Plasticine
Encyclopedia
Plasticine, a brand of modelling clay
, is a putty
-like modelling material made from calcium
salts, petroleum jelly
and aliphatic acid
s. The name is a registered trademark
of Flair Leisure Products plc
. Plasticine is used extensively for children's play, but also as a modelling medium for more formal or permanent structures.
teacher William Harbutt
of Bathampton
, in Bath, England
, in 1897. He wanted a non-drying clay for use by his sculpture
students. Although the exact composition is a secret, Plasticine is composed of calcium salts (principally calcium carbonate
), petroleum jelly, and long-chain aliphatic
acids (principally stearic acid
). It is non-toxic, sterile, soft, malleable, and does not dry on exposure to air (unlike superficially similar products such as Play-Doh
, which is based on flour, salt and water). It cannot be hardened by firing
; it melts
when exposed to heat, and is flammable at much higher temperatures.
A patent was awarded in 1899, and in 1900 commercial production started at a factory in Bathampton. The original Plasticine was grey, but the product initially sold to the public came in four colours. It was soon available in a wide variety of bright colours. Plasticine was popular with children, widely used in schools for teaching art, and has found a wide variety of other uses (for example moulding casts for plaster, and plastics). The Harbutt company promoted Plasticine as a children's toy by producing modelling kits in association with companies responsible for popular children's characters such as Noddy, the Mr. Men
and Paddington Bear
.
The original Plasticine factory was destroyed by fire in 1963 and replaced by a modern building. The Harbutt company continued to produce Plasticine in Bathampton until 1983. It is currently made in Thailand.
From 1983 to 2006, the brand went through a number of ownership changes and was off the market for a long time. Plasticine was owned by Bluebird Toys plc following its acquisition of Harbutt's parent company, Peter Pan. Then, following Bluebird's takeover by Mattel
in 1998, the brand was sold on to Humbrol Ltd
, famous for its Airfix
kits and model paints. In 2005, Flair Leisure licensed the brand from Humbrol and relaunched Plasticine. A year later, when Humbrol went into administration, Flair bought the Plasticine brand outright.
of Munich
, Germany
in 1880. This product is still available, known as "Münchner Künstler Plastilin" (Munich artists' plasticine). In Italy, the product Pongo is also marketed as "plastilina" and shares the main attributes of Plasticine.
. One of its main proponents is Aardman Animation's Nick Park
, who used characters modeled in Plasticine in his Oscar-winning short films A Grand Day Out
(1989), The Wrong Trousers
(1993) and A Close Shave
(1995), as well as the feature film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. This technique is popularly known as claymation in the US, and is a form of stop motion animation. Plasticine is appealing to animators because it can be used with ease: it is mouldable enough to create a character, flexible enough to allow that character to move in many ways, dense enough that it can retain its shape easily when combined with a wire armature
, and does not melt under hot studio lighting.
Plasticine-like clays are also used in commercial party games such as Cranium
, Rapidough and Barbarossa
.
Television presenter James May
together with Chris Collins, Jane McAdam Freud
, Julian Fullalove and around 2000 members of the public created a show garden for the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show
made entirely of Plasticine called 'Paradise in Plasticine'. The garden took 6 weeks to create and 2.6 tonnes of Plasticine in 24 colours was used. May said, "This is, to our knowledge, the largest and most complex model of this type ever created." It couldn't be considered as part of the standard judging criteria as it contained no real plants, but was awarded an honorary gold award made from Plasticine. The garden was extremely popular with the public and went on to win the Royal Horticultural Society’s
'peoples choice' for best small garden.
The garden now resides in Burton upon Trent's Octagon Shopping Centre, as a local attraction.
Modelling clay
You can use modelling clay to create items with it. The material compositions and production processes vary considerably. -Ceramic clay:...
, is a putty
Putty
Putty is a generic term for a plastic material similar in texture to clay or dough typically used in domestic construction and repair as a sealant or filler. Painter's Putty is typically a linseed oil based product used for filling holes, minor cracks and defacements in wood only...
-like modelling material made from calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
salts, petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...
and aliphatic acid
Fatty acid
In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have a chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are usually derived from...
s. The name is a registered trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
of Flair Leisure Products plc
Flair Leisure Products plc
Flair Leisure Products plc are a British distributor of children's toys located in Cheam, Surrey.Flair was founded in 1999 by former K'NEX executives, Peter Brown, Simon Hedge and Carl Moran...
. Plasticine is used extensively for children's play, but also as a modelling medium for more formal or permanent structures.
History
Plasticine was formulated by artArt
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
teacher William Harbutt
William Harbutt
William Harbutt was a painter and the inventor of Plasticine.Born in North Shields, England, Harbutt studied at the National Art Training School in London, and eventually became an associate of the Royal College of Art...
of Bathampton
Bathampton
Bathampton is a village and civil parish east of Bath, England on the south bank of the River Avon. The parish has a population of 1,504.The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the village and a toll bridge links Bathampton to Batheaston on the north bank of the canal.-History:Bathampton Camp is...
, in Bath, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1897. He wanted a non-drying clay for use by his sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
students. Although the exact composition is a secret, Plasticine is composed of calcium salts (principally calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...
), petroleum jelly, and long-chain aliphatic
Aliphatic compound
In organic chemistry, aliphatic compounds are acyclic or cyclic, non-aromatic carbon compounds.Thus, aliphatic compounds are opposite to aromatic compounds.- Structure :...
acids (principally stearic acid
Stearic acid
Stearic acid is the saturated fatty acid with an 18 carbon chain and has the IUPAC name octadecanoic acid. It is a waxy solid, and its chemical formula is CH316CO2H. Its name comes from the Greek word στέαρ "stéatos", which means tallow. The salts and esters of stearic acid are called stearates...
). It is non-toxic, sterile, soft, malleable, and does not dry on exposure to air (unlike superficially similar products such as Play-Doh
Play-Doh
Play-Doh is a modeling compound used by young children for art and craft projects at home and in school. Composed of flour, water, salt, boric acid, and mineral oil, the product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s...
, which is based on flour, salt and water). It cannot be hardened by firing
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
; it melts
Melting
Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase change of a substance from a solid to a liquid. The internal energy of a substance is increased, typically by the application of heat or pressure, resulting in a rise of its temperature to the melting point, at which the rigid...
when exposed to heat, and is flammable at much higher temperatures.
A patent was awarded in 1899, and in 1900 commercial production started at a factory in Bathampton. The original Plasticine was grey, but the product initially sold to the public came in four colours. It was soon available in a wide variety of bright colours. Plasticine was popular with children, widely used in schools for teaching art, and has found a wide variety of other uses (for example moulding casts for plaster, and plastics). The Harbutt company promoted Plasticine as a children's toy by producing modelling kits in association with companies responsible for popular children's characters such as Noddy, the Mr. Men
Mr. Men
Mr. Men is a series of 49 children's books by Roger Hargreaves commencing in 1971. Two of these books were not published in English. The series features characters with names such as Mr. Tickle and Mr. Happy who have personalities based on their names...
and Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He appeared on 13 October 1958 and was subsequently featured in several books, most recently in 2008, written by Michael Bond and first illustrated by Peggy Fortnum....
.
The original Plasticine factory was destroyed by fire in 1963 and replaced by a modern building. The Harbutt company continued to produce Plasticine in Bathampton until 1983. It is currently made in Thailand.
From 1983 to 2006, the brand went through a number of ownership changes and was off the market for a long time. Plasticine was owned by Bluebird Toys plc following its acquisition of Harbutt's parent company, Peter Pan. Then, following Bluebird's takeover by Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
in 1998, the brand was sold on to Humbrol Ltd
Humbrol
Humbrol Limited was a British manufacturer of model kits, toys and paints, producing under its own brand and the Airfix, Sky Marks, Young Scientist, 1st Gear, High Speed and W. Britain brands...
, famous for its Airfix
Airfix
Airfix is a UK manufacturer of plastic scale model kits of aircraft and other subjects. In Britain, the name Airfix is synonymous with the hobby, a plastic model of this type is often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even if made by another manufacturer....
kits and model paints. In 2005, Flair Leisure licensed the brand from Humbrol and relaunched Plasticine. A year later, when Humbrol went into administration, Flair bought the Plasticine brand outright.
Similar products
A similar product, "Kunst-Modellierthon" (known as Plastilin), was invented by Franz KolbFranz Kolb
Franz Kolb was a German pharmacist and the inventor of the modeling paste Plastilin. In English-speaking countries this material is also known as "plasticine." Because of different patent rights in Germany and England there are different views about who actually invented plasticine. In England,...
of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1880. This product is still available, known as "Münchner Künstler Plastilin" (Munich artists' plasticine). In Italy, the product Pongo is also marketed as "plastilina" and shares the main attributes of Plasticine.
Uses
Plasticine is often used in clay animationClay animation
Clay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay....
. One of its main proponents is Aardman Animation's Nick Park
Nick Park
Nicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep....
, who used characters modeled in Plasticine in his Oscar-winning short films A Grand Day Out
A Grand Day Out
A Grand Day Out is an award-nominated 1989 animated film directed and animated by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol. This was the first adventure featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace and his quiet but smart dog Gromit...
(1989), The Wrong Trousers
The Wrong Trousers
The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 animated film directed by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit...
(1993) and A Close Shave
A Close Shave
A Close Shave is a 1995 British animated film directed by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit. It was his third half-hour short featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace and his quiet but intelligent dog Gromit, following 1989's A Grand Day Out,...
(1995), as well as the feature film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. This technique is popularly known as claymation in the US, and is a form of stop motion animation. Plasticine is appealing to animators because it can be used with ease: it is mouldable enough to create a character, flexible enough to allow that character to move in many ways, dense enough that it can retain its shape easily when combined with a wire armature
Armature (sculpture)
In sculpture, an armature is a framework around which the sculpture is built. This framework provides structure and stability, especially when a plastic material such as wax or clay is being used as the medium...
, and does not melt under hot studio lighting.
Plasticine-like clays are also used in commercial party games such as Cranium
Cranium (board game)
Cranium is a party board game based on Ludo. Whit Alexander and Richard Tait created Cranium in 1998 after Richard spent a weekend playing games with another family and recognized the need for a game involving a variety of skills. He left his job at Microsoft, convincing friend and co-worker Whit...
, Rapidough and Barbarossa
Barbarossa (board game)
Barbarossa is a plasticine-shaping German-style board game for 3 to 6 players, designed by Klaus Teuber in and published in 1988 by Kosmos in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. Barbarossa won the 1988 Spiel des Jahres award.- Gameplay :...
.
Television presenter James May
James May
James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....
together with Chris Collins, Jane McAdam Freud
Jane McAdam Freud
Jane McAdam Freud, daughter of Lucian Freud and Katherine Margaret McAdam, was born on 24 February 1958 in London. McAdam Freud is an internationally acclaimed artist working with prints and drawing, sculpture and installation, and digital media...
, Julian Fullalove and around 2000 members of the public created a show garden for the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show
Chelsea Flower Show
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show, is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London...
made entirely of Plasticine called 'Paradise in Plasticine'. The garden took 6 weeks to create and 2.6 tonnes of Plasticine in 24 colours was used. May said, "This is, to our knowledge, the largest and most complex model of this type ever created." It couldn't be considered as part of the standard judging criteria as it contained no real plants, but was awarded an honorary gold award made from Plasticine. The garden was extremely popular with the public and went on to win the Royal Horticultural Society’s
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
'peoples choice' for best small garden.
The garden now resides in Burton upon Trent's Octagon Shopping Centre, as a local attraction.