help needed for wax sculpture i want to create

[AROWE77]

I am looking to make a sculpture out of wax. something which i dont have to cast as it is not neccesary that it lasts a long long time (although i would like it to last a fair while).

I want to be ambitious and am attempting a half life size figure of Tom Thumb based on the secret adventures of tom thumb (something a bit more grim).

I am looking for ways to get a basic shape or bulk out the armature with as little cost as possible and without having to make a mould of any thing if possible.
I am also intrigued by the textures i could acheive by possible dripping wax onto an armature but again have no idea what sort of armature would work without too much cost.

I have only ever used water and oil based clays and plaster to sculpt in before so really am a complete beginner in wax.

[SavannaLeigh]

Wax can hold fantastic detail! If you're trying to avoid molding, you can use a hot knife to melt and drip wax onto your armature, but it would take quite a while. I've been using a wax pen for a few weeks now, and I couldn't be happier with it. Try to find some dental tools for detailing- to me, wax seems to be alot less modeling and a lot more carving. I'd love to see pictures of your progress, Good luck!

[Alan H.]

Morning, AROWE77.

One thing you could do is to build your wire armature as standard for a clay sculpt, making sure to include thin wire for fingers etc. and adding tin foil to bulk out sections such as the torso and then just dip the whole thing in your melted wax several times to build up a reasonable thickness of wax over the structure (give yourself a bit more thickness than you finally want so that you have something to carve back into).

You can then attack this thing with dental tools etc. to model the form you want, heating your metal tools a little over a spirit burner to cut through thicker pieces of wax more easily.

Hope this helps a little towards getting your base for modelling. Keep us posted.