model, molding
塑 centers on shaping a soft material into a desired form: modeling clay or other substances, and by extension the process of molding something into a new shape.
塑 combines 朔 (which likely contributes the sound ソ) with 土 (earth, clay), suggesting shaping clay or earth into a model.
The top part 朔 looks like a hand shaping something, and the bottom 土 is clay. Picture hands pressing and smoothing soft clay into a model.
For ソ, imagine a sculptor saying 'so' as they smooth the clay: so -> ソ, and the clay becomes a perfect model.
moldable; plastic
plasticizer; plasticiser
plasticity
plastic materials
plastic material
plastics
plastics
plaster image; clay figure
plasto-elasticity
plasticity
plastic deformation
plasticity index
plastic limit
molding; moulding; modeling; modelling
carving; engraving
the plastic art
tōso; paste made from paulownia sawdust and wheat starch (used in traditional doll-making, etc.)
unfired clay figurine
moldable when heated; thermoplastic
thermoplasticity