Sculptamold has long been one of my go-to products for scenery building. Last week I needed to replenish and only one of my LHSes stocks it. When I got there, luckily they had one bag left. Right next to it was a similar looking product called Claycrete. At first I thought it might be a good substitute in case the next time they were out of Sculptamold. Both products were just under $10 but the Claycrete was a few cents cheaper. Then I took a little closer look. The Sculptamold was a 3 lbs. bag while the Claycrete was just 1 lbs. When I got to the register the I asked the store manager why the Claycrete was so much more expensive and he told me he didn't know. It would make no sense if the products are essentially the same that Claycrete would sell for almost 3 times as much. So my question is, are these products essentially the same or is there something about Claycrete that justifies it being so much more expensive.
Needless to say, I went with the Sculptamold.
One pound of Claycrete® will make 97.5 cubic inches
One three-pound bag of Sculptamold® will make 141.75 cubic inches
A one pound bag of Sculptamold will make 47.75 cubic inches
Looks like you get almost twice as much product per pound with Claycrete.
SouthPenn One pound of Claycrete® will make 97.5 cubic inches One three-pound bag of Sculptamold® will make 141.75 cubic inches A one pound bag of Sculptamold will make 47.75 cubic inches Looks like you get almost twice as much product per pound with Claycrete.
Twice as much for three times the cost doesn't seem like a good deal to me. I think I might the right choice opting for the Sculptamold.
I've not used Claycrete, but found it is made by the same folks as Sculptamold, Amaco. Claycrete is a papermache', but it's bleached white. Other than that, sounds very much like the standard papermache'. I have worked with papermache' and it does have its uses, just doesn't seem as versatile as Sculptamold. Claycrete will be lighter, although that's not too big a factor since both are relatively light. It will also take longer to dry, based on what I found with the standard papermache'.
Generally, if you get in a pinch, it should do most of what Sculptamold does.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL