Plasticine Monster

Television presenter James May together with Chris Collins, Jane McAdam Freud, Julian Fullalove and around 2000 members of the public created a show garden for the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show made entirely of Plasticine called 'Paradise in Plasticine'. The garden took 6 weeks and 2.6 tons of Plasticine to complete. 24 colors were used. May said, "This is, to our knowledge, the largest and most complex model of this type ever created." It couldn't be considered as part of the standard judging criteria as it contained no real plants, but was awarded an honorary gold award made from Plasticine. The garden was extremely popular with the public and went on to win the Royal Horticultural Society’s 'peoples choice' for best small garden. The garden now resides in Burton upon Trent's Octagon Shopping Centre, as a local attraction.
Athletics officials in high level long jump and triple jump competitions use plasticine to help determine if the competitors are making legal jumps. A 10 centimeter strip of plasticine is placed beyond the take-off line. If an athlete leaves a mark in the plasticine, it is considered proof that the jump was a foul and the attempt is not measured.
When tuning an engine for higher performance, different pistons and higher lift camshafts are often installed. This creates a risk that the valves might strike the piston, causing serious damage. To measure the valve-to-piston clearance, a piece of Plasticine can be put on top of a piston, the cylinder head replaced, and the engine rotated manually through a full cycle. After removing the cylinder head, the valves will have made an impression in the Plasticine. The thickness of this impression is measured to give the valve to piston clearance.