wax

 Sooooo.. here's the lovely wax, most of it melted in a double boiler and poured into the bowl. Beautiful colour isn't it....came in bars which me and the lad used in a sword fight!. Only one trouble is on i didn't consider. The dammed stuff shrinks as it cools, so its not in contact with the copper. Not a great deal but enough to make it tricky.

 A few taps and its falls out!.. Hum going to have to think about this, the original idea entailed beeswax and plaster of Paris.

So unable to get Plaster Of Paris but my reasoning builders plaster is a reasonable-ish substitution. Though a bit gritty it mixed well. And made the lovely red a putrid pink. Reasoning is that if the wax shrinks half and half with plaster it will shrink half as much as the plaster is just solid filler. good idea only it still dam well shrinks! Maybe ok though latter when the bowl is in it's proper shape i will try it anyway.

thinking on things its a rare thing that doesn't shrink as it cools, possibly only one thing grows as it cools and that ice!.....dam the laws of physics!