Making Miniatures and More: Creative Modelling with Air Dry Clay

Few things are more satisfying than creative modelling. For both creative hobbyists and tabletop gamers, crafting your own miniature models and scenery can be a longstanding, enjoyable and therapeutic project to undertake. Whether you’re building detailed Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, sculpting characters for tabletop roleplaying games or designing immersive tabletop terrain, the right clay can make all the difference. Air drying clay offers flexibility, durability and ease of use - all without the need for a kiln.

Learn how to create your own miniature worlds using Potclays’ air drying and self-hardening clays, with expert tips, essential tools and creative ideas to help you get started.

Why Air-Drying Clay Works for Miniature Modelling

Air drying clay hardens naturally at room temperature, making it the perfect choice for hobbyists working from home or in small studios. There’s no need for specialist firing equipment here, just creativity, patience, and a few simple tools. 

Our Creative Clay™ Airdrying Clay is a superb choice for miniature making. Developed using high-quality materials and reinforced with nylon fibres, it offers exceptional bonded strength when dry and unfired. This clay withstands repeated handling during gameplay and lets you sand, paint and varnish your models, scenic bases or terrain with ease.

If you’re looking to create ruins, desert landscapes or aged stone effects, the warmer tones of our red air drying clay offer the same performance, but with a natural terracotta hue.

What You Can Create: Miniatures, Terrain and More

Air dry clay opens up endless creative possibilities for making miniatures and bringing your tabletop setting to life.

Custom Characters and Creatures

Creating your own Dungeons and Dragons miniatures or fantasy characters gives every campaign a unique, personal touch. The pliable texture of air dry clay allows artists to sculpt expressive faces, armour and accessories. It holds medium-fine detail well, allowing you to easily refine the surface with carving tools once it’s dry.

Bases and Scenic Details

Bases are where imagination meets realism. Shape the clay into rocky outcrops, flagstones or cracked earth and paint with acrylics once dry, before sealing with varnish for durability. For learners, or younger hobbyists, our Children’s Modelling Clay, available in grey or red, provides a softer, easy-to-handle alternative — perfect for early experimentation and basic sculpting.

Terrain and Architecture

From castle walls to alien landscapes, air drying clay is the perfect choice for creating tabletop terrain. As it adheres well to foamboard or cardboard structures, it is excellent for building lightweight, durable pieces. For natural finishes, you can press textured objects like stones, fabric or bark into the surface before it sets.

Casting and Fine Detail

For more intricate designs, or designs that need to be repeatable, consider Flumo Self-Hardening Slip, which can be poured into moulds to create decorative tiles, shields or accessories to integrate into your world.

Tools for Making Miniatures

Having the right tools for making miniatures ensures that your projects can be both precise and enjoyable. While airy dry clay is wonderfully intuitive to handle, a few essential tools can help to elevate your results.

• Sculpting tools: Metal or wooden modelling tools can be used for delicate shaping, carving and texturing.

• Clay needles: Clay needles are perfect for detailing armour, stitching or cracks in stone surfaces. 

• Rolling pins and cutters: Rolling pins are ideal for achieving even slabs, while cutters can help you to produce repeatable tile shapes for dungeon floors or city streets.

• Sponges and brushes: Sponges and brushes help to keep clay moist while working and can assist in smoothing out joins or tool marks.

• Wire or foil armatures: Use wire to reinforce larger miniatures or terrain to prevent warping during drying.

Keeping your workspace slightly damp and covering unfinished work with a wet cloth can help to prevent premature drying, giving you time to perfect those all-important details.

Finishing Your Miniatures and Terrain

Once models are completely dry, it’s time to add character and colour. You can do this in several ways:

1. Sanding: Lightly sand rough areas or seams to create a smoother surface.
2. Priming: Use an acrylic primer to help paint adhere to the clay evenly.
3. Painting: Acrylic paints offer fast drying, rich pigment and easy blending for highlights or weathering.
4. Sealing: Apply a protective varnish to lock in colour and prevent moisture damage.

If you’re making terrain pieces, matte varnishes often provide the most realistic results, while satin or gloss finishes can help with adding depth to stone, metal or water effects.

Tips for Building Large or Complex Pieces

If you’re working on larger tabletop roleplaying game dioramas or battle maps, structure and drying control are key. You can improve your work on these projects by:

• Building over foamboard or foil cores to keep weight down.
• Applying clay in thin layers to prevent cracking.
• Using texture stamps, found objects or clay tools to imprint natural details.
• Allowing sufficient drying time is crucial, as thicker pieces may take several days.
• Storing your work in well-ventilated, shaded areas as it cures.

By taking your time, you can ensure that your finished product remains stable and detailed. 

Bring Your Worlds to Life with Potclays

Creating miniatures and tabletop terrain with air dry clay is a rewarding way to personalise your own gaming world and express creativity. Whether you’re crafting bespoke Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, sculpting a whole scene or designing intricate items and props, our range of air drying and self-hardening clays gives you professional quality and flexibility in every project. 

We’ve been a trusted supplier of high-quality clays and materials for artists, schools and hobbyists, and we’re dedicated to supporting creative expression at every skill level. Whether you’re an experienced modeller or exploring the world of making miniatures for the first time, we’re on hand to offer the expertise, materials and support to help your imagination take shape.

For technical advice and more, get in touch with us today!