by ajelstein » Tue May 08, 2012 8:21 pm
Hi guys, I struggled with the same question of where to get this "model makers wax" ever since I first saw Larry sculpt a Mr Whiggley master out of it. I have spent more time than I care to admit searching the web, as well as local and online retailers trying to find it. I have tried microcrystaline wax...very sticky difficult to work or carve, and spru (Sp?) wax...better but still not very workable by hand hard to weld, and goes almost directly from solid to liquid when heated (I have successfully carved a couple Whiggley masters out of this with the help of a knife and soldering iron). The sculpy is good for many things but to me the added advantage of being able to melt a substrate into a mold or incrementally modify/improve my original master after a mold and hard plastic duplicate has been made is invaluable.
Well the good news is I finally found it and the info is as follows:
Website: WillowProducts.com
They offer many different wax formulations, the one you want is called Ether
It costs $7 for a 5.25x5.25x.5" block which may seem expensive but when you consider that you can use it over many times it is not.
They are a part time garage business and in my expierience they are quite slow but it is worth the wait, their transaction process is also quite odd; when I submitted my order I waited several days to receive an invoice via email then I paid via PayPal and waited more than a week for it to ship so be prepared to wait. Make sure you read all of the FAQs in the catalog before you order.
Finally, I just want to be clear that I am in no way officiated with the company.
I hope some of you find this as useful as I have...Mike, perhaps you can even work something out with them to stock and sell it thru makelure.com so that we can get it in a more reliably in a reasonable time frame.
Regards,
Andy