The brain is a complex organ, but with some advice, you can create a rough clay model of it. Making the basic brain shape is very simple. For a more accurate and scientific project, however, try making a brain atlas or a detailed model.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Simple model
Step 1. Detach two clay balls
For a brain with a diameter of 10 cm, each detached ball should be 5 cm. This brain will only be one color. Choose light pink or gray clay for best results.
Each ball of clay you peel off at this stage will need to be half the size you want for your brain model. If in doubt, pull off a little more, never a little less. It will be easier to reduce the clay later than to add it
Step 2. Roll each ball into a long string
Place a clay ball at the base of your fingers. Rub your hands back and forth along the clay itself. This process will allow the clay to gradually acquire the shape of a string. Continue until you have a string of 10 cm in length and approximately 30 mm in diameter. Repeat the same operation with the other ball.
- Once you start forming the string in your hands, you may find it easier to put it on a flat, hard surface and continue rolling it to make it thinner, holding it between one hand and the new surface.
- The thickness must be uniform along the entire clay string.
- Remember to vary length and thickness according to the final dimensions of your model. The lengths of each string must all be of the same size more or less, as well as the desired final diameter. Add or subtract 16mm in width each time you add or subtract 5cm in length.
Step 3. Fold each string into a lobe
There is no precise model to follow. Simply fold a string into a ball by stacking and wrapping it around itself. This ball will be a lobe of the brain, and when finished it will need to be slightly longer than it is wide. Repeat the same procedure with the other string.
- Each hemisphere should have a slightly flattened side along the edge of the lobe where both will meet. This will become even flatter when you press the two lobes to bring them together.
- The bottom of the lobe should also be a little flatter than the top and outer edges of each.
- Remember not to smooth the string too much as you create the lobe. This rope-based model is the element that will give the clay the typical look of the brain.
Step 4. Gently press the two lobes together
Use your fingers to press carefully, long side to long side, and squeeze them together. This will complete your mini-model of the brain.
- Don't press too hard as this will flatten the brain or flatten the strings too much.
- The final model should be approximately equal in length and width.
Part 2 of 3: Approximate Atlas of the Brain
Step 1. Consult a basic brain atlas
It will be easier to build an atlas of the brain if you first reference a photo of the organ. Doing so will make it easier for you to calibrate the position of each area and the shape of each part that composes it.
Step 2. Choose six different colors of clay
Each color will be used to create a different section of the brain. Using different colors will allow you to separate and identify each element more easily
- Use a different color for each section of the organ.
- In the atlas, no particular color is assigned to a specific section. Use the ones you prefer.
Step 3. Form the axis of the brain
Take a small piece of clay and make a thick string. Pinch and smooth the string with your fingers until the tip curves up and to the left, while the bottom drops to the right. The bottom should also be pointed, while the top should have a flat edge and look a little larger overall.
Step 4. Connect the cerebellum
Peel off roughly half the amount of clay used to make the brain axis. Roll it up and form a triangle with rounded edges. Position it so that it rests on the upper curve of the brain axis.
Step 5. Create the temporal lobe
Peel off a piece of clay about the same size as the piece used for the plank. Roll it up and flatten it to form an oval. Position it so that the center of the bottom of the lobe is connected to the tip of the left corner of the axis. The tip of the lobe should roughly touch the midpoint of the superior margin of the cerebellum.
Step 6. Switch to the occipital lobe
Take a piece of clay roughly the same size as the piece used for the cerebellum. Roll it up and smooth it out to create a small rectangle with rounded edges. Press the bottom edge onto the remaining portion of the upper edge of the cerebellum, creating the shape with your fingers so that the two outer corners meet at roughly the same point. Now that the lobe is in place, use your fingers to curve the outer edge slightly inward. Remember that the inner edge must touch part of the temporal lobe.
Step 7. Add the parietal lobe
Take a slightly larger piece of clay than the one used in the previous step and form another slightly larger rectangle than the one you made earlier. Press it towards the left edge of the occipital lobe and make sure the bottom is against the temporal lobe. With the lobe in place, use your fingers to curve the outer upper edge so that it naturally continues along the curve of the occipital lobe. The rectangle should lean slightly to the right.
Step 8. Create the frontal lobe to complete the atlas
This should be the largest piece of clay and slightly larger than the piece you used to make the plank. Roll it up and smooth it out so it has three sides. The left or outer side will have to curve downwards. The two inner margins should be approximately half the length of the outer margin, and both should be the same length as the parietal and temporal lobe margins to which they will be connected. Wedge this final piece between the blue and purple lobes.
Part 3 of 3: Detailed model
Step 1. Create the brain axis
Form two small ovals with the clay. The length of one must be half that of the other. Connect the shorter to the left side of the longer and smooth them until they form a single piece.
- This smaller protuberance is the Variolo Bridge of the cerebral axis.
- Remember this guide only uses one color clay. If you want to make an atlas of this model as well, you will need to use seven different colors.
Step 2. Form the cerebellum
The cerebellum looks like a small circle with two thin cords connected to the axis of the brain. Roll up a circular piece of clay, about the same size as the thinnest part of the brain axis. Create a string to attach to the lower part of the cerebellum, which will be pressed against the right side of the axis.
Pinch a piece of clay at the bottom of the cerebellum to get something to attach the cords to
Step 3. Connect the cerebellum to the axis
Stretch the pieces against the right side of the brain axis and fold the cut portions slightly to the right. Gently press one piece against the other until they join together. Connect a string on one side along the axis of the brain and the other up along the bridge.
If you prefer, make grooves on the circular portion, using a pencil or pointed clay tool to simulate the real appearance of the cerebellum
Step 4. Create the hippocampus
Make a small bullet out of the clay. The length must be approximately the same as the length of the axis. Turn the piece on its side, then press one half of it onto the top of the plank. Curve the other end up and around so that its "tail" almost meets the "head" connected to the axis of the brain. Remember that the upper cord of the cerebellum must be mostly covered by this folded portion.
- The top of the brain axis should be completely covered.
- To add some realism, use a pointed tool to draw vertical lines of the portion of the hippocampus connected to the axis of the brain.
Step 5. Fit the thalamus inside
Peel off a piece of clay large enough to fit into the space created by the curve of the hippocampus. Insert it directly into the opening.
This will also help you keep the hippocampal curve within your model
Step 6. Connect the corpus callosum
Create a long string about the same thickness as the hippocampal "tail". Position it so that it lies directly on top of the curved portion of the hippocampus.
The left end must touch the bottom "head" of the hippocampus. The right end must touch the cerebellum
Step 7. Make the telencephalon
This portion is the largest part of the brain and the most difficult to model. You will need to connect small curved cords to each other and structure them around the curve of the model. Make a dozen of these little strings. Each should be short and thin about the same as the string portions of your cerebellum. You will need to attach small curved strings on top of each other following the current curve of the brain.
- Curve a small chord over the top of the round portion of the cerebellum, but do not allow it to extend below the side. Wrap it, stacking it so that it touches the corpus callosum and does not extend too far to the right of the right side of the cerebellum.
- Continue stacking, curving, and joining the cords in a similar fashion until you make room around the corpus callosum, until you touch the left end of the hippocampus.
- Use your fingers or a clay shaping tool to smooth the outside of the telencephalon. This outer margin must be a smooth curve.
Step 8. Connect the amygdala to complete the model
Peel off a piece of clay, about a third of the size of the thalamus. Roll it up into an oval, then wedge it into the front of the brain, between the lower edge of the telencephalon and the upper edge of the Variolo Bridge.
