Following the November 8th election of Donald Trump as the next US president, London’s famed wax museum, Madame Tussauds, has released a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of its newest figure, reports the Daily Mail.
The museum is planning on creating four life-size sculptures of Trump, to be displayed in London, Orlando, New York, and Washington, DC. The statues will go on display Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017.
In anticipation of the election, Madame Tussauds began sculpting wax heads of both candidates in June. On election day, the museum tweeted a photo of the unfinished gray clay sculptures placed head-to-head, an illustration of the face-off at the polls. With Trump’s unexpected victory, it is the Apprentice star’s statue that is currently being completed.
Madame Tussauds Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton busts. Courtesy of Madame Tussauds.
Reporters were given a chance to watch sculptor David Gardner at work this week as he brought Trump to life through a study of thousands of photographs. The artist used approximately 20 coats of paint on the statue, and wigmaker Sophie Crudgington employed yak hair in order to perfect the president-elect’s inimitable orange thatch of hair.
It is tradition for Madame Tussauds to immortalize American presidents, but Trump is unique in that he’s already received the honor, having been the subject of a waxwork at the museum in 1997. On that occasion, Trump actual sat for a portrait session with Madame Tussauds’ artists.
Hillary Clinton, too, has been on display at the popular tourist attraction, with a statue carved in 2006. No previous president has appeared at Madame Tussauds prior to entering office.