Plasticine

As clay or plasticine ( colloquially: plasticine, plasticine ) is called an easily deformable, clay or wax-like mass, which is used for simple modeling and games.

The clay used for games is harmless to the skin, but not suitable for consumption. In general, clay is reusable. A special feature is the modeling clay made ​​of wax, which is better malleable with increasing heating and gives off a pleasant smell. There are also compositions which can be cured by drying or fire in the oven.

Components

Clay as a raw material contains water, oil, salt and flour (or other starch) as well as color pigments. To avoid hardening, some manufacturers use potato starch, kaolin and various waxes. As chalk filler is added. Pure Knetwachse without additives are difficult to form and are mainly used by artists for creating models or in the design area.

Species

Power - play dough

Under the name Power - play dough and products of different manufacturers are available for repairs to walls ( cracks, crevices ) and are suitable for use as fill material. This modeling materials are made ​​up of two components (usually epoxy ) kneaded ( skin contact is to be avoided). The resulting mass adheres well and is easy to work with after curing. For children, this type of modeling clay is not suitable because of the contained toxic substances.

Plasticine

Plasticine is a putty-like mass for modeling. Today, it is preferably used in stop-motion animations, such as in Chicken Run - racing hens or Wallace Gromit. Also Pingu or the Celebrity Deathmatch series have been animated with this material (see also Plonsters ). Cartoons with plasticine figures are also called Claymationfilme. In the seventies, often grotesque portraits of politicians were shown from plasticine (for example, Helmut Schmidt as captain with jug ears ) on the title pages of the magazine Pardon. Examples of the use of plasticine in computer games are Dark Oberon, The Neverhood, Platypus or Bert the Barbarian, the graphics and textures based on photographs of models from plasticine.

Was invented plasticine in 1880 from Munich pharmacist Franz Kolb, at that time still under the name of "Art Modellierthon ". In English-speaking, the material is known under the name of " Plasticine ". As the inventor applies here due to the uneven patent rights of Englishmen William Harbutt, who invented it in 1897. Even in modeling plasticine is used. Here, however, to work with the less colorful and especially harder Clay ( industrial plasticine ).

Other types

In the United States, in addition to traditional modeling clay (play dough ), which is sold under the brand names Play-Doh, but mostly made ​​in American kindergartens themselves, spread a number of other play materials with partly similar properties:

  • Silly Putty and Bouncing Putty ( German: " Bouncing Putty ", " Hüpfknete " ) or " Intelligent modeling clay " or " Thinking Putty " ( German: " Thinking clay " ) is an industrially manufactured plastic silicone. Due to its dilatant properties under high load, it has a high viscosity at low and a low load. This skips the material when it is thrown to the ground, and can break brittle with a hard push. At low load, however, it melts and behaves more like a liquid. Unlike other dilatant materials Silly Putty has a Deborah number of the order of 1
  • Model Magic Fusion, a product of the crayon manufacturer Crayola, is an extremely light, drying in air and curing putty, which is used for crafting.
  • Foam Putty, which is traded in the United States, inter alia, under the brand name Floam, consists of tiny, adhered beads.
  • Yummy Dough.
  • Stick and cleaning pastes. This is to putty-like substances and preparations, usually made of silicone plastic that can be used with a particular set adhesion for cleaning, eg clocks and other very small and delicate mechanisms. Such pastes can also capture very small particles such as dust grains in addition to tiny mechanical parts ( during assembly / disassembly / repair). These pastes can replace a pair of tweezers. Even fingerprints and oil stains can be removed ( a known product is, for example, " Rodico ®" the watchmaker tool company " Bergeon "). Other adhesive pastes are used in photography to for the development of positioning small parts "sets" and fix securely in place without damage the object. They are often be colored to match the recording. The manufacturers of these pastes usually not prominent, the pastes are offered about photo accessories distributors.

Educational and therapeutic value of kneading

The use of clay in the game is of particular educational value. The forms stimulates creativity. It is important for children from the age of two to train sensory skills by touch, forming and cutting. Kneading promotes thereby the motor. In older children, perception, imagination and creativity rather encouraged. The color space of the clay is tailored to children: They are strong colors represented.

Successful modeling clay is used in the treatment of children suffering from speech disorders or motor skills disorders. In addition, modeling clay is also used for adult therapy, eg after hand or wrist surgery or rheumatic complaints.

Applications

  • Some board games, such as Barbarossa and the Riddler and Cranium, players use modeling clay to it for other things that need to be guessed to achieve the game objective.
  • An application of the clay is kneaded eraser, a special eraser.
  • James May presented in 2008 at the Chelsea Flower Show garden of which consisted solely of plasticine and received a special Knetgummipreis.
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