Modelling a Wolfs head, final wax stage....

Today we have our final mold (yey) and can begin the wax pour.  For my model I have chosen to use Paraffin Wax mixed with a little White Bee's Wax in order to reduce the brittleness. It also smells amazing.... With this kind of wax it is possible to add pigment to colour the wax however this time around I wish for my wolf head to remain white.

Paraffin Wax Pellets

Aside from the wax we also need a large metal pot for melting the wax in, a bike tyre tube for holding the mold together, a medium sized soft paint brush and a pouring tool (clean aluminium can).

The two half's of the mold are placed together (with the silicone mold inside) and tightly bound with the tyre tubing. This is where those important divots come into play, they should connect together neatly. The wax mixture is roughly 3 parts Paraffin to 1 part Bee's Wax.

Melting the Wax

The mold tightly bound.

The wax is then melted into liquid form and the pouring can begin.  A small amount of liquid wax is added to the mold at a time.  The mold is then slowly and methodically rotated in order to coat the whole of the inside evenly with wax.  It is a good idea to place the pot containing the hot wax below the mold as you rotate it, so that any wax that is spilt simply falls back into the pot to be re-used. Like so....

   (sorry the video is tilted! I didn't realise until after the person had taken it!)

As the wax cools (this particular wax turns white) you are able to see where the thinner parts of the mold are. The paint brush can now be used to thicken up these areas by painting wax onto them.

For my finished model I wish the nose and face of the wolf to be solid, and for the rest to be quite thick.  To achieve this I will have to repeat this stage twice, letting the first layers of wax cool completely before beginning the process again. This is the first stage...

First stage of wax pour.

First Stage of wax pour.

Second stage of the wax pour.

Second stage of the wax pour.

You can clearly see from the above photos the difference in thickness from the first to second wax pour.  All that is left to do now is leave it over night to completely dry and then we are finally ready to gently wrestle the model from the mold..... and the result?

Ta-da!!!

One wax wolf head!!