156v - - - - - Moulding a fly
Take the fattest flies, that go to pantries, which are not hairy, if at all possible. If they are hairy, oil lightly their fur and their unmanageable hairs with olive oil to make them lie flat. Take them also and use them as quickly as you can after they have died, because it you leave them to dry out, their legs will break when you want to stretch them. You must also, to get a better cast, arrange them on some kind of leaf or other similar thing. This will help to cast their little legs, that are so fragile that unaided, they will not cast easily. They can be arranged on a sage leaf or something similar. They cast well in gold or silver but one usually the legs and wings separately and then join them to the main body. I have cast one on a bouquet of sage that had seven or eight leaves. And to arrange it, I affixed the legs on the largest leaf with a bit of melted wax and joined them with the pointed tip of a hot iron wire. And to make sure that the wings will eventually join more easily to the body, I applied on the underside some melted butter with a small brush. And with same pointed end of a warm iron wire I applied wheatgerm oil on the legs and feet. To tame and bed the downy hair that it has I also apply a bit of olive oil.
I do not let wheatgerm oil dry out a lot because it is very thick and has body, and the spirits cannot penetrate it.
For applications, tallow is too harsh, pork fat is too soft, and but is excellent because it is rather dry and curdles and instantly melts and is firmer. Be advised that the legs and feet are well set on the leaf, and not go beyond the leaf, because the whatever exceeds the leaf will not cast as well, even if cast in silver, because these parts are so fine that they will not cast. And truthfully, feet set on a leaf, cast well, but those set from leaf to leaf which remain iffy did not come out well in tin. The rest of the fly was cast, and likewise the sage bouquet which cast very beautifully.
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You could also cast them well in gold or silver without the feet, and without attaching to a flower by casting it underneath the belly and then joining the feet with soldering. And if you need to, cast the wings in the same metal and it could be enameled if you fortify the wings and feet as previously said.
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If your sage leaf or your branch needs to be repaired, do as I have said below. And then paint in a realistic way. Figure
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Having been cast in gold, one enamels the wings with window glass from Lorraine, which is and transparent.
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It is necessary to cast the fly from the ass with some melted wax, fitted by an iron tip, as you know, to which the fly attaches itself, and then the wax, as it melts, serves as a cast for the fly. +
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If it happens that you have some defects with your fly’s wings, hammer some very fine tin, or gold or silver, if you cast it, and shape with scissors the amount you need for your wings. And then apply it with tweezers and glue it with fish glue, applied like it is shown below. And before doing thing this heat your work lightly so that its coldness does not repel the glue, which will dry quickly, heating it from afar. Then cover lightly the joints of whatever you’ve attached to the cast with some esbaucher wax, which is a white wax that is mixed with a lot of ceruse or white lead, melting it with a warm iron point. You will also cut little bits of harpsicord string and will glue them with the aforementioned glue when they are dry. It is to know, the feet, having been reworked thusly, you will make them bigger with this same melted wax so that they are equal in proportion with the rest.