Quote of the Day

The idea of me is better than the reality of me. - Verity

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Daryl Dixon Polymer Clay Charm (My Take on Bakeable Clay

I've already posted a blog about the difference between polymer and cold porcelain. This post is some kind of a deuxième partie of that, plus Daryl Dixon!

I bought a pack of bakeable clay from the bookstore due to curiosity. It's the 'generic' type (I actually forgot the product name already) and it only costs less than a dollar, which is a lot cheaper than the mainstream polymer clay.

If you are still contemplating on which type of clay to use (baked or air-dried), here are some additional pros and cons that I encountered using bakeable clay. Note that this is just MY personal opinion and MY own experience on working on this kind of clay may be different from others.


Pros of bakeable clay:

1. Easy to manipulate.
2. Soft enough.
3. No need to rush because it stays soft for a long period of time (even if you let it sit around for hours.

Cons of bakeable clay:

1. I sometimes find it too sticky. Once I join one part to another, it becomes too difficult to separate and when I do, it ruins the whole thing. Also, I can clearly see my fingerprints on my creation and without the right kind of tools, it's kind of tricky to clear out.
2. Since it stays soft, shaping could sometimes be a problem because it's hard to achieve the right form needed.
3. There's a tendency to break. My Daryl Dixon's arm broke after forgetting that it's inside my pocket. (Not sure though if it's because the arms are too thin, or I didn't bake/cure it properly.)

Personally, I prefer cold porcelain over bakeable clay. Aside from the fact that it's cheaper, it doesn't need heat to cure. If I am to choose between the two, I'd choose cold porcelain all over again because of so many reasons -  being cheap is on top of the list.

Daryl Dixon Bakeable Clay Charm

Here's my Daryl Dixon polymer clay charm. See, Daryl's famous bow is kind of deformed because I really had a hard time straightening the clay and keeping it in place (it also bent while in the oven).

Is it cute? Yes. Am I satisfied with it? Hmm, a bit. Will I ever try polymer clay again? Yes, if the client wished for it. But one thing's for sure, I'll be making another Daryl Dixon but this time, I'll be using cold porcelain. Let's see what happens.

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