|
Vol.1
No.12
5
June 2002
Fimo
Brick
Noel
and Pat Thomas
When
I started, I wanted to use brick colored Fimo, but, because
I couldn't find any, I used a combination of Rosewood (3/4
of a pkg.), Red (less than 1/8 pkg.) and Terra Cotta (1/2 pkg.),
with good results. I think experimenting with assorted colors
works well because you can imitate the natural variations in
brick colors. Not all full-size bricks were made from the same
mud, nor were they all baked at the same heat, nor for the
same length of time. You can even mix bricks from different
clor batches. Experiment!
In
this case, experimentation allows you to use a lot of household
appliances for crafts you'd never have been allowed to use
as a child. You will need a blender or food processor, a pasta
machine, a sheet of glass, a bottle, an Exacto knife, a T square,
and an oven. To save money on a large batch of bricks, try
to buy Fimo in large blocks. If your miniature shop doesn't
carry them, try large craft suppliers, or bead and jewelry
supply shops.
1.
Cut Fimo into pieces and shred in blender or food processor
until the pieces are tiny, making it easier to combine colors.
2.
Work clay bits back together with your hands into a lump,
and flatten. Using a glass bottle for a rolling pin, roll
out balls into sheets about 1/4" thick.
3.
Blending and rolling: Feed each sheet through pasta machine
rollers. Fold, and repeat 3-4 times, working the clay down
to the thinnest setting on the machine, repeating until the
colors are completely blended. At first the colors will marbleize,
but eventually they will blend to one color. You made need
to feed the sheets once through the spaghetti cutter to get
them to mix. If you are using only one color of Fimo, you'll
only have to roll it out until the texture is smooth. Finally,
fold the blended sheets together and feed through the thickest
setting on the pasta machine, until you have a smooth, blended
slab (or slabs) of clay, about 3/32"-1/8" thick.
4.
Lay slab on glass, and with the Exacto knife, score the brick
shapes (approx. 5/8" X 1/4") into the clay. Don't
cut all the way through the clay. Texture surface to look
like brick (I used a nail brush, pressed randomly over the
surface, but, for more realism, you might try brushes with
different sized bristles, so the marks vary in size).
5.
Bake bricks on the sheet of glass for 30. min. in a 250 degree
oven.
6.
When cool, break slab into bricks on scored lines. The bricks
can now be "cracked," or "broken," dented,
edges softened, and other imperfections added with the Exacto
knife. Glue down with Elmer's white glue. Age the color by
painting with Raw Umber tube acrylics, thinned with a little
water, and/or experiment with olive greens, ochres and other
earth-tones for more variation. Grout, smoothing some of
the grout out with a damp sponge, so the grout is not quite
up to the level of the bricks.
© 2002
by Pat and Noel Thomas
|
|
