The Wax Museum
Wax Works (how wax is made)
Creating a display in the Wax Museum requires a team of artisans, working in concert. The "star" of the team is the Sculptor, who must posses an artist's critical eye and steady hand, an inventor's imagination and patience, plus a variety of handyman skills.
The Sculptor begins this painstaking project armed with photographs and actual measurements of the subject and a common lump of clay. Employing his unique talent for capturing the look and feel of life, a perfectly proportioned likeness begins to emerge.
The finished clay head is used to form a plaster mold. A molten mixture of natural and petroleum-based waxes is carefully poured and swirled inside the plaster mold, layer upon layer, until it is evenly coated with a two inch thickness of wax.
While the Sculptor anxiously waits for this mixture to thoroughly harden, he sets about creating the accompanying body parts necessary for the completed work....hands, arms and sometimes entire torsos, such as the distinctive muscular body of Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo" character. With the same eye to detail and precise proportion, each part must be a mirror-image of the subject, right down to the fingernails.
When the plaster mold encasing the head is carefully opened, a rough waxen image is revealed. Now the Sculptor sets to work on the intricate refinements and enhancements that give the work its uncanny life-like quality.
A special needle is used for the tedious, time consuming job of inserting the human hair---one strand at a time., including eye brows, lashes and any facial hair that is required.
Next, medical glass eyes are secured in place and porcelain teeth are positioned one by one in an attempt to duplicate the subject's actual dental characteristics.
Finally, thin layers of translucent paint are applied, creating skin tone while allowing the wax material to radiate through giving the image the look of life. The finished head is placed onto a life-size body, which has been constructed with precise measurements and any accompanying body parts are finished and attached.
At this point in the project, the cost of producing this single wax figure is estimated between $10,000 to $25,000, depending on the complexity, characteristics and research material available on the subject.
While the sculpting process was underway, other team members have been busily preparing their part of the show. Normally, a talented seamstress would be hard at work creating a custom-made costume to exact specifications. In some instances, however, contemporary celebrities may donate their own clothing for their wax likeness to wear, such as Joe Montana's '49er uniform.
Meanwhile, Craftsmen have been busy designing and building just the right setting to enhance the pose, position and character of the wax figure. Appropriate props and furnishings are added to provide realism and interest to the scene. Great attention is given to placement, color and intensity of the lights in order to show the work to its best advantage.
The figure is assembled, dressed and final adjustments are made to bring out the subtle life-like qualities. The finished work is placed in the scene and posed precisely. One final adjustment to the lighting to enhance the overall effect and the display is ready to be unveiled.
The Wax Museum endeavors to portray a wide variety of world-renown personalities, immortalized at that time in their lives when their impact was the greatest. As you enjoy our Four Floors of unique exhibits, keep in mind that wax figures do not age as their human counterparts may have done. You are seeing them today, frozen in time, just as they looked at the peak of their notoriety.
And now, on with the show! We invite you to mingle with the most fabulous, famous and infamous collection of personalities ever assembled under one roof in the Amazing World of Wax.
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