I was in my local art supplies store purchasing my favorite La Doll clay and noticed a pack of Fimo air-dry clay. It turns out you can use a microwave to dry it out faster. The clay is fairly cheap, about 4 euros, but comes in a small package. I decided to try it out and see how it compares to other air-dry clays when sculpting dolls.

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First Impressions

• Smooth texture

Over the years, I tried a few of these super lightweight clays. And lots of them have this weird texture that feels almost like marshmallows. But this clay doesn’t have that! It feels very similar to Premier clay in terms of a smooth finish. It doesn’t have a lot of fibers or paper pulp, so sculpting small details is not a problem.

• Lightweight

This clay is extremely lightweight! I think, for dolls, it’s not that important unless you’re sculpting a huge one. But for hanging ornaments, it should be a big plus.

• Can be hard to make it stick to itself

My only disappointment was how this clay blended. Even with using water to soften the clay, it was hard to blend and make it stick to itself. Which can be very frustrating when sculpting intricate details or larger areas of the doll’s body.

• Fast drying time using a microwave

This feature was a huge plus! If you’ve read some of my articles about sculpting with air-dry clays, you know I’m a big advocate of sculpting in layers. But it means you have to wait for each layer to dry at least halfway. But with this clay, you chuck it into a microwave, and after a few minutes, you have a completely dry piece. I loved it!

• Easy to sand and carve

Because of the smooth texture, this clay was easy to sand and carve. I could perfect my small-scale piece, as with any La Doll clay I usually use.

Sculpting with Fimo Air Light

To try out this clay, I decided to sculpt flat feet for my ball-jointed doll. I wanted to put this clay to the test and see how it compares to my usual choices of La Doll and Premix. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. The whole sculpting process was smooth and easy - the only downside was the blending issue.

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I didn’t use any armature or styrofoam base, and this foot turned out extremely lightweight. It only weighs a few grams!

My favorite part was detailing the toes. I carved dry clay with a scalpel into a basic shape. Then with a wet brush, I damped the surface a little bit and used various tools to gently shape every toe. I like this technique because the clay underneath is still dry and hard, but the top layer is pliable and very easy to work with.

Here’s the result! I love how it turned out. This clay was a great contender of all the clays I tried. The biggest plus was the short drying time in a microwave. If you’re searching for something extremely lightweight - this is a good choice. In the end, I don’t think I will change my sculpting routine and La Doll clay, but I’ll use it up for sculpting my dolls.