Sculpey Ultralight - my first impressions

[@oopatriciaaoo]

I love this stuff. I've used it alone, and you're right, it's so soft it makes it kind of difficult to work with. But I recently mixed it into regular clay to make some ice cream charms. It added the perfect texture when I was shaping the ice cream scoop, it made it look a lot more realistic!

[@JeanineH]

Patricia ahhh yes thank you Soo much Patricia! I could not think of what we could use to make with this material!

[@donitafichter8298]

Thank you! I just bought some for armature inside small sculpture so it’s nice to see that it actually is strong once baked cuz it’s very soft and had me a wee bit concerned lol.

[@homesteadinghedgewitchery9014]

This is very useful, thank you for making it.

[@ArchieLovesMe]

Yikes, that looks really soft. I can't really imagine sculpting with it, but it might be good for covering larger items because it's soft and easier to spread out over something (e.g., a glass jar, a foil ball, etc.). I'm interested in making some larger sculpts that way, to be made into lamps, so I might try this out. I wonder if popping it into the freezer for 10-20 minutes might not firm it up a little. Great review btw.

[@artranchero]

Thank for the review. I’m looking forward to trying this out.

[@amyjoystudios]

Thank you for the great review! I haven't bought this stuff in awhile but I remember loving how it feels in your hands and it is great to mix in with other, firmer clays. The light weight of it is sooo nice though, and it's affordable when you use a coupon at Michaels, which I always appreciate. Thank you for sharing! xxAmy

[@PropheticEnvy]

wonderful clay to use for armatures and fun stuff has a very interesting texture. always nice to see others opinions and what they think of products. its almost like working with marshmallows :) and i love that all the big craft stores (in the usa at least) carries it. joanns hobby lobby michaels and ac moore

[@ji7iij]

! I love your voice and presentation, you are the best!

[@rosebud5543]

Great review, a must try , I'll let you know. Thank you .🥀🖒

[@Tzaddiel]

I use this for underarmatures it's a great clay.

[@orkidnaa]

I feel like this would be good for saving clay!!

[@slvrllns7]

Forgot to mention to always bake it first before you put the veneers or flowers on your cabochons or beads and bake as you would any other clay

[@slvrllns7]

I enjoy using that clay but not for everything. I use it for some cabochons, larger beads, etc. That way when you go back and cover it with different veneers you have a bead or piece of work that won't weigh anyone down.

[@tobias6364]

I'm fairly new to clay but I'm wondering if you could use this as a bulk filler for something like that glow in the dark lizard? If so, think you could do a video project with it on the channel?

[@reigun8494]

I bought one a while back to use as an armature for miniature head busts and it worked fairly good. However, I haven't tried it with super sculpey yet. I just used the super sculpey living doll clay. But it works good as a sculpting armature if you smooth the clay on the baked ultralight. If you just stick the clay on like a ball, it will just fall off.

[@TheBroodingTom]

thanks for sharing your experience with this clay! And just a tip, if you don't mind.... if you try adding a ball to a smooth surface, regardless which brands of polymer clay that are involved. You'll have a far greater risk of it falling off if you don't use a thin layer of TLS, just a dab right where the ball is to be placed. Do this and the "bond" will always be stronger then the surrounding clay. Personally I always add translucent liquid sculpey when adding pieces together, which include: baked to baked, baked to raw, and raw to raw. Let me know if you've heard of this, sorry if you already know lol Thanks again for stopping by!

[@AmberRandallArt]

Could you use it as armature for sculpting figures?

[@KalyanaDesignTutorials]

Someone got some for me but didn't get around to work with it yet. Did you try leeching it to get it firmer?

[@TheBroodingTom]

no not yet. Not sure how it would affect the final results, but I can test that too.. I plan on doing a follow up video on the current sculpting mixture I been using, a (review) of sorts. . Of a 50/50 mixture containing Super Sculpey and Firm.. I totally hate it! It's very brittle, I've done some testing with it too. Followed the instructions (obviously lol) I also over-baked, under-baked, even raised the temp. All results seems brittle to me. Funny thing about it both packs claim to be shatter and chip resistant. I can vouch for Super Sculpey for being true to this when used by itself, but have not used Firm by itself yet. My cat killed a very nice Lizard I made (sushi), I watched it shatter into WAY too many pieces... ever since then I've been skeptical of this particular mixture. This is why I got so excited when trying to break this ultralight stuff..!!! So amazing to me! The strength is very real, being very light is only a "highlight" to me in fact lol. I was considering testing some final things with the 50/50 mixture, by adding in a good amount of TLS into it. One last attempt to overcome the brittleness, even if just from mild curiosity.

[@KalyanaDesignTutorials]

Well myself depending on what I have to sculpt I make several mixes. For animals and such though, if it needs any kind of transparency then Premo it is, if it doesn't. the new Souffle is excellent. They are both extremely resilient and shatter proof if baked correctly - go a little bit over in terms of time though. Usually Premo 45 to 60 minutes of course with tenting if you don't have a convection oven. The ultralight seems exciting, but if you don't mind me saying, stop using sandpaper without water on it. You are not even aware of how much superfine dust you're inhaling. If you do the test with a face mask covered in double-sided tape (of the kind used to fix prints on mats) you will be amazed at how much dust you will find on the tape. All that goes in your lungs and accumulates overtime. The results on your health are not nice. For wet sanding with better results and easier on your hands, get some sanding sponges, they are very easy to find in smaller grit, in higher grit it's harder. But the sponges also give you a lot of advantage when trying to sand flat areas. Also use a dash of dish detergent in the water to trap better the dust particles. And definitely dish detergent in the final stages of 1000+, it gives a beautiful finish and you don't need to buff much after that.

[@KalyanaDesignTutorials]

example of Premo resiliency, if you go on my facebook page, the page photo is one with my "bird of paradise" necklace. Those are petals made with Premo. They don't break, they fold without breaking, and they're less than 1 mm thick.

[@TheBroodingTom]

I completely agree about the sanding, it was only a tiny amount of sanding I did here though. When I do actual sanding, if it's not at the kitchen sink in water, it's outside in the open. But the water is the best whenever it's possible, keeps it from clogging the paper too which makes for faster cutting. I guess I was too excited about the clay to think about it, probably should have used a small portable tub-like thing, we have them everywhere lol Thanks for the finishing tip, I'm gonna try it! This might sound strange perhaps, but every final piece I do I just sand it to a high grit, like 1000 grit, afterwords it may appear a little "hazy" but once I put that shellac (yellow pray can, from bullseye, zinsser) on it, it's like shinny glass afterwords! ...not always a desired effect, but super easy to do. A natural finish, though, from buffing like you say, is a lmuch better I think. If for lack of it having orange-peel alone! :D

[@KalyanaDesignTutorials]

Oh, I personally go for the piano finish on anything that has to be shiny, you know, varnish, dry, sand with 2000 and pure dish detergent, varnish, dry, sand, etc about 4 times. The buffing I do before varnishing, as it reduces the appearance of air bubbles. The more asperities you got on the surface the more chance of air bubbles in the varnish. The buffing, as is, I use it on only certain pieces. Things that need to look like glass and most things made of thin translucent I don't even buff, I need that flat look.

[@faolen1]

I haven't used ultralight before, but I have used Bakeshop clay, just to test some ideas, because its so much cheaper than premo, and it is also SUPER soft and pretty sticky. Like trying to sculpt in taffy or bubblegum. XD But if you put it in the fridge for abut an hour or better yet the freezer for about 20 minutes its much more workable, at least for a while. Maybe that would work with this as well?

[@MaureenSpaulding]

Does it get softer as you work with it like regular polymer clay?

[@TheBroodingTom]

Thats a good question I appreciate it! To test this I grabbed a piece a little larger than the one I showed in this video and began conditioning it with my fingers. And yes, you have about 30 seconds before the clay begins losing stability and starts sticking to fingers. So it starts off loose, and can potentially melt so-to-speak right in your fingers from overworking it.

[@MaureenSpaulding]

Polymer Clay Artist That's a pretty big issue but then if you are only using it to lighten your project I suppose you can form basic shapes quickly. This is certainly a good reason to try to mix percentages of regular polymer clay in and see if it becomes more stable.

[@TheBroodingTom]

I'm all for experimenting with this... even if in small sample, I could film it perhaps. I really appreciate the feedback!! I've been wanting to do a follow up video on this current sculpting mixture I've been using. which is a 50/50 mixture of Super-Sculpey and Firm. But I find it to be VERY brittle. Time for a change in clay, even if it's just switching back to super sculpey by itself. By itself it's actually durable.

[@scoutabout2309]

That was my first experience with this clay. Overworked, it becomes very sticky and does not hold its shape. I have not yet tried mixing it with another clay. I used it last season on its own for a series of snowman tree ornaments and the lightweight properties of the clay was perfect. Thanks for sharing your review and I hope everything works out for you.

[@clarissalines4544]

Thank u

[@laurar8486]

Would this clay be good for making textures? Like could you roll out a 3x5" thin slab, set some kind of texture and then wait for it to harden then bake? Thanks!

[@Uniquely-You]

Do u think it’s like dyaso clay?

[@angelsandfaes]

it always reminds me of marshmallow creme

[@BlackCat_2]

I may have to try that clay. How much was it? Sorry to hear about the house. Thank you so much for putting out a video though. It was a much welcome distraction from my anxiety over Hurricane Harvey and wondering about my house. It may or may not reach me. Even if it doesn't though we are getting some high winds, lots of rain/flash flooding, and possible tornadoes from this. :( Your voice is so calming though. It really helped soothe my frazzled nerves. - Heidi

[@TheBroodingTom]

Yikes I have not been following the weather lately, hope it's a miss or some light winds at the very most! Ya the house thing is kinda sad... but know this: either way, owning or renting our own place, will only be an improving to my mental health, this channel, and so many other good things will come from it too. So this is why I'll be happy to be over with it, either way! Were going to try to be in our own place before the holidays at least. I planned on sharing this outcome, but don't want to depress people with bad news alone. at the least it would explain why I haven't been very consistent with youtube for some time now. Complicated living situations combined with poor space limitations and such. Always glad to hear from you, I think it's great these videos can relax you a little. I try to keep things like that in mind, always... once all my ducks are in a row there will be more videos, thanks for always being there. Hearing from you is just as helpful to me, in it's own way, as these videos are relaxing to you. So thank you for that!

[@BlackCat_2]

Aww shucks. *blushes* thank you for that. :) Thank you also for commenting back. :D Makes my day. Still have power so that is good. The wind guts... err guts? - *laughs* gusts are getting stronger... keeping fingers crossed. I did pop outside at one point to check on things. Had a frog living around here because of my "water features" during the drought we had been in... he was on the porch when I popped out. I said hello because he/she made me smile. Then I ducked back in the door again.

[@TheBroodingTom]

Just wanted to know if you made it ok through that bad weather?

[@BlackCat_2]

Yep everything is good. No damage to the house. No flooding. One of my cats did pass away but not because of Harvey. She was around 19 years old. I held her for her last breath on Sunday. Took a photo of her 10 days or so before and she definitely looked like an old lady. I am so glad I took that photo. My other 4 cats and 2 dogs are right as rain. :) Oh and the white rooster is okay too. :P Still some minor food shortage due to the fact it can't get here but not too bad. Seems no different then when they don't order enough on a regular basis. :p People are freaking out about gas shortages a little but they really don't need to and it is only making things worse because now many gas stations don't have any gas left. It is only going to be a short delay and prices won't rise more than .50 cents a gallon despite what some of the news stations are saying without checking the facts. All they (want to) are doing is creating panic where there isn't really a reason for it. Sunny and cooler days have been around since Harvey moved off. Seen lows as low as 63 and I am loving not having 100+ degree days anymore. :D Thank you for asking. *-) - Heidi

[@Jfresh55]

Prob would be a good filler to level out a surface

[@TheBroodingTom]

So long as baking is possible for said surface I don't see why not. Otherwise it'll stay soft forever mostly. It'll be interesting to see what possibilities comes from using this stuff :D maybe cool stuff if I'm lucky lol

[@zamis21]

Its like marshmallow its so soft

[@TheBroodingTom]

Yes I suppose it is lol

[@Myrren33]

I wonder.... i got Ultra light Clay too but its not hard and dont make that noice when you drop it....tick...its legit when dry like styropor ad bit flexible... i made some flowers out of it but super instabile. Ultra light Clay seems diffent

[@TheBroodingTom]

To become hard It has to be baked in a oven otherwise it'll just stay soft forever. At the time I was only exploring the idea of using this as a light weight "core" material for beads or whatever I wanted to be less heavy. Normally I'd just use aluminum foil to make things lighter but thought that would be harder to do for smaller objects like beads.

[@seppukuchuan5608]

It almost sounds like you're doing ASMR lol

[@JeanineH]

Seppuku Chuan THANK YOU finally someone that recognizes this guys soooooothing voice man! It's Incredibly calming! You should visit "Peter Draws" he is also very much the same

[@maggienewcombe1505]

Horrible to make a sculpted figure, eg dragon and it feels odd plus it came out slightly yellowed. Very strong but way too soft

[@clarissalines4544]

Sorry no computer samsung s8 mobile 🤗

[@dharmadhashmith8828]

A

[@clarissalines4544]

Your videos is very poor sound

[@TheBroodingTom]

Sorry about that. I've known about it for some time now and have been stumbling through it to no great luck so far. I'm on my 3rd mic now, starting to think I'm just radio active lol... I'll get it right eventually :D

[@amyjoystudios]

PCA, I can hear you fine, but have you tried recording audio on your phone? You can save the file and attach it in a program like Movie Maker or whichever basic video editor you have on your computer. It comes across clearly and you can basically make it as loud as you want.

[@Tzaddiel]

Sound is perfect maybe it's your tablet/phone or computer that has the problem.

[@artranchero]

I don’t hear any audio problems. Everything is clear. One suggestion, proper grammar always helps in communication.

[@aoifesmyth3881]

@@artranchero don't you mean "correct grammar"?! Seriously this chap has taken time to create and edit this video to review a product. Please don't nit pick or try to undermine his confidence! Life is difficult enough at the best of times!