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Molding a fly

Take the fattest vo flies that go into
pantries, which are not hairy, if it is possible. If they
are, smear lightly their down & capricious hair with
olive oil to couch it. Also take them and use them as
soon as you can after they are dead, because if you were to leave them
to dry a lot, their e legs would break when you
would want to spread them out. One needs also, to make them come out
better, to place them on something like a leaf, or similar thing, to
help the casting of their little legs, which are so frangible that by
themselves, they would not come out well in the cast. They can be
planted on a sage leaf, or similar thing. They are cast well in
silver & gold, but one usually makes the legs &
wings separately & one reattaches them. I have molded one on a
esage leaf bouquet of
sage, which had seven or eight leaves. And to make its stance
att, I fixed its legs au on the
widest leaf with a little wax, melted & reattached with a
hot iron wire point. And in order that the wings come
out better, I smeared the underside of these with melted butter
with a little pinceau. And with the same hot
iron wire point, I smeared the legs & feet with
wheat oil. And to lay down & couch the
downy hair that it had, I smeared it also
u with a little olive oil.

I did not leave the wheat oil to dry a lot, because
it is thick & has body, & the eau-de-vie does not take at
all.

For the smearing, atallow is too harsh,
pork fat is too soft, and butter is the most
excellent because it is soon dry & curdles & melted quickly
& firmer. Take heed that the legs & feet are well seated on the
leaf & not outside it, for what would exceed would not come out
well, especially in silver, because this would exceed
the, so fine, would be of no help in the casting. And,
in truth, the feet which had been laid on the leaf came out well, but
those which straddled from leaf to leaf & remained in the void, did
not come out in tin. The rest of the fly came out well,
and especially the bouquet of sage, which is very beautiful
molded.


One could even cast it in gold & silver, without the
feet & without applying it on a flower, by making the gate under the
belly & reattaching with solder the feet, & if needs be
the wings with the same metal, & it could be enamelled
by fortifying the wings a little & the feet, as said.


If your sage or branch has something to repair, do as said
below. And then paint, according to its nature.




Once cast in gold, one enamels the wings with window
glass from Lorraine, which is verdesin and
transparent.


One needs to make the gate for the fly from the bottom in
order with melted wax, adapted with the iron
point, as you know, to which the fly attaches itself,
& then the wax, while melting, serves as a gate for the
fly.



+
If some flaw happens to the wings of your fly, beat some
tin very thin, or & some gold or
silver, if you have cast it in it, & with trim
with some scissors what one needs to reattach there, &
next, apply it with your small pincers & glue it
with fish glue, prepared as put below. And before, heat
lightly your work, in order that its coldness does not refuse the
glue, which will be soon dry, heating it from afar. Next, cover
lightly the joints of the reattached thing with some modelling
wax, which is white wax mixed with a lot of
ceruse or lead white, melting it well with a hot
iron point. You will also cut some small bits of
spinet strings & glue with the said
glue, & once dry, that is to say the feet, repair with this.
You will enlarge them with the same melted wax, to render them
equal.

