The Framers Forum

Has anyone had to frame anything made of plasticine? I have been asked to frame two heads made from plasticine. The backs are flat so I need to attach them to a backing. I have tried silicon but this failed after a few days. Because of the greasy nature of plasticine I can't think of any other way. Any ideas?

Hi maryc,

Welcome to the forum.

I would think about placing screws through the front of an appropriately sized piece of mountboard, going through your backing board into a thin strip of wood attached to the back. Leave the heads proud and press the piece on to the projecting screw heads.

I'm not sure if plasticine will harden with time, but if it does not then it will be impossible to do a long lasting job as the subject will gradually 'slump' and not only loose its form, but also detach from any fixing that you devise.

Perhaps others will have better suggestions, but please let us know how it turns out.

Any chance of posting a picture?

maryc,

It's hard to imagine that plasticine will harden, even slightly, over anything than a l.....o.....n.....g time, pulling off any type of securing method, marking the item, or outgassing some sort of chemicals.

I searched Google and found no reference to curing plasticine, so you probably can't : /

Maybe this is one of those times to recommend a display case, and have the items displayed on a coffee table of shelf ?

A glass case (or even acrylic, if there is no other choice) might be the only practical way. At least you can open it and clean of any outgassing haze from time to time if it develops.

yes.

I framed three plasticene objects -possibly flowers- that my youngest and most impecunious (well, my meanest) son made for the long suffering Mrs Kev ten years ago for mothers day in 1996.

so thats 10 years so far.

Box frame, long screws through the bottom, spike the objects onto the screws, and it still seems 100% well preserved and it hung on the wall for 8 years, through the hot summers with no drooping, survived a house move, and is still in one piece, no signs of outgassing, or any changes at all.

I did have the luck (accidental foresight) to put a mount in it, just in case of any crumblies, but the plasticine hasnt cracked or moved at all.

priceless.

come to think of it, he still owes me half of one weeks pocket money for that job. which was a pound at the time.

John
Just came across a post I did in 2006 as my alterego "maryc". Wanted to thank you for the advice you gave then. I was a forum virgin and didn't give you the courtesy of a reply. Anyway, I used your method and the customer was delighted. So far it hasn't been brought back.

Mary John Case

Hi Mary,

I use plasticene a lot for taking impressions from gesso decoration to mould replacements for broken of missing decoration.

Firstly from my own experience over time I have not found any evidence of it's properties changing with time at all. Although I can't prove it, I am sure that it is a stable material over time.

The good news is that it is easy to fix it in place when framing it and this is how I would do it:

Place the plasticene item in the ice box in your fridge over night. This will make it rock hard! While it is still cold and rock hard, drill a couple of pilot holes for fixing and screw it in place using screws through the mountboard and backing. Don't over tighten! Allow to return to room temperature before framing. Fit another backing board behind this to conceal the screws.

Charge accordingly for your specialist knowledge and technical skills. (Not everybody knows how to do this)

Ah plasticene,
Reminds me of by boyhood In fact the village I grew up in was at one time the HQ of Plasticene, and was the only place in the world it was made. As kids we would go through the big waste bins at the factory for the scraps of plasticene. I do remember in those days plasticene did seem to go hard after a while, it could be made to a different formula these days.

Steve

Plasticene clay will harden over a VERY long time. We used to sell the clay in our AM business and my grandmother took four one pound boxes and wrapped them in linen to use as weights at the design table. They were being used when I came into the business at six years of age and I turn 53 tomorrow.



Still use them.

They are hard as a rock now.