T-Bird Anni Rides Again

I got some of the air drying clay  (ADC from now on, I’m to lazy to type that every time!) that Merry sells for the craft ladies the other week and I’ve now played with it sufficiently to make some sweeping statements comparing it with Fimo…

The ADC has a consistancy something akin to play dough, it’s very light and soft so would be nice for little hands I think but like play dough you can’t do really fiddly stuff.  Fimo is a stiffer texture and weighs more, it’s more the texture of good old fashioned plasticine and it better at more fiddly stuff.

 To stick different parts of a Fimo model together you just gently push them together, the ADC needs to be wetted a little first - this is a hit and miss operation til you get the hang of it - too much water and the bits slide off each other, too little and they don’t stay stuck, and gentle pressure applied for a second or two.  If it was something that really mattered I think I would be raiding the spagatti packet to use little bits as pegs to hold stuff in place properly.

You need to keep the ADC carefully wrapped up to stop it drying out although you can massage water into it to revive it if it gets a bit dry aparently.  Fimo  can be left out for ages without worrying too much (it does seem to dry a little but not enough to stop you using it)   

Once it’s done and baked/dried the two are very different.  The ADC pales slightly so you get charcoal gray instead of black, dusky pink instead of red (not good if you are making ladybirds!)  whereas the Fimo stays true and vibrant.  The ADC is incredibly light when dry, almost like funky foam or polystyrene in texture, and if it was stuck when you finished making it, chances are it’s still stuck on when totally dry, even if dropped.  The Fimo is quite weighty even once baked, I’ve had a few bits that looked nicely secure when "raw" that fell off once baked and if you drop it, there is s good chance it will fall to bits (but nothing a bit of superglue won’t cure!)

So which do I prefer?  Cough, don’t shout will you?  BOTH!  The ADC would be fabulous for things like card toppers or fridge magnets, things where the lightness would be a real advantage, and also I think for pencil toppers as they won’t make any extra weight to the pencil although you would need to glaze them first otherwise they may well disolve if the child decided to see what they tasted like!

Fimo is way better for proper models though, it’s just more solid and workable.  And it comes in more colours.