Sculpey Super Sculpturing Compound 1 lb. box, Beige

This product came to me in a small plain cardboard box wrapped in bubblewrap without any instructions for baking or any tips on anything at all. No Super Sculpey box, and no instructions, which really bothers me since I paid a nice chunk of money (for me anyway) for this. I'm assuming it is just a chunk cut from some sort of massive bulk block. Since I've never had Sculpey before, I can only assume it is what it is supposed to be, and that it is in fact Sculpey and not some off-brand whatever. It is a light tan color, the texture seems nice, and there are no signs of drying.UPDATE: It has been a few months, and I have since had a chance to play with this stuff a bit more, and ponder on my purchase. I've been using it to make pendants for necklaces, and it is very nifty. It sands well after baking, is semi-flexible from what I can tell (my pendants are pretty thin), and seems to hold paints (I've just been using acrylic with a glossy topcoat) relatively well. I looked up baking directions online... and when you bake it there is a definite toxic odor smell... but turns out nice, and the home oven baking concept is really convenient. Still no sign of drying on the block, and it still kneads into a good smooth texture. ((Bake in a preheated 275° F (130° C) oven for 15 minutes per 1/4" (6 mm) of thickness.))UPDATE 2: So, it has now been a few years (Bought in 2011, and now it is 2014). I had originally played with my Sculpey for a while and then moved on to different creative endeavors, only to discover it again last week. It was in the plastic zippered bag that I stored it in, and what remained of the block seemed pretty hard at first... but upon kneading it quickly softened. It was like new. It sculpted and baked up like it always had. I was shocked and amazed. So much so that I felt I needed to update this review. This is some cool stuff. Even if you get bored with it and only wander back to it a few years later, it will be just like new. I'm just amazed.

Easily workable and forgiving. Hardens well in a kitchen oven. Love this product!

Pretty easy to use. I've had a lot of luck using this. I look forward to trying out some different versions as well. Heats up well and maintains it's for after being baked. No issues with it at all.

Let me preface this by saying, I absolutely hate *Regular Sculpey*; it's way too soft and doughy, it sticks to wooden tools, it tends to want to spring back when nudging details, and it's rubbish for modeling detailed miniatures (even at a 10"-12" scale)...Having said that, aside from being able to bake your sculpt in a consumer-grade oven to harden, *Super Sculpey* is nothing like Regular Sculpey. It has a medium density that can be softened a bit if you work the clay in your hands. When using tools, it feels a lot like carving a wax surface: the clay holds what you add or subtract from the forms, impressions don't "pinch" or "drag" the clay, sharp edges are easy to create without a hassle, and overall the clay feels very controllable.It feels like a hybrid between moldable wax and plastilina. It can be firm enough to carve, but, if you need to blend new clay into a sculpt, a bit can be softened and used like an epoxy to attach the new part. This method allows a very smooth blend, secure bond, and eventually the softer bit will become more firm again. That's just a method I've found that works best for me, but it isn't necessarily the best or only way; you'll find that the clay is really very intuitive and easy to work with.One of my favorite things about this compound is that it will always bond to itself. Even if you've baked a piece, you can add new clay to it, bake it again, and it will hold together beautifully. Knowing this, I like to build up certain underlying forms in my sculpt (like bones for example), bake at a fraction of the time to harden these forms just enough to hold their shape. On average I bake pieces like that in a preheated oven for about 5 minutes (max). That gives the clay plenty of stability, and I can still bake it again when I'm finished with the whole sculpt.Anyway... This is a great sculpting compound for any skill or experience level. I would almost recommend this over any other option for a beginner. This clay is closer to what you want to be using to do quality detailed sculpts. I can't say that about the softer doughy stuff out there. To me, that stuff feels more like a toy to mess around with, whereas with something like Super Sculpey you have a compound that can handle a lot of intricate detailing and still be pliable enough to easily shape forms.If you're a serious beginner (you haven't sculpted much or ever, but you plan to really dive in and give it a serious shot) then try something like this. You can reuse the clay if you don't bake it, it doesn't harden if you leave it out, it's super easy to work with, and you can bake your best creations to harden and paint them. It's not messy at all either, which can be a good thing for some people.*Sculpey-Firm (grey) is good as well, and you can mix the two*.

I use this for small/medium sculptures, I love it! With a solid wire armature base with aluminum foil on it, it's pretty strong and fairly light when baked. Apoxie sculpt, and air dry 2 part epoxy clay, is a better option if you need something very strong or something heavier. Apoxie Sculpt dries extremely hard and sturdy, and it's quite a bit heavier than polymer clay when dried. I use a mixture of both for my sculptures(not literally mixed but some parts are polymer some are Apoxie Sculpt.) The larger sections of the sculpture I'll do in polymer clay first, then I'll do the delicate parts like weapons, delicate heads or hands, or anything that sticks out of the sculpture. I also make little glasses holders sculptures, the photo is one of the ones I've made. The top half of the sculpture is this Super Sculpey and Sculpey Ultralight, and the bottom half is Apoxie sculpt. I do it that way to make sure the top that holds the glasses is very lightweight, and the bottom is much heavier, so the glasses don't fall forward. Love this stuff!