WHAT IT IS Securing immortality in wax
WHY YOU WON’T DO IT Fame is fickle and can come and go in the time it take to get modelled
There is fame, and then there is being immortalized in wax at the famous Madame Tussauds in London. The modelling process is a time-consuming one that demands that your fame lasts rather more than the proverbial 15 minutes, but once you’re on display, you can expect to feature in countless holiday snaps with bedazzled tourists.
Madame Tussaud was born Anna Maria Grosholtz in Strasbourg in 1761 and established her first London museum in Marylebone in the early years of the 19th century. Over the ensuing centuries, its methods of model-making have changed dramatically.
If you want to earn your place in front of the hordes of tourists, your first move should be to become a household name. The London museum introduces 10–12 new models per year, and each can take up to six months to perfect. As a result, Madame Tussauds is not bothered about fly-by-nights or the stars of the underground. If you’re the Queen, great! Barack Obama, yes! Lady Gaga, come in! In the fame stakes, aim high.
Having received the call that you’re to be featured, you’ll be working with Merlin Studios of Acton in West London on your casting. The first step is to arrange your visit to the studios. Sittings can be as short as 15 minutes, but about four hours is more desirable. You’ll meet with the sculptor, their assistant, specialists in hair, eyes, skin and wardrobe, and a team to mould your teeth and hands. You’ll discuss the general image of the model, including expression and pose. The sculptor will take copious photographs and precise measurements, but they will also try to get to know the ‘real you’, in the hope that the model captures the essence of your personality.
The sculptor then spends several weeks sculpting in clay. Along with the photos taken at the sitting, they will use press photos and video footage for inspiration. An armature (that’s your skeleton) is built up out of steel and aluminium rods, newspaper padding and chicken wire – you might be famous but it’s not all glamour.
Once the neck has been perfected, your head will be removed for detailed work. Incidentally, your sculpted head will be made larger than it really is in order to make up for shrinkage during the wax casting process. The whole sculpting process can take anything from 10 to 12 weeks.
Next comes the moulding and casting stage. The head and hands (the bits most on display, unless you’re Lady Gaga) are treated separately from the rest of the body. A beeswax and Japan wax mix is used to cast the head, and the plaster moulds are built to last up to 200 years in case repairs are needed in the future. Your head is cast in many sections, then returned to the sculptor after assembly for ‘ironing out’ of any joins.
Your hands will be cast in dental alginate, a strong and flexible material that reproduces all the lines, pores and hair follicles in your skin. Your body, meanwhile, will be cast in resin and fibreglass. Oil paints are used to detail your head and hands – the head typically takes five days, with a further two days for the hands. The eyes are painted with watercolours, their colours sourced to perfectly match your real eyes. Making them takes ten hours, while a full set of gnashers can take a teeth-grinding four days. Using impressions taken at your sitting, they are made with materials bought from dental suppliers. Each tooth is then individually coloured and polished. Meanwhile, a hair merchant matches hair to a sample taken at your sitting. Each strand is individually inserted with special tools in a marathon six-week ‘thatching’.
Finally, you’ll be clothed – normally the museum asks you to donate some of your own clothes but if this is not possible, exact copies can be sourced from the appropriate shop or tailor. So there you go – but if you do get the call from Tussaud’s, just make sure they are not planning to put you into the Chamber of Horrors!
KEY PLAYER A Tussauds sculptor puts the finishing touches to a clay bust of Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, prior to casting in wax. Ronaldo made his debut in time to celebrate the FIFA World Cup in a ‘fantasy football’ team that also included England’s David Beckham and Brazil’s legendary Pelé.
