What's the difference between Sculpey III and FIMO?

[aggirl479]

I was at A.C. Moore today, getting some cute PJ's and a sweater for Miss_Nellie_OMalley's TD Josefina who is visiting, and I decided to pick up some clay to make dolly food with. I was looking at FIMO and Sculpey III, and they both looked exactly the same, except Sculpey III was quite a bit cheaper than FIMO. The Sculpey was about $0.88 a bar (give or take a couple pennies), while the FIMO was more than twice as expensive at $1.99, for the same amount of clay. I didn't see why, so instead of paying about $25 for a multi-color pack of FIMO, I went for the $14 multi-color pack of Sculpey, with the same amount of clay. I was wondering if I made some sort of mistake by going with the cheaper version. They looked exactly the same, so I didn't see why to spend almost twice as much on a multi-pack with the same amount of clay. Are there any reasons why I should have gone with FIMO? Thanks in advance!

[Samanthasmom]

I have used both and honestly I dont see much of a difference except in price!! Fimo is quite a bit more money. I bought the package of sculpie at A.C. Moore using the coupon and it was a great deal [img]smile.gif[/img]

[dornroeschen]

This is from the book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581800088/sr=8-1/qid=1142768785/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0008923-9075971?%5Fencoding=UTF8"]"The Polymer Clay Techniques Book' by Sue Heaser[/ame] - a great book btw:

Properties of the main brands of Polymer Clay:

Softness rating: 1 = soft; 5 = firm.
NB: Polymer clays harden gradually with time so this is a guide only.

Baked clay strenght: * = fragile; ***** = very strong


FIMO CLASSIC
Manufactured in Germany
Softness rating: 2-5 (currently very variable)
Number of colors: 24
Baked clay strength: ***
Smoothable? some colors
Best for: jewelry, millefiori, miniatures, flowers, and dolls (Puppenfimo soft doll clay)

FIMO SOFT
Manufactured in Germany
Softness rating: 2
Number of colors: 48
Baked clay strength: ***
Smoothable? yes
Best for: for children and general hobby use

PREM! SCULPEY
Manufactured in USA
Softness rating: 3
Number of colors: 32
Baked clay strength: ****
Gold effects? yes
Smoothable? yes
Best for: jewelry, millefiori, and all fine art techniques. Excellent artist's color range for mixing. This clay has a slightly tacky surface, and the translucent version is very translucent

SCULPEY III
Manufactured in USA
Softness rating: 1
Number of colors: 40
Baked clay strength: *
Smoothable? yes
Best for: for children and general hobby use. Baked surface has a matt quality

CERNIT
Manufactured in Germany
Softness rating: 4 (softens increasingly with hand heat)
Number of colors: 44
Baked clay strength: *****
Smoothable? no
Best for: jewelery, general hobby use, and advanced doll making (several doll clays). Porcelain effect in all colors.

CREALL-THERM
Manufactured in the Netherlands
Softness rating: 4
Number of colors: 28
Baked clay strength: ***
Smoothable? yes
Best for: Jewelry, millefiori, miniatures, flowers, and dolls (flesh clay). Cuts very cleanly and has a non-tacky surface

MODELLO/FORMELLO
Manufactured in Germany
Softness rating: 4
Number of colors: 24
Baked clay strength: **
Smoothable? no
Best for: general hobby use

MODELENE
Manufactured in Australia
Softness rating: 4
Number of colors: 31
Baked clay strength: *****
Smoothable? no
Best for: jewelry, miniatures, general hobby use, and advanced doll making (flesh clays)

DU-KIT
Manufactured in New Zealand
Softness rating: 4
Number of colors: 25
Baked clay strength: *****
Smoothable? yes
Best for: jewelry, miniatures, and general hobby use

[MOM to JILLIAN]

Miki_,

Thanks so much for the comparisons. Great info. to know. We've been using the Sculpey. It is easy to work with and as others have stated the price is right!

[Ds9jullian]

Premo, Sculpy III and Fimo in the 2 oz. packages are half price at Michaels this week.

Ashley

[dornroeschen]

One of the differences between FIMO and Sculpey is that FIMO is the German original and also imported from Germany, hence the higher price. There's also a slight difference in handling between the two polymer clays: Sculpey is softer and easier to handle than FIMO, however FIMO holds its shape better. I've only read that about the handling a few times as I don't have the chance of experiencing the differences, as we don't have the choice. We only get FIMO.

Here's an article on the handling differences I googled.

[MOM to JILLIAN]

Originally posted by Ds9jullian:
Premo, Sculpy III and Fimo in the 2 oz. packages are half price at Michaels this week.

Ashley

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks for posting this. I'm going to get some packages for DD's Easter Basket. She's having so much fun making doll food. Her friend came over on Friday for a playdate and saw the cookies that Jillian has been making. They want to make doll food the next time she comes over to play. I'll try to stock up on some while it is on sale.