Making wax figures is a complex process that only a professional team of sculptors and artists can do. Quality wax figures are handcrafted over the course of a few months and cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Instructions
Step 1
The first step in creating a wax figure is a very detailed examination of the sample. Sculptors, if possible, personally examine a person, measure his anthropometric data. If personal contact is not possible, they find photographs of the person, view the video. If a sculpture of a historical person is created, their portraits and sculptures are found. After measurements, a pose characteristic of a given person or character is selected, which will best emphasize his character and emotional characteristics.
Step 2
The wax figure is made on the basis of a plaster cast made from a previously created clay or plasticine sculpture, i.e. the sculptor does not work with wax, but with other materials. The figure is cast from very high quality beeswax, to which various coloring pigments are added so that the figure has the desired color. The wax is poured into injection molds at a temperature of 74oC, then it cools down in them for an hour. Finished sculptures are cleaned of burrs and seams and wrapped in special fabrics that allow the figure to cool completely without cracking.
Step 3
Modern wax figures are coated with a special varnish, which makes them durable and resistant to high and low temperatures. Often, the parts of the wax figure that are hidden by clothing are not made of wax, but plastic. But the head and hands are always made of wax.
Step 4
For wax figures, special dentures are created, while they are selected so that they fit the anatomical shape of the jaw.
Step 5
For many hours, pastigers work on the figure, who create a sculpture of a hairstyle from real hair, as well as eyebrows, eyelashes, mustaches and beards if necessary.
Step 6
The last stage is the work of make-up artists. It is they who turn a dead doll into an almost living creature that is difficult to distinguish from the original.
