Monster Clay Premium Grade Modeling Clay (4.5lb)

love this clay/wax! its more like a combo between a aculpting wax and a firm clay. It holds details really nice and I really love how firm is is and how its nice and hard until you work some in your hands. A fellow sculptor had bought some and sent me a small peice to see if I liked it as I can't afford to be buying clays I can't use and I just wasn't sure I'd like this. So she sent the little sample and I just fell in love with how it works in your hands and I ordered this right away! I also found the price here to be the lowest I could find online and I did search for the lowest price.I had thought that like other types of cly or wax clay which is what this feels like I'd need to heat my tools to sculpt the fine details but you don't need to! I do use a solvent though ( goo gone) as a smoothing agent after I have smoothed with my fingers whch only takes a very light touch.. its not quite like a clay like plastalina at all so if thats what your looking for this is a lot different. And I also use the agent to dip the tip of my tool into to make it glide across the clay better to make sculpting hair or making a smoother area eaiser to sculpt. I also like how you can just melt it down over and over again or heat it up to get it really loose and soft. You can also microwave it ( follow directions if you do!) or put it under a heat lamp which is what I do. I have a small halogen bendy arm desk lamp I use just for heating sculpting waxes and I used it for this too. If I put it really close for very long it will melt it to a liquid which you don't want or hold it a bit farther away it keeps it perfect! Just warm and easy to pull off a small clump to sculpt with and stays nice and malleable and warm. If you do small work you will love this suff because it holds tiny detail and you don't necessarily need an armature. If its really thin like legs you can put it in the feezer to firm it up so it holds its weight. As long as the (legs) don't get too warm again they will hold up the weight of the sculpt if its not too large ( lets say a dog or horse) perfect for micro sized sculpts too!

incredible stuff. I use med. Grade for bases for casting resin blank masks. Depending on how much you heat it up, the more pliable it becomes. I'll throw the whole tub in the microwave for 4 or 5 mins, and it softens right up like taffy, oil based clay, so it doesn't stick to your hands or dry them out, and doesn't leave your hands feeling overworked. Lighter fluid is a great smoother for this as well, to eliminate unwanted fingerprints, scratches, or bubbles that happen during sculpting - weather you're a pro or just starting out, i HIGHLY recommend this product, VERY user friendly, forgiving, and reusable, over and over again!

I do ceramics, so this was exciting to try, very different for sure. It has taught me some bad habits, such as not caring about air bubbles or thickness in the sculpture, it doesn't matter. Getting the large clumps ready to place were a bit messy like chocolate but came right off hands, mounted it all quickly into place. It hardens up fairly quickly, which made me nervous at first. I would use a heat gun to heat up, then work it with a ball of clay in one hand the whole time keeping it hot. But that wasn't the best way. Started using a heating pad, and that was the perfect way to heat it up evenly, placing the heating pad on top for 5 min or so and it was ready to sculpt. Best thing about it is it doesn't loose moisture ever, and it gets super hard when not sculpting so I wasn't worried about the cat jumping on it, or it breaking brittle like dry clay. Stuff is just AMAZING.

I’m still very new to the world of sculpting, but it’s certainly something I want to do more. I’ve used Three kinds of Sculpey and I was able to recreate a nice sized Dragon statue and bake it for painting.Decided to try Monster. Upon first impressions it feels really nice and smooth in my hands. As long as you are working it it remains very pliable but not too much. You have to warm it in an oven or something similar but not use direct heat. I’m thinking some day I need to invest in a heat gun and/or a table top oven.Overall just practicing with it I was able to work with it more easily than sculpey in terms of flattening it and rolling it. It sticks very well to itself and not your hands. I was able to stick little spikes on a practice beholder eye and not using any pressure they stuck on really well.Once it cools to room temp the clay becomes really firm and I was able to brush rubbing alcohols on it just fine without bending the thinner areas. However it was still soft enough to fix areas with tools as need be.I can see why professional sculptors love this stuff especially those who cast to make collectible resin figures. As of now it’s perfect for practicing with or creating creatures and characters for temporary display or for concept pieces.The con is you can’t bake it to harden as it will melt or paint it (I assume). I will still need to use other types of clays for light weight miniatures and projects I can paint and display more permanently. Either way I’m excited to continue using this stuff and improve as a sculptor.