Introducing a new texture and a new wax.
The new wax that comes in a solid block works very differently from the red wax and much more like a polymer clay than a wax.
My first attempt at applying it was to pull of small sections from the block and apply it directly to the plaster core like building up an area of clay work. This didn’t work, I tried smoothing each of the pieces to adhere it to the first but the dusty surface of the plaster core prevented it from adhering and instead the back of the wax became covered in a powdery residue.
My next attempt was slicing it down into smaller sections and warming it up in the palm of my hand until it was able to be pinched and pushed into a small slab. When the wax slab was placed onto the core it still did not stick to the plaster but it did stick to the waxed thread.
With the next slice I warmed and flattened a larger piece and this, when applied to the core, stuck to more than one guide line of waxed thread and adhered much more successfully.