What is velvet plastic and what can I do from it?

One of the most interesting and useful hobbies is sculpting pictures and figures from various plastic materials. In the good old days people made pottery and toys from clay, and today it was replaced by new, more modern materials. Plasticine, salted dough, plastic, foiamir - that's far from complete their list. But today we will talk about such a relatively new material, like velvet plastic. In addition, we will even try to make it ourselves.

What it is

For a long time, such wonderful material as plastic has entered the life of needlewomen and artists. This wonderful mass is very similar to ordinary plasticine, has bright colors and is easily kneaded and sculpted. Its distinctive feature is that after a complete drying the figures of plastic become hard, as if made of plastic. Plastic has one significant inconvenience in the work - in order that it stiffens, it must be heat treated: bake in the oven or cook. This is not always convenient.

Velvet plastic, or, as it is also called, velvet clay, does not have such a flaw. It is a very light plastic mass, pleasant to the touch. It dries out on the air and hardens. No heating or special hardeners should be used.

The sculpture of velvet plastic - the occupation is very pleasant and quite uncomplicated. You just need to practice a little. The material has remarkable qualities:

• Dries out in the open air;
• Not toxic;
• Does not cause allergies;
• After drying it retains its shape and does not crack;
• Does not have a strong chemical smell;
• Has bright various colors;
• Mix well;
• Easily glued to itself and to any rough surfaces;
• Well cut with stacks and clerical knife;
• Can be painted with different colors;
• Preserves prints of molds, easily decorated;
• It is varnished.

Instruments

If you decide to work with velvet plastic, you will need tools. In principle, the kit does not differ much from what is used for modeling from conventional plasticine. You will need:

• Stacks;
• Silicone brushes;
• Needles of different sizes;
• foil;
• Molds of different sizes and textures;
• scissors;
• A glass or a rolling pin for rolling the mass;
• Round pliers;
• Copper or steel wire of different diameters;
• A variety of small objects for drawing textures: feathers, caps from handles and so on.

Beginning of work

Before you begin, you need to draw a sketch of the future animal. This is very important, it helps to properly assess the anatomical features and pre-work out many details.

If for the basis of the future animal you need a wire, approach her choice with all responsibility. For example, it certainly should not be aluminum. This wire is too thick and loose. With numerous bends, it just breaks. It will be very unpleasant if almost finished work will have to be remade due to this moment.

Also, the wire must be stainless, so that the product will delight you for a long time and not become covered with ugly rusty spots. And of course, the thickness ... The basic rule is: "The larger the model, the thicker the wire." Too thick is also not worth taking, it will bend with effort.

Creating a skeleton

If you decide to use velvet plastic to create an animal, first of all, you need to make a skeleton. To do this, cut three pieces of wire. From the first a ridge is formed, from the nose to the tip of the tail. Of the other two, we make paws. To your animal was stable, and the mounts did not disintegrate, the paws should be formed in pairs. From one piece of wire the right side is formed: front paw + back. From the second piece is the left side. Now all three frames are fastened together, just twisted with a thinner wire. The legs of the animal can be slightly extended for stability.

Increase "meat"

The next stage of the formation of the skeleton of a figure from velvet plastic is wrapping wire with foil. It forms the trunk of the animal. To do this, small pieces of foil are put on the wire frame in the right places. That the foil is not "crawl", its ends are tightly wrapped around the wire. Thus, the torso of the animal, the head, paws and tail are formed.

As a result, you should get a sculpture made of foil, put on a wire frame.

We decorate the product

Now it's time to work with the plastic itself. From the main piece we separate the small parts and cover them with the whole figure, spreading the mass over the foil. Color in this case is absolutely not important, because this layer is rough and it will be almost invisible.

After the whole figure is covered with plastic and already looks like the future fairy dragon or bear, it is left to dry. To further process the figure does not break, it should dry well. Depending on the size of the product, this may take about a day or even more.

When the product is completely dried, you can proceed to decorating. To do this, you can apply a variety of techniques and tools. To make the print turn out to be clear and beautiful, small pieces of plastic of the desired color are smeared over the workpiece. Now on the fresh layer it is very easy to squeeze out or draw the desired pattern.

Since velvet plastic is a very delicate and delicate material, it simply produces plush feathers, villi, scales and other small details. This work is, of course, very long and laborious, but the result is worth it. Each feather or wool is made separately, after which they are glued to the workpiece. It is noteworthy that glue is not needed for this at all, it's enough just to smear the edge with wet hands.

All small details like scales, feathers or wool are attached to the figure according to the principle from the bottom up. That is, the upper row slightly overlaps the previous one. This allows you to achieve the greatest naturalness of the composition.

Ready work is carefully dried in the open air and, if necessary, painted. For painting almost all types of paints can be used: acrylic, watercolor, color pencils or gel pens. The only thing that experienced masters do not recommend is to apply for dyeing - it's gouache. It dries very poorly on plastic and still remains sticky. After complete drying, the product can be coated with a clear varnish. This will give him a kind of shine and extra strength.

Where to learn?

If you still do not dare to use velvet plastic for creativity, the master classes will help dispel your doubts. One of them we gave in the article. Even if you could not find a suitable master class dedicated to working with velvet plastic, you can use the lessons of molding from plasticine. There is a lot in common between these substances.

Virtually all the work with the use of a substance such as velvet plastic, photos of which are presented in this article, was performed by the Moscow artist Eugene Hontor. The master uses this material in his works since 2006 and masterfully mastered the techniques of working with him.

Where can I buy

Since velvet plastic is quite a new material on the Russian market, it can not be found in every store for needlework. The most popular plastic is TM TUKZAR, which is supplied by the company "Diamond". The plastic of this brand is considered to be the leader in the "price-quality" ratio.

In shops of the trading network "Orange Elephant" you can buy a lot for modeling A-cley, and in online stores you can find plastic company Modena.

The approximate price of velvet plastic is 2 rubles per 1 gram. That is, a jar of 50 g will cost at least 100 rubles. In general, not cheap.

How to make self-healing plastic by yourself

As the price in shops bites strongly enough, many needlewomen are interested in the question of whether it is possible to cook velvet plastic with their own hands. It turns out, you can. Only here there is one nuance. Home plastic mass can be quite toxic, so it's definitely not worth giving it to play for young children.

So, in order to make a velvet plastic, you will need:

• A small glass or metal jar;
• Acetone or nail polish remover;
• Polystyrene foam - packaging from household appliances;
• A metal spoon or a spatula for stirring.

Pour a small amount of acetone into the container, and break the foam into small pieces. Gradually we lower the parts of the foam to the solvent and mix it well. A chemical reaction occurs, as a result of which the foam is melted and mixed with acetone.

Repeat the process until the foam stops dissolving, acting on the principle of "how many will take." The result is a viscous, viscous mass. Now you need to wait a few minutes for the vapor of the solvent to evaporate. Remember, acetone is very toxic. Therefore, try not to inhale its vapors during work and be sure to take care of eye protection.

To remove excess moisture from the mass, mash it into a small cake and wrap it in a small piece of polystyrene. Set aside for a while. The mass will dissolve and absorb it. Repeat the operation until the pieces will not dissolve. Now you can add the dye of the desired color, for example food, and knead it well. Home velvet plastic is ready. The approximate time of its full congealing is 20-30 hours, depending on the size of the piece. If you do not have time to use it for this time, put a piece in the water for 4-5 days. He will become soft again. The general properties of such home plastic are very similar to the purchased ones, although they are not completely identical.