High Definition Modelling Clay

This terracotta-like substance is not a ceramic clay; true terracotta is water-based and would have dried out in the air over time as the water content evaporated, but this sample remains malleable despite having been in the collection for a number of years. This material’s capacity to still be moulded after a long time – attested by the nail marks and other indentations on its surface – suggests it is an oil-based modelling clay made from a mixture of oils, waxes and clay minerals. There is also a possibility that it is a polymer clay, which is so-called because of its behaviour, despite not actually containing any clay minerals. However, it certainly doesn’t smell like FIMO, a well-known polymer clay. You could find out for certain by heating this substance in an oven; an oil-based clay would melt because of the wax content, and a polymer-based clay would thermoset (harden permanently at a low temperature). As a result of its pliability, oil-based modelling clay is often used by artists like Aardman’s Nick Park (creator of Wallace & Gromit) in the extremely arduous process of stop-motion animation.