymer Clay Basics (Sculpey Premo)
1:55 - Polymer Clay will never Dry Out
2:43 - Sculpting Details and Textures in Polymer Clay
2:56 - Sculpting Texture Through Sheet of Plastic / Clingwrap
3:53 - How and Why to Pre-Baking Polymer Clay
4:25 - Using Isopropyl Alcohol to Smooth Polymer Clay
4:42 - What is the Difference Between Air Dry Clay and Polymer Clay?
4:53 - Air Dry Clay PRO's and CON's
5:19 - Polymer Clay PRO's and CON's
I’ve prepared 2 identical armatures. If you want to see how I build my armatures you can check out this video:
• How to SCULPT with Air...
Make sure you stick around to the end of the video to see the final result of each sculpture, and the surprising differences!
MATERIALS USED:
AIR DRY = Jovi Air-Dry Modeling Clay, white - amzn.to/3APoVNQ
POLYMER = Super Sculpey Premo, white - amzn.to/3uhRMt1
SCULPTING TOOLS
Stainless Steel Sculpting Tools - amzn.to/3gfE6GD
Loop Tools - amzn.to/34rUHnL
Silicone tip / dotting tools - amzn.to/34sQe4w
The above product links are affiliated - that means if you purchase anything via one of these links, Amazon will pay me a small commission. It won’t cost you anything extra but it's a huge help for me and my channel :) I’ll only ever provide links to products I use myself and can stand by.
#SculptingTutorial #Jovi #SuperSculpey
To help strengthen airdry clay, add white glue/wood glue to it, as well as mixing a bit of it with water to smooth will help strengthen it a lot more.
how do you apply the white glue? did u smear it with a brush or u mix it with the airclay itself?
This video suffers from a HUGE base problem: you're comparing PROFESSIONAL polymer clay against STUDENT air-dry clay. I suggest you to try "La Doll" clay (air-dry), which is a "stone" clay and a professional one. You can try the normal (soft) or the "premium" (harder, more white) one. This is because I've work with both types of clay (professional clay) and for sculptures my favorite, without a doubt, it's the air-dry "La Doll", as I can do many things you can't with the polymer one (for example, you can knife it in parts and merge them again in a different composition just using water and a bit of clay to have a "perfect" bond, whereas with polymer clay you have to use chemical glues that, seriously, most of the time make a weak joint). And the final sculpture weight, oh the weight!
i would love to use polymer clay, but tis too expensive, so i use Das clay, its the best clay i have use that i can afford
just judging based on the exaggerated, unwarranted criticism - "HUGE problem" - i know this comment was written by a man. this may be a valid point but it doesnt render her video useless like you imply. what a disrespectful comment.
@@myrabbitispink I disagree, this is enough to make the video kind of useless. I'm glad they posted this or I would have had a totally wrong impression of air dry clay based on this video.
@@myrabbitispink you are wrong, he is right, and what does gender have to do with this? you cant compare cheap item to expensive item and expect the cheap one to be anywhere close to the expensive one
@@myrabbitispink just judging by your prejudice and sexism (you disregard a comment based on it written by a male) AND based that this whole video is TO PROVE one product is BEST than other... I think that it's PLAINLY OBVIOUS that it's USELESS. Or would you agree comparing an industrial cleaner against soap and get "conclusions"? What you lack is *scientific methodology* knowledge, but that would be too much to ask from someone with a strong bias as yourself.
The secret for not cracking air dry clay like DAS is making the scultpure in few layers. As long as the main layer's not thick, u just wait 10-30 mins and after it gets a bit lighter (colour), u can add another one. DAS is the best air dry clay that I've worked with so far. It's not expensive, and gives a lot of fun. I'd like to try Super Sculpey in the future, but it's still pretty much expensive.
Yesterday I sculpted for the first time. And I used das. I was expecting a texture similar to natural clay, but it felt more like papier-mâché. I was thinking if all air dry clays are like that- hard to connect. I made a vase and a lid for it in the shape of a rabbit head. I spend twice more time sculpting a vase than I spend on a rabbit with all those details and long ears. Vase wasn’t just happening😂 could it be because it was too thin? I think the thickness of its wall is somewhere around 5-7 mm. So now I am also wandering which material to use to make a bigger vase. I need it to be about 40 cm. The current one is about 20 without a rabbit head. Do you have any suggestions? I would be very grateful.
@@ilonaxxx20 To be honest the thicker a part will be, the bigger chance it's gonna crack. And that's mostly a rule for all air dry clay. If you plan to make it bigger, I would suggerst to make a inside structure from some other material. Wire + aluminum foil is the most effective thing I've used so far. The more wire u use, the less chance it's gonna loose its shape. Feel free to experiment with thin to thick wires. It's always a reinforced part which drastically will enhance the structures durability. When it comes to connecting parts it's a bit tricky thing. U always need to put some water on both parts u want to connect. I always do that and I'm putting another layer of clay (very thin) just to make sure they're smooth and connected properly. When U'll try to connect fresh part of air dry clay to a hardened one (like U came back from a few days trip and want to continue your work) u can make a holes in the hardened part, put a wire inside and glue it with super glue. When it catches it and get dry, u can easily add another, fresh part of air dry clay.
Loved seeing a video from you! The snail is so cute 🐌 very interesting how it’s made x
This is exactly what I was looking for!!! thank you so much!!!
This is just the info i needed. I have been trying to use air drying clay for medium and small and intricate pieces and its very messy and difficult to use in this way. once i get a turn table ill use my air drying clay for that. but it seems that polymer clay is ideal for what im trying to do at the moment. esp because im just now learning how to sculpt and im very slow. i can spend hours on a project with air drying clay, but if i am not done im kinda screwed because its too difficult to keep the clay from drying without messing up my progress.
this is so helpful! thank you for making this video :)
Thank you, this was very helpful informative for me!
That was a big help. Thank you so much!
This is the type of demonstration that I was looking for nicely done cheers
Thank you :) Glad you found it useful.
Great video, super informative, thank you!!
I love this video because these are the types of clays I work with and the same brands
A very good and timely video. I have a few projects coming up that have clay elements and this video has helped me decide which type I will use with each.. Thanks :)
Thanks Richard! Glad to hear it was helpful.
Thank you Sofia, great to see you at work again! I like the idea of using plastic over the polymer clay to get softer lines. I might even try that with my own work. Jxxx
Thank you, its good to be back too! :) with water based clay it can be a little tricky to find the right consistency to make the plastic trick work, but id be really keen to hear how it works out when you test it 🙂
@@SofiaBue I'm going to try it first with Glad-wrap. That's probably the thinnest I can go.
Very helpful 👌🏻
You must be an amazing teacher. Thanks alot.
I'm not interested in modeling, but I really like her English.
Very informative, THANK YOU!
Thank you Anna :) glad you found it useful.
What a great explanation, you’ve really helped me a lot. Thank you. Your sculpting is fantastic too. ☺️
Thank you, I'm glad you found it helpful :)
Really thankful for this comparison video. God Bless! :)
You're welcome Kerwin :) Thank you for your comment.
nice vid, you can also use mineral oil and baby oil to smooth polymer clay
Air dry clay is wonderful to work with, and doesn't have the issues your project had, if you get decent clay. You're using cheap air dry clay that's meant for children to play with.
So happy to see you sculpt a snail! I bought both kinds of clay specifically to try my hand at sculpting a snail for my aquarium which is filled with mystery snails. 🥰 Great video and tips!
Be careful!! Air dry clay is not waterproof and some polymer clays can leach out toxic chemicals that can be bad for fish!
Happy to see another great video from you. So helpful for a clay novice 😊
Thank you :) and your welcome! Glad you found it helpful.
You are the Best........Iam going to try thank you so much Iam Australian living in Kenya atr you Australian
Very helpful
Can't we use water to smooth in case of polymer clay too?
@SofiaBue question can you add pastel chalk/ paint to color primo
Can I use anything at home to soften the sculpey clay?
good skills good job sister
Thank you so much for all your explanatory videos and tutorials. I'm enjoying learning with your guidance. My question is the following: You keep mentioning the alcohol you're using, but the name is unfamiliar to me. What exactly is that and could I use surgical spirits as well? And did I see you mixing some of the slip with it? Can one also use surgical spirits with air dry clay? Regards D
You mean the one she used for the polymer clay? I think it is isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol (which is the same) as we call it here in Germany.
If using polymer clay can it be joined together after baking ?
Very interesting. I have primarily used only polymer clay but I am looking at making larger size wall art that will be too big for any oven I have so I have considered air dry clay for these larger dimension pieces. I need to find the best clay though that is pro quality as I will be selling the artwork. - Heidi P.S. Just subscribed.
Hi Heidi 😊 For the highest quality brand of Air Dry Clay I would recommend LaDoll Premium (amzn.to/3uj14F0). It's more expensive, and hard to get in some parts of the world (eg. here in Europe) but it is brilliant. Good luck :)
Can u use soft pastels to colour air dry clay??
So what kind of oven can I use? Regular every day conventional oven? For polymer clay!
Could anyone tell me the best air dry clay to make portraits and don't dry so fast till I finish it
I have a question, what if you are making simple sharp teeth but the thing your putting teeth on ,it melts easily in a oven and, I am a beginner as well
Does air dry clay hold fine detail? I'm a hyperrealistic sculptor in miniature form and want to jump the fence from polymer, as I've had so many issues with oven fluctuations, cracking and crumbling. Thank you!
Hi Mina. My personal opinion is that no, air dry clay generally does not hold fine details as well as polymer. For hyper realism I would recommend oil based clay (like Chavant or Monsterclay), but this process would then need to include moulding and casting. Best, Sofia.
I’ve had some success carving into air dry paper clay with a needle after it has dried to get fine details onto small objects. Hope this helps!
Which one of the two weigh more per ounce/pound?
She’s using tricks on the polymer one but not on the air dry clay. How is it fairly tested?
Good comparison,but incomplete. I'm wondering if I can sand with water sandpaper, for example. And whether any of them are a little flexible after drying? The second thing Im askimg becsuse of molding. Ali the Best 🥰
Hi Lady TT. It's hard to include everything in one video, but I'm always open to questions 😊 I've never tried water sanding these products - I wouldn't recommend it for the air dry clay as it is porous and would absorb the water. But with polymer clay I think it would work. Maybe give it a try with a small test? :) I'd be keen to know your result! If you are after a more flexible polymer clay I would recommend CosClay. It can even be mixed with Sculpey. However, for molding purposes it doesn't have to be flexible if you were to do a silicone mold.
What if i use polymer clay on existing action figure, when i bake it will the action figure melted???
Altid interessant at se hvad du laver.
I suggest adding to the polymer cons the price, ha
Hi fellow Sofia :) Thanks for you comment and good point! For comparison I bought the Sculpey Premo for NZ$40 and the Jovi Air Dry for NZ$12, for an equal portion of approx. 500g.
I want to sculpt characters with fine details and the clay should also become hard for the paint job, Please help me with the selection of the type of clay I should use........is it Polymer clay, Plastalina, oil based clay or any other material....
One thing I will say is that just because polymer clay doesn't dry doesn't mean it won't stiffen. So, assuming you DID come back to it a month later it's likely to have cracked before you bake it, its fixable but a pain in the ass.
Hi Dan. Thanks for your comment :) The problem you describe I've never experienced with Sculpey. Any 'crusty surface' is easily reactivated by brushing over with a little isopropyl alcohol, I find. But I do recognize what you describe, sometimes when working with Fimo Clay.
@@SofiaBue it happens more on areas that are subject to stress, legs, arms etc. Alcohol unfortunately won't fix a split if it goes all the way through but liquid sculpey does work.
@@x70222 could make for a great trouble-shooting video 😁
@@SofiaBue definitely could! I think if you were doing thicker or wider pieces, like the snail you made it would probably be fine. I'm using Super Sculpey so it may be just a problem with that brand in particular! Great video though!
wait a minute you pre baked it for 10 minutes? will there be problems if you pre bake 3-4 different tims, then finisih Baking at Requiered temperatures will there be any problems like cracks , too brittle, ect ??? Hope to hear someone confirme. Hope i could prebake for just 10 minutes, also if just pre-baking what Temps should i set it at ? Thank you
Hi Rom3 :) If you were to prebake several times at full temperature then yes, I would be worried about overbaking. But prebaking just once or twice (at reduced temp. and reduced time) is absolutely fine :) baking instructions vary slightly from brand to brand, but if it said bake at 130 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes, then I generally tend to prebake for 10 minutes at 100 degrees. This just firms up what you have so far, so you can continue sculpting details or tricky areas. Then finish with the full baking instructions. Hope that helps :)
@@SofiaBue : ty👍🏽🤓, also feel more confidend, Ur confirming that one can Leave UR sculptor for a month and come back to it after a month, tend to do different projects.
2 questions with polymer clay. 1 - do they crack after baked ? 2 - I don't have bake equipment, is there a cheap way to do it?
they crack if you cook em too long, it can burn as well, specially smaller details. You dont need special bake equipment. You can do it in your home oven, as long as you dont burn your piece it wont release any toxic fumes. and even if you do burn it, just by scrubbing your oven well enough, its good to go.
What about epoxy clay?
so if i use polymer clay? can i leave it up without having problem of drying? and will it still be workable?
yes, it will only harden if you cook it
Polymer clay turns out hard rubber or like stone plz reply
Can you give me a recipe of polymer clay? I want to add details in my model but air dry clay is not good and in my country I can't buy super sculpting clay because it's not exist for sale
Which air dry clay it is? Ceramics clay or China clay?
Hey can polymer clay touch water? can you make a video about it
Water makes polymer brittle so you can but its not advisable. I'd use baby powder or corn starch to smooth polymer
Polymer clay❤
3:33 I literately blew at the screen to get the crumbs off 😂🤦🏽♂️
I have never even tried Polymer because I am afraid of baking in my food oven. So I guess I would feel more comfortable with an oven just for that and still would worry about air borne toxins.
Not sure if this is a "pro" for most people, but air dry clay is also much lighter after drying. Makes a huge difference with larger works. I wouldn't try to use a loop tool on it all though. More often than not, you will just ruin the piece. I mostly stick with pointy tools and do just fine. Polymer clay is better when you need small details, and size/weight isn't that big of a deal, like dolls and miniatures. Air dry clay is like advanced paper mache' and can be used for much larger crafts because of it's no-bake nature. Just be aware that it can be delicate if not reinforced. Off that, this is kind of an apples to oranges comparison imo. They are different tools for doing completely different things.
On snails they are actually eyes not antenna lol just thought I'd educate you on the subject 😁
Polymer clay is expensive in my country :'(
😃🐌👍
I use mostly air-dry-clay because we don’t use ovens and I’m only a beginner
That's a very good point, and Air Dry Clay is great for that purpose :)
@@SofiaBue is there any air dry clays that function just like polymer. I want to go with polymer but my oven is incapacitated at the moment. My air dry clay for modeling is kinda meh to me because I feel limited especially when I use tools. They hardly have a purpose that or I got cheap tools which I did off eBay. I feel with air dry clay it’s hard to texture and add detail. Especially cutting pieces. I’m thinking of getting epoxy clay because a KZheadr who sculpts dinos uses it. Or another different type of clay. Maybe even putty
Another con of polymer would be that it’s more expensive than air dry
Am team polymer clay
Air dry breaks down easily for me
Sorry to say that, but those are not "antenna", they are actually called "tentacles", because snails and slugs are mollusks
Hindi me title diya video English me matlab bakvaas
Also, polymer clay is terrible for the environment.
,,polymer clay will never dry out'' thats the biggest lie I heard today -_-
Air dry clay is the worst
very nice
👍
Weight is a big issue for me. Isn't air dry much lighter than polymer? I've used polymer and it was always surprisingly heavy