[TheForge] Re: "sculpting clay"

[Mike Spencer]

> ...plastercine is the trademark of a UK toy company...

> ...plastiline ( an oil based clay)...

> Does anyone know what that sort of stuff is...

Well, artist's modeling clay is called plasticine (sp?).  Last time I
tried to buy it in an art store in Novas Scotia, they'd never heard of
it.  But then that wasthe same store so cl;ueless that they sold me
bronze leaf (intended for tole painters of cute tea trays) when I
asked for gold leaf.

That big art supply storeon Commonweath Av. in Boston out near BU
sells it in three grades -- hard medium and soft -- in bricks the size
and shepe of a pound of butter.  Gets kinda dry and unusable after a
decade.  Any big-city art supplier *ought* to have it.  I think
"Plastellina" is a tradename but a Google search finds mostly
references in Swedish.  Try Googling on "plastiline".

Try:

Buy:    http://www.getspfx.com/Plastiline%20Modeling%20Clay.asp

Make:   http://users.lmi.net/~drewid/plastilene_recipe.html

        <QUOTE>

        10 lbs microcrystalline wax 
        1/2 gal. #10wt oil 
        4 lbs plain automotive grease
        25 lbs dry clay powder (such as Kentucky ball clay)

        Melt wax, oil, and grease together in an electric frying
        kettle; stir clay in slowly once melted.  Pour into shallow
        microwave-safe plastic containers, or into a wet plaster mold.

        This basic recipe may be modified for specific
        applications. One variation I have worked out uses beeswax for
        part of the wax component, substitutes petroleum jelly for the
        grease, and purified mineral oil for the 10wt. motor oil. This
        smells better, and doesn't have a problem with the rubber mold
        compounds I use, like most proprietary plastilines do. Varying
        the proportions of the constituents slightly will yield harder
        or softer clays.

        <END-QUOTE>

I find plasticine indispensable in modelling repousse pieces to figure
out the steps of how I'm going to do the metal piece. I haven't tried
this make-it-yourself formula but now that I've found it I will.  I'm
dubious about the motor oil and automotive grease but the mineral oil
and petroleum jelly (Vaseline(tm)) sounds okay.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                 						   /V\ 
mspencer@tallships.ca            						  /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/						  ^^-^^

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