Polymer clay
From CosplayWiki
Polymer clays are clays that must be baked in order for it to harden. Polymer clays are is great to work with for small props as it is sandable when it hardens. The best way is to wet sand the clay to cut down on the dust particles. Polymer clays also takes latex very well and is great to use for a base when creating a positive mold.
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Pick Your Clay Brand
The major brands I know of are Fimo, Sculpey and Premo. Fimo is strong and resilient but (relatively) heavy, Sculpey is light but brittle and more fragile. Premo translucent shade is much more see-through than either of the other two. As a general rule I always try to work with Fimo for strength.
Working with Translucent Shades
Polymer clay comes in translucent shades which look great if you can make them work but are, frankly, an absolute bugger to bake. Put your translucent work in the oven cold, bring it up to temperature as slowly as you can bear (I go up in four or five five-minute stages), then bake, and ideally leave everything in the oven overnight to cool down very, very slowly. It's not perfect, but you'll get a much better finish than if you heat and cool quickly - the translucent develops little half-moon-shaped opaque imperfections that way. Once you've baked it once you're OK though! You can chuck baked translucent in the oven any old way and it won't mess up the texture.
Work the clay after it's baked!
People always seem to forget that the clay can be worked with afterwards. You can grind it, sand it, cut it with a sharp craft knife, and generally do a lot to improve the basic shape. This is where my trusty little drill and its umpteen interesting grinding/wirebrush/polishing drill bits come in. ^_^ (Note: DON'T use a wirebrush drill bit on a clay surface that you want to be smooth! Your piece will end up looking like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and it ain't pretty.)
Be careful what you put on your finished item
The plasticizer chemicals in polymer clay can do really interesting things to paint and varnish. Acrylic paints work fine: enamel paints DO NOT DRY EVER! You will end up with a sticky/tacky paint sludge on your clay item which will never come off. It's happened before. >.< As for varnish, It is strongly recommend the own-brand varnish of whoever makes the clay you're using. Theoretically, any old acrylic varnish should work, but it dries very soft and scratchable.
