The Little World

Well, I gave it the old college try – or in this case the old Dental School try. I used red baseplate wax to mask off the Mustang I.

It was old home week for a while there as I set up the bunsen burner and got the wax warmed up. If I was doing it on a summer’s day with the workshop at 40º plus I don’t think the bunsen would have been needed – but it was cooler tonight.

The wax works much as it did decades ago, folding and snuggling down when warm and then carving smoothly. It becomes moderately stiff when cooled but you can warm it close to a flame and reposition it.

Sticking it to the masking tape or itself is too easy – just drip a knife blade of molten wax on the two parts and let it cool.

The margins of the pattern were the part I was worried about – whether there would be a lot of swarf or residue where the paint was to spray. In the event this doesn’t seem to have been a problem.

The unveiling was also pretty easy as the wax has little adherence to the paint and could be  peeled off in great slabs. The resultant finish is about as good as the masking tape masks, though the feathered edge I tried for only appeared in a couple of places.

The next time I try this technique I am going to form the mask off the model on a paper pattern and use a small flame to round the edges of the wax. Then that feather edge may appear more evenly.