Air-dry or epoxy modelling material?

I don't know if there's a better place for this, or a better way to consolidate materials questions, so I'm just writing this here...

For now, I'm using Premo! oven-bake clay, which I'm finding better for me than Sculpey. Small parts or details seem much less brittle and more resilient, more like the material of most animal figures. However, I want to be able to add parts or details to cured clay without having to bake as many times (and worry about warping/support). A few air-dry materials I've noticed online include Aves Apoxie sculpt products, Kneadatite Blue/Yellow (Green Stuff), and La Doll clay.

What do you use? Have you used these products, or others? Is there a best option for small parts? Is anything too bendy, or too brittle? If anyone has an opinion or experience I'd appreciate it.

I use Premo too sometimes (it's actually produced by Sculpey too, yes? I often use also Super Sculpey or Sculpey III) and for the corrections after baking I use Apoxie Sculpt or Apoxie Clay. Apoxie is nice to use. I don't recommend Green Stuff, I think it's quite strange, remind me of chewing gum. La Doll I've never tried.

Apoxie and Green Stuff are not air drying but get harder by chemical reaction (2 hours after mixing part A and B) and these are based on epoxy resin.

After curing the Apoxie is a bit more brittle than Promo but is also somewhat harder.

All epoxy (popular name for materials needing mixing two parts) hardens due to chemical reactions. Apoxie seems to be most popular with figure makers/customizers.

I've recently bought Milliput, hopefully it'll be good for customizing :)

Air-drying clays don't need mixing two parts. I'm not a fan of them, as they tend to crack while drying :/ Air-drying clays are e.g. DAS or Fimo Air

I love my Magic Sculpt. But again this is a two part clay, not an air dry clay.

Thanks very much for your input, sculptresses.  Yes, epoxy uses a chemical reaction, I was just thinking of things that don't need baking. I will look into these products. The Magic Sculp site mentions "smoothing out with water"- I'm assuming this means it can be moistened to smooth over finger prints and such?

Oh, I forgot to say, yes, Anna, Premo! is produced by Sculpey. I think I read that it was developed separately, but purchased by Sculpey brand.

For air drying clays I recommend Fimo Air Light. It does not crack and it can be used to sculpt tiny parts.

I use Tamiya epoxy putty when I need to make tusks or tails.  It is made for model kits and has a nice smooth finish to it when cured.  I noticed that it starts off very sticky when mixed but if you let it sit for about 10-15 min it starts to be come much more workable, not as tacky.  Use water to prevent sticking to tools.

Just a safety note on epoxy putties, make sure you wear gloves and try not to have direct contact with your skin.  Over time if repeatedly exposed to direct skin you may experience sensitization which results in rashes and other side effects.  In the end you will become allergic to handling raw resins and this can't be reversed.  This also goes for pourable resins (in liquid state) such as "Smooth on" which is commonly used for custom figures.

A.R.Garcia wrote:

Thanks very much for your input, sculptresses.  Yes, epoxy uses a chemical reaction, I was just thinking of things that don't need baking. I will look into these products. The Magic Sculp site mentions "smoothing out with water"- I'm assuming this means it can be moistened to smooth over finger prints and such?

Yes, just plain old water works for smoothing it out - I put a little in a dixie cup and dip my finger in when I work with it. No need to buy fancy clay smoother as you would with other brands.

elephas_maximus wrote:

Just a safety note on epoxy putties, make sure you wear gloves and try not to have direct contact with your skin.  Over time if repeatedly exposed to direct skin you may experience sensitization which results in rashes and other side effects.  In the end you will become allergic to handling raw resins and this can't be reversed.  This also goes for pourable resins (in liquid state) such as "Smooth on" which is commonly used for custom figures.

I can confirm that. My dad worked sometimes with epoxy resins or glues without gloves, and he became a bit allergic to them - he gets rash in contact with them.
They harden due to some chemical reaction, after all.

Thanks everyone for the continued thoughts and advice. :)