DAS White 1 kg Air Drying Modelling Clay

Works like magic... I bought this after some clay projects of mine using a different clay crumbled and cracked. The pieces I build are all highly detailed and prone to breakage so require a good clay. I bought this in the hopes of rebuilding them and smoothing the cracks... It was certainly worth it, it dried very quickly, is strong, and has saved multiple projects, they went from crumbling messes to strong sculptures that are now ready to paint within a matter of hours plus the new models I have built from it have not cracked at all. It's a little denser and harder to mold than your average air dry clay and I don't know what it's made of, it's not quite so easy to work with, though still soft enough to be maluable it requires a little patience, but whatever this formula is - it's another breed of clay entirely!!!

Purchased to make a mini statue for my friend. I am new to modeling and it came out amazing! The clay is a bit sticky and messy i have to say, but i was able to clean up with a wet cloth. The colour was as adverised and dried the same but a bit dusty. I found it cracked less when air dried rather than oven dried. It was a little heavy but not unexpected for this type of clay. Overall the final resuly looked really good and pretty high quality. I now buy this regularly from my local art store.

This clay is not what i was expecting, but worked quite well in the end. There is no indication as to what the product is on the packaging and after searching online its still not perfectly clear. I was expecting some sort of strong smelling plastic based clay after reading some of the reviews, but its actually paper based and has no strong smell to it in my opinion. The price initially seemed great, but when you consider its mostly mushed paper, its not quite as good value as i first thought. The clay is quite hard to shape as the paper base seems to have some squishiness to it and it doesn't handle the same as a real clay would. Saying that, it is possible to create some fairly detailed sculptures with some time and patience. Adding more water helps to keep it pliable and helps with finer details. One benefit over other clays is that once it is dry you can file, sand and drill it. You can also wet it again and smooth over with your finger to get a smooth surface. I found painting on a watered down layer of PVA helped to seal the surface, so it would take paint a lot better. It does take a while to dry if you make thicker objects. Around 24h per CM of thickness according to some hobby sites and I'd say that was correct. Thicker projects will feel spongy and smooth after 24h and 48h it'll feel fully dry and hard, but the inside will still be soft and handling too roughly will crack the outer layer as I found out the hard way. Give it longer to be safe. If you do break it, you can mend it using some watered down clay to make a slurry and use it like a glue. Adding more clay after it has dried can also be done using the slurry, or just wetting the surface until it becomes sticky, then new clay will stick to it. I did read that using a fan or heat to speed up drying will cause cracks, but this wasn't the case for me in my testing with a few pieces. I put them behind my computers exhaust fan, which blows out warm air. The pieces dried faster and I didn't get any cracking. This was great for adding extra details after and being able to then sand them etc. Overall its an interesting medium that would be ideal for kids to play with and make some cool projects. Its a lot cheaper and easier than real clay as it doesn't need to be fired in a kiln, but being paper it means you can't use it for anything that would encounter moisture, which limits its uses somewhat. The long drying times could also be a major downside for some. I think the polymer clays could be a happy medium, but they're also a lot more expensive than this clay.

Perfect for making basically anything you can put your mind to really. It’s lovely and soft, so it’s easy to mould in to a wide range of little toys, ornament’s, flowers etc. Plus it doesn’t take too long to dry either, and you can paint whatever you have made 👍🏼❤️

DAS White Modelling Clay: A Solid, No-Fuss Choice Overall: A reliable, kid-friendly air-dry clay that delivers exactly what it promises. The Good: No Baking Needed: The biggest win! It air-dries rock solid, making it perfect for homes without a kiln. Kid-Approved: Easy for little hands to knead and shape. It kept my kids happily creating for hours. Lasts a While: The 500g block goes further than you'd think, offering great value for money. The Consideration: Must Keep Airtight: It dries out fast if you're careless. Always re-wrap it tightly in its packaging or use a zip-lock bag. Verdict: An ideal, hassle-free modelling clay for family craft time and hobbyist projects. Just remember to seal it up after use

This was such a great block of clay for so little money. It held its shape nicely during modelling, and without any cracking during the drying! Nor any noticeable shrinking! No need to put it into the oven, it'll dry on its own. I've used it to make a sort of slab about 1 inch thick: it took 3-4 hours of work before the surface started to solidify, 1 day before it was solid enough to be handled without risking to change the shape, 2 days before I could turn it upside down, and by day 7 it was 100% solid throughout (room humidity: 45%, about 20 Celsius). The rest of the clay is still in the bag and -- it's been many days -- still soft and malleable, ready to be used as fresh. To be safe, I've applied gesso to the surface of the clay, once dried, and I've not had any issue painting over it with acrylic paint. There wasn't any absorption or anything unwanted. Overall, if you want to get started with clay, this is a good one. It's genuinely fun, relaxing, (cheap), and not that messy!

Dries quickly and evenly. Definitely my go to product when my daughter is in creative mode!

I write this review based on my decades of experiences as a consumer and user of this type of item Lockdown amid the covid crisis saw my return to model making with clay such as this. The unique point of this product being no need for oven kiln or similar. All that is needed is time and patience. Straight from the pack, the outer side on every block opened to date is much harder than its core. Akin to the top of a newly opened jar of peanut butter. The centres are softer but do not go for it unless you want to add to waste. I got a suitable sized airtight container and added a little water after the end of each session giving the contents a damping down and encouraging a softer outer the next day. I have stuck to small amounts, ‘spreading’ the clay unto various silicon cooking molds. I now have lots of small flowers, fairies, numbers and letters to decorate doors windows and fairy houses with my granddaughter. I have been using golf balls ( found every day by my dog) saves expensive clay, to make a solid centre around which I build clay & which we then carve with our pointy and shaped lollipop sticks. All on a budget. In general terms it ca be shaped for about 10 minutes before drying out too much to be useable. Dries out solid enough to make a liquid latex mould overnight but give 24 hours. If you wish to paint your work of art. Let it dry out. Give it a cost of PVA, let it dry out again. Then paint with an oil / acrylic based paint. OVERALL. The small blocks are expensive and add to a lot of money quickly. I bought a 12.5 kg block for £12 delivered and used half, gave the rest away and saved a lot of money on the £5-6 a kilo price tag on Amazon. Stored properly it lasts.