Yippee! First review!
I forgot to take pictures of my oyumaru but basically they look like this.
Some Basic Info
Price: Ranging from SGD$1 - SGD$1.70 each strip
Places to Buy: Daiso ($1 per strip), Garies International, Tinkleart and crafts
How to use: Place strip into hot water, take it and press item into putty. Demold after 5-10 minutes.
Convenience
For me it's pretty easy to get, Daiso sells the cheapest for me and they come in packs of 2 strips, good for people who aren't willing to waste money on a product they are not sure about. It might be harder to get in America and all that since it's a japanese product.
Features
Its easy to use, but its pretty hard after it hardens, and don't stay as flexible. It's good at picking up details too! The best thing about Oyumaru is its reusability so don't worry if you screw up or don't use a certain mold anymore. If not perhaps you can just buy one and keep reusing it and reusing and simply making a new mold each time beforehand :) Colours are vibrant and I'll give it a plus for making me happy ^^ Its not good for scaled miniatures, but good enough for cabochons as it'll be too difficult to pop it out considering the size! Its best for air dry clay, but polymer clays fine too :D
Tips while using it
Leave it in for a good time. I was really impatient and kept taking it out. The result is that it either stays pretty hard or detail does'nt catch and once u take out the master, the putty springs back to a boring slab of oyumaru. You would'nt want that, now do you? Same thing for the thing you are popping out. I use it for flat stuff like cookies and waffles, for when it comes to deeper stuff and polymer clay, it'll be good to stay away for say 10 minutes and go back :) If not you can try putting it in the freezer or something (Perhaps I'll try out one day.)
Lastly, some pictures of some stuff I've demolded from my molds :)
I love the nice details! Uneveness keeps it the waffle look too :o
Good details!!!
Summing it up:
Pros:
good for Larger items, Flat items, Air Dry Clay
cheap
reusable
vibrant colors
easy to use
convenient
Cons:
not as flexible
bad for deep stuff
may break halfway using it
overall, I'll recommend it for cabochons! For miniatures, rtv silicon or putty is definitely better due to its extreme flexibility. For a more economic way that doesn't compromise on quality, oyumaru is good for DIY molds for cabochons :) Its easy to get, easy to use and despite losing out to rtv and putty in terms of flexibility, it makes up for its "alot easier to use" feature. Its very convenient and good for beginners and people not so willing to waste money on this craft :)
XOXO,
Moo Moo Cow
ohhh i am loving my oyamaru too! i use it for 'intermediate' casting, i.e. items that i don't intend to make too many of XD i heard that it's also suitable for resin, but don't quote me on that :X
ReplyDeleteHi! Firstly, thanks for dropping by :) You are a great miniaturist and I stalk your blog everyday><
ReplyDeleteI've tried resin and polymer clay on it too! Much more difficult but what I do is to pop it into the fridge then demold :) Either way I prefer to get better molding material e.g Silicon cause its so much more convenient and hassle free!