Nendo Firm Polymer Clay + Claytoons Polymer Clay Shop Review

THE OTHER DAY MY ORDERS OF NENDO POLYMER CLAY have arrived from Claytoons Polymer Clay Shop. I have ordered before from Claytoons (previously just a minor order of bases and molds) and this is my second order: this time Nendo Polymer Clay. I have always wanted to try new brands of clay, and Nendo is one of them. They’re cheaper than import clay brands like Sculpey, Fimo, and Kato. However, I’ve also read complaints about them so I was always hesitant.

But after my successful foray into using Sculpey Bakeshop (I was so scared to try it at first because it was so cheap!), I decided to risk it. My first Sculpey Bakeshop creation was not the best I wanted it to be. Details didn’t hold to well, shape didn’t hold as good as I hoped–BUT now it’s a staple clay of mine. If you play with it long enough and learn when and how to use it, you’ll love it too. It’s all about learning when to use what clay and how.

My order from Claytoons arrived in a plain box. That’s a +1. I had expected the clay to be scattered around in the shipping pouch. I have been ordering items for quite a while now. I have to say none of the things I ever ordered had gained 5 stars on the packaging. It always lets me down a bit. I always try to package items from me in pretty boxes or sew some fabric pouches for them, always adding protective foam when I think I should. (In fact I consistently get more raves over the product packaging rather than the product, lol.) There’s just something about getting an order, and excitement, and nice packaging improves the experience. Claytoons was satisfactory for me. Nothing fancy, but not the worst I’ve seen.

If you buy 5 pieces of clay weighing 100grams each, you get free two 50gram blocks of clay, and free two Nendo Liquid Clay. Such a great bargain! I’ll put in my review of the liquid clays for a later project.

Overall my rating for my Claytoons shopping experience is as follows:

PROS:

• Owner is very pleasant and accommodating. Answers all your questions patiently and will satisfy all your inquiries.
• Open and responds to queries within the day.
• Fast transactions at all times. I can get my items as soon as the next day after I pay.
• Wide range of products. Carries metal findings, embossing powder, tools, packaging materials.
• Affordable items. This shop is 5 Stars if you want to get cheap molds. The usual Blue-Flexi molds sell for around P400. Here you can get cheaper mold remakes made with silicon or oyumaru clay. (I’m looking forward to buying my own oyumaru though!)
• Lots of interesting promos for purchases.

CONS:

• Carries limited brands of clay. (Nendo and Claytoons clay only) If the shop sold Sculpey and other brands, that would be amaaazing!
• I received the Liquid clay in a dusty ziplock and the tops/lids of the liquid clay was dusty too. Perhaps because it was a slow moving stock so it probably gathered dust. 

VERDICT: Definitely buying from this shop again. I still want to order the Oyumaru in the future, and I haven’t seen a shop selling them for cheaper. They also come up with lots of promos. That’s enough to make me want to buy again.

NOW HERE FOLLOWS MY REVIEW FOR NENDO FIRM CLAY

Now, here follows my review on Nendo Firm Clay. We’re going to play with Nendo Gold, in Firm. Nendo has both Firm and Flex clays. I’ll make a review of the Flex later.

I had a major project that had to be done in Gold, so I ordered more of this. The clay was in resealable plastic, and also still wrapped with a plastic film inside.

While this brand of clay is labeled “FIRM”, it pales in comparison to the Sculpey III (which is still considered pretty soft by many). You don’t even have to use a cutter to cut this clay into bars–just break it apart with your fingers like a KitKat. No kidding. However, Sculpey Bakeshop is still softer than it. (You can pinch clay apart from a Bakeshop bar without trouble)

The good thing about “less firm” brands is that it doesn’t take as much arm power to condition it. I was able to mold it into a ball and into a flat disk in less than a minute.

It easily acquires hand and fingerprints, just like all softer clays. Its nothing that can’t be solved by rubbing the surface gently.

Here is Nendo Firm Gold when baked. The color changes a bit, just like most clays, but also because I had sanded this. Why? To get rid of the air bubbles. As you can see with the result, my efforts are in vain. A major complaint about Nendo clay is that no matter how much you condition, you get air bubbles. I have now proven this true. EDIT: My seller says that may be due to lack of even conditioning and can be solved by even more conditioning, and a pasta machine if you have one. I don’t have a pasta machine (and it be used for actual pasta) so I don’t have that conditioning option.

Air bubbles would less likely appear for smaller projects. This is gold medal a 4.5inch diameter flat disk, which is pretty big and harder to condition evenly. With a smaller project, very few of these bubbles are present or are not there at all, since it is easier to condition it. For big projects, I recommend Bakeshop instead–there are very little air bubbles with Bakeshop.

See those rough cracks in the engraved circle in my clay? I tried to smoothen them. Tried, at least.

CURRENT NENDO FIRM CLAY PROJECTS

This Hero Medal is made using the this clay. It’s actually specifically what I bought it for. I rate this a pass, but not a perfect. It would have looked better with a firmer clay. It has air bubbles, visible in the photo, that I couldn’t get rid of for the love of me. Also, as a note, Nendo Firm bakes to a semi-flex . This Hero Medal is thick but I can flex and bend it a bit. I will be posting the tutorial for this medal soon.
The whites of these eggs use Nendo Firm White. They look pretty good to me–little or no air bubbles. (The yellow parts are made with Sculpey III). This is a good time to use Nendo, IMHO. Since it was smaller I conditioned it better, so the clay was baked to a smooth finish. Plus points.

My rating for Nendo Firm Clay:

PROS:

• Easy to condition means no sore wrists from conditioning.
• Cheaper than most clays. Get more for your money.
• Bakes to a semi-flex. Good for projects that require it.
• Very comparable to Sculpey Bakeshop, but comes in a lot of colors. The Nendo brand has plenty of colors to choose from and even glow-in-the-dark colors.

CONS:

• Air bubbles. D: If you hate conditioning like me… D:
• Bakes to a plastic-y finish making it quite difficult to sand. Certainly doesn’t sand as easy as Sculpey.
• Not suited for bigger products.

VERDICT: Would buy again, but I wouldn’t make this my main go-to clay. It has things it’ll work for, things it won’t. I would get this for smaller projects and in complement to Bakeshop, which it has similar properties to. Bakeshop has limited colors, and that’s where Nendo has an edge. Also I think this is suited for name keychains since it still cooks with a good and fair amount of flex to it.

Hope I helped! Don’t hesitate to ask questions, offer suggestions, and such.