Polymer clays were first developed to
address wartime shortages of materiels used in doll making. Kathe Kruse
designed dolls ran a very well known manufacturing company in Germany,
and was in possesion of a sample of self hardening plastic modeling material
(no mixed chemical catalyst needed).
She did not find it suitable for her purposes, but turned it over to
her daughter, whose nickname was "Fifi". The enterprising young
woman worked with it and made miniatures and artistic items. In the 1960's
they sold the rights to Eberhardt-Faber who marketed it as "FiMo"
which stood for a shortened version of "Fifi Mosaic".
Bakelite, an earlier form of plastic used in jewelry, buttons and many
industrial and consumer items, had been in use for half a century, but
it was a phenol based product. Much care had to be taken with it, as it
was quite flammable during the production process. The polymer clays we
know today are chemically different, no longer made with a phenol base,
and are much safer for home use.
Miniaturists have known about polymer clays for a long time, and this
medium is more popular than ever with those who collect dolls, doll houses,
and their miniature furnishings.
Here are a few tea sets and items that are made
in the 1' = 2" scale,
also known as "11 1/2 inch fashion doll scale".
Polymer lends itself well to miniature furnishing details
and accessories, and can easily mimic gilt, wood, stone, and so many other
things, including food!
Here are three different teapots, one with raised decorations, and two
with slices of millefiore canes to imitate painted china. (Thank you to
Carol Simmons for the slices of Celtic Knot canes.)
Here's a picture of a miniature bedroom set thats in the works. Click
here for more about the bedroom set.
Classes are currently being offered in miniature making. Click here to find out more.
It can sometimes be difficult to decide just how big or small something
should be to fit in a particular scale...and I would rather do art than
math...so I've created a handy reference chart so I only need figure it
out once!
Now you can use it too. Just look up the full scale size of something
using the red numbers on the left of the chart, and look to find what it
would be in four different popular doll and miniature scales by reading
to the right .
