What is Sculpey?
Sculpey is a brand of polymer clay made by Zenith Products. It is extremely easy to use. You simply knead it for a few seconds, sculpt it to form, bake and it hardens smoothly in a matter of minutes.
Sculpey is used a lot in customizing action figures, creating faeries, adding parts to other objects. It is also used in caning and marbling. It is used by doll makers for heads, hands, and feet. Uses are pretty much endless.
Sculpey is a readily available at craft stores in many colors and several different types. Fimo is a similar brand of polymer clay with slighty different characteristic. Sculpey polymer clay is baked to harden. It can also be boiled in water until becomes hard. Small pieces harden much faster and easier than large pieces.
Baked polymer clay will break or shatter if it is subjected to force or dropped on a hard surface. , but due to its strength, it's probably not a very good idea to make anything large. Action figure enthusiasts may use Sculpey to mold and sculpt items such as sword handles, small armor, eye goggles, knee and shoulder pads, gun modifications, and many other things. Because of its ease of use and price, Sculpey is a good choice for making and modifying small projects.
Makin's Clay makes an air dry polymer clay. It does not have to be baked or boiled. it will harden simply by being exposed to air for several days.
This polymer clay will dry to a solid consistency that maintains it shape and resists changes. Although it will hold its shape and can be painted, it will remain with a slight bit of elasticity. Depending on the intended application for the polymer clay, this may or may not be desirable.
For more see Makin's Clay air dry polymer page.
This clay is a two part clay that uses a chemical reaction to harden in a short period of time. Unlike Sculpey polymer clay, it needs no heat, baking, or boiling. It will cure itself to an extremely hard surface - much harder and durable than either of the polymer clays.
It will adhere to most any clean surface. It can be molded just as any modeling or polymer clay. Very smooth surfaces can be obtained by smooting with water.
For more information about self hardening clay see the page on Apoxie Sculpt and Magic Sculpt.