Industrial plasticine
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Industrial plasticine is a modeling material which is mainly used by automotive design studios. It was developed as an industrial version of plasticine or hobby clay.
Industrial plasticine is based on wax and typically contains sulfur, which gives a characteristic smell to most artificial clays. Often, the styled object will be used to create moulds. However, largely because sulfur can interfere with some mould-making processes, especially if clay surfaces are unsealed surfaces and platinum-cure RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) silicone rubber is used, sulfur-free variants are now available; these are usually much lighter than sulfur-containing clays.
Design studios
Before a new car model is launched, a long period of creating the right design takes place. Even today, computer models are not sufficient to evaluate a design. Therefore 1:4 or even 1:1 models are built to get an impression of the final car. These models are created in clay, and usually consist of a wooden or iron frame which is covered with Styrofoam. Clay is smoothed over the foam. Modellers then use various tools and slicks to finalize the shape of the car, since changes are readily possible.
Suppliers
There are 2 main producers of industrial plasticine operating worldwide.
- Staedtler from Germany, which is also known for FIMO.
- Chavant, which was founded by the French chemist Claude Chavant and is now located in New Jersey, USA.