This Salmon Sashimi Is 18mm Wide - Here's How It Was Made

A complete 1:12 sashimi boat - three slices of salmon, two pieces of tuna, two pieces of white fish, two sweet shrimp, one scallop, a cluster of salmon roe, wasabi, shredded daikon, and lemon wedges - all sitting on a hand-carved wooden boat that fits across two adult fingertips. Every piece is handmade, oven-baked, and painted by hand. It took five days to complete. Here's exactly how it was made.

Actual size

Next to a hand

The wooden boat is 48mm long - roughly the width of two adult fingers. The whole piece sits easily in the palm of your hand, and the entire sashimi scene - including the boat, the highball glass, the soy sauce dish, the sushi box, and the chopsticks - occupies a space smaller than a credit card.

When you pick up the boat, it weighs less than 5 grams. It feels like holding a single coin.

Every piece, measured

All dimensions measured with digital calipers. Tolerances ±0.5mm.

What it's actually made of

The salmon: white lines are the key

The most striking feature of salmon sashimi is the white fat lines running across the flesh. I use a two-tone approach: a base of orange polymer clay, with thin white clay strips pressed into the surface before baking. The trick is to make the lines slightly irregular - they should wave and taper, never be perfectly straight. Real salmon fat lines follow the muscle fibre direction, so they're slightly diagonal and uneven.

After baking, I apply a thin coat of clear resin over the surface to give it that wet, freshly sliced sheen. In the close detail, the white lines catch the light exactly like real salmon - that's the resin doing the work.

The tuna: deep red with a sheen

Tuna needs a deeper, more saturated red than salmon. I mix a dark red clay with a tiny amount of black to get the right depth. The surface is then burnished with a small tool until it becomes slightly smooth and glossy - this mimics the way real tuna shines when freshly cut.

The sweet shrimp: two colours and tiny eyes

Sweet shrimp, or amaebi, have a distinctive appearance: a translucent white body with orange-red patterns along the edges. I build each shrimp in two parts - a translucent white body with a slight pink tint, and an orange-red tail section. The eyes are tiny black dots applied with a fine needle - each one less than 0.5mm across.

The shell patterns are painted on with a fine brush after baking, using a diluted orange acrylic. The legs are barely visible in the final piece - thin strands of translucent clay, each about 0.3mm wide.

The ice: transparent resin blocks

The crushed ice beneath the fish is one of the most underrated details in this set. I pour transparent resin into a small mold with irregular edges, let it partially cure, and then break it into small chips. Each chip is about 3-4mm across. The key is to make them look broken - not cut - so the edges are uneven and the surfaces catch the light differently.

The salmon roe: individual balls with gloss

The salmon roe cluster, or ikura, is made from individual orange resin balls, each about 1.5mm in diameter, arranged in a loose group and then coated with a thin layer of clear resin to give them a wet, glossy look. The slightly translucent quality comes from using colored resin instead of paint.

The wooden boat: grain before colour

The boat is sculpted from polymer clay, with wood grain carved into the surface before baking. I use a fine needle to draw long, slightly wavy lines along the length of the boat - these become the grain. After baking, I apply a wash of brown pigment that sinks into the grooves, creating depth. The edges are then burnished to look worn, as if the boat has been used many times.

Why the salmon white lines were the hardest part

I failed three times before getting those white lines right.

1. Attempt 1: Painting the lines on after baking made them too crisp and uniform - like a sticker on a fish.
2. Attempt 2: White clay strips pressed into the surface before baking were too thick, creating raised ridges.
3. Attempt 3: Mixing the white clay directly into the orange clay made the lines too diffuse; they disappeared entirely.
4. Attempt 4 - success: I used very thin white clay strips - each less than 0.3mm wide - pressed gently into the orange clay, then rolled over them with a small rolling pin to embed them flush with the surface. After baking, a thin layer of clear resin filled the remaining micro-gaps and gave the surface a freshly cut sheen.

Total: 3 failed attempts, 5 days of work on this entire set.

What didn't make it

Seven pieces were discarded from this set: two salmon slices with uneven white lines, one tuna slice that cracked during baking, two sweet shrimp whose legs broke off, one ice cube with an air bubble trapped inside, and one boat whose wood grain was too shallow to catch the pigment. Each one was photographed and documented - they don't appear in the final set, but they're the reason the final version works.

Building the rest of the table

What's in this set

• 1 hand-carved wooden boat with 3 salmon slices, 2 tuna slices, 2 white fish slices, 2 sweet shrimp, 1 scallop, salmon roe cluster, wasabi, shredded daikon, lemon wedges, and crushed ice
• 1 highball glass with lemon wedge
• 1 soy sauce dish with wasabi
• 1 wooden sushi box with 2 pieces
• 1 pair of chopsticks

What you can add later

Every piece is also available separately. You can extend the scene with a second boat or plate, a sake bottle or cup, a small bowl of miso soup, a bamboo mat for sushi rolling, or extra chopsticks and a chopstick rest.

Choosing your scale: 1:6 or 1:12

This set is 1:12 - the standard for most dollhouses. The boat is 48mm long; at 1:6 scale, the same boat would be 96mm.

1:12 works well for standard dollhouses or display shelves. 1:6 is better for larger scenes or a full-table display. For a quick comparison, see our Scale Guide.

Frequently asked questions

How big is this exactly?

The wooden boat is 48mm long (about 1.9 inches). The entire scene fits within a space smaller than a credit card.

Is this handmade or 3D printed?

Every piece is handmade from polymer clay, resin, and real wood. No 3D printing.

What is the food made of? Is it real food?

The food is made of polymer clay and resin. It is not edible and should not be ingested.

Will it fit my 1:12 dollhouse?

Yes. This set is designed for 1:12 scale. The boat length (48mm) matches standard 1:12 tableware proportions.

Can I buy just one piece?

Yes. Every item can be purchased individually, or you can buy the complete set.

How do you ship something this fragile?

Each piece is wrapped in acid-free tissue, placed in a foam-padded box, and double-boxed. If a piece arrives damaged, we ship a replacement free of charge.

Before you order

Shipping and packaging

• Shipping cost: calculated at checkout based on location.
• Processing time: 5-7 business days.
• International shipping available.
• Every order is insured.
• If any piece breaks in transit, we send a replacement free of charge.

Not a toy

These are collectible display miniatures with very small parts. Not intended for children under 3 years. Choking hazard.