Mr.Clay- a brief review

[Arieanna]

I started using Mr.Clay paper clay to try and make Alita's shawl. A big thanks to Nightengale for giving me some to try out. :)

http://www.gkjapan.com/gallery/files/4/Mr.Clay.jpg

I was really excited to try this stuff out. Checking out what so many of the sculptors use, they use some variant on paper clays a lot.

I wasn't entirely sure how I liked it when i first started using it though. It's really soft, softer even than regular sculpy when its warm, which makes for trying anything detailed hard. Since Night says it sands and carves really well I just build a little bulkier so i can go back and fine tune the shapes once they're dry.

The clay also has a really quick dry time. Within 5 minutes the surface is almsot totally dry, though below that remains soft for a while, so keeping some water handy is a definate must. rewetting the surface i found helps the slightly drier material hold onto any newer clay better, though things get really slick. Keeping a towel nearby to wipe your hands on is a good idea as well. ;)

Anyway I went to bed last night with a basic rough out for alita's shawl with some buily "folds". Tosay I went back to her and the clay is totally dry. It seems nice and solid so should put up with some basic abuse pretty well. it's definately more sturdy than sculpey.

The best thing about this clay though--- Sanding is a dream! :wub: It's so easy to sand and carve out. you can easily just shave off layers. and my dremel sands it nice and smooth without the tendancy to jump over the surface like it does with the epoxy clay or sculpey.

Definately going to make this my sculpting material of choice! :D

Overall score- (A-) the softness does make it harder to start with detail though the sandability more than makes up for it imo.


New Fando

http://www.gkjapan.com/gallery/files/4/016682.jpg

New Fando has many properties of Mr.Clay. I find I like it better though. It's a more dense clay. Slightly heavier and more durable. The biggest difference is in sanding. It doesn't leave the slightly fuzzy texture on the surface that Mr.Clay has. Much easier to get a very silky smooth surface with New Fando. It takes slightly longer to dry than Mr.Clay due to it being more dense. It still requires you to keep water on hand for smoothing and adding extra clay to dry areas. you'll want to (if possible) actually submerse the dried section for a moment before adding new clay, and then make sure you atach the new clay firmly and blend the edges to prevent it breaking off.

Overall score- A

[Dr.H]

I think if I ever decide to make a sculpt, Mr.Clay will be my clay of choice :) got to love GSI products. Thanks for the review Arie ;) .

[Taugan]

I noticed that many of the pictures of clay I see on this website have Japanese lettering on them (meaning that it may be difficult to procure in the U.S.) Is there a company that will sell Mr. Clay in America?

Or, can I resort to a different type of clay for model building?

Taugan

[Arieanna]

this place carries both Mr.CLay and different Fando brands. Last time i checked they were currently out of New Fando (what im currently using) but still had Mr. Clay in stock. The shipping gets expensive since the package ends up heavy but it's worth it in my opinion. If you're buying the clays, pretty much figure paying at least as much in shipping as you did for the product.

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/paint/

[Masa]

I noticed that many of the pictures of clay I see on this website have Japanese lettering on them (meaning that it may be difficult to procure in the U.S.) Is there a company that will sell Mr. Clay in America?

Or, can I resort to a different type of clay for model building?

Taugan

Since you are in the U.S. you might want to try some Super Sculpey (http://www.sculpey.com/Products/products_poly_supersculp.htm), Magic Sculp (http://www.magicsculp.com/) or Apoxie Sculpt (http://www.avesstudio.com/Products/Apoxie_Sculpt/apoxie_sculpt.html).

[xDiscoStu]

Some US hobby distributors work with GSI/Mr. Hobby items. I moseyed down to my Local Hobby Shop and asked about Mr. Clay and other stuff. What do you know? The only thing that their distributor doesn't work with is Mr. Color laquers. Aqueous colors and Mr. Surfacer are available there and oddly Mr. Thinner (laquer thinner), but no Mr. Color. If I were so inclined, I could get it (special order) from the good old fashioned LHS. I'll failed to ask which distributor they use that ships Mr. Hobby. I'll do that next time around.

Agreed, also try Super Sculpey. Most western figure sculpting tutorials refer to SS somewhere.

Call around, support the LHS.

[blade_runner]

brought back from the dead

So, what's the New Fando like? Is it like Super Sculpey? Magic Sculp? Or is it more like the paper clay you were referring to?

[Arieanna]

brought back from the dead


hehe kinda glad you brought this back. ive been meaning to write a review on New Fando. just keep forgetting to. Edited my first post with the review :keke:

[hellspawn77]

Anyone tried using "Paper Clay" which is easilly available at Micheals? How does it compare to the Japanese paper clays?

There is also another clay called "celluclay" at micheals ...

Just wondering... I'd like to try some of thes epaper clays one day too! :)

Claudio

[Swordrat]

Anyone tried using "Paper Clay" which is easilly available at Micheals?

I've used "Paper Clay", but not Mr. Clay, but based on the review, they are quite similar. I was very satisfied with Paper Clay, even though it isn't the best for fine detail, I've done okay with it. The attached image is a 1/6 scale handgun I did entirely in Paper Clay.


Ratofblades

[blade_runner]

CLEAR!

I just wanted to chime in again on this. I was wondering if anyone has tried using Critter Clay from the folks at Aves? I bought a 5 lb block of the stuff to try, but haven't gotten to it yet.

Maybe tonight I'll dig in and write a review on it. It looks like normal water based clay, but the shrinkage issue :giggle: is reported to be minimal.

[Dr.H]

Lol "shrinkage":P

A new clay review would be great!