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Chronicle Live
National
Sonia Sharma

Man with autism sculpts incredible models from Babybel wax

These incredible models made out of Babybel cheese wax have earned Mitchell McLanaghan an army of fans across the world.

The 34-year-old, who lives near Newcastle city centre, was diagnosed with a high spectrum of autism when he was around nine years old and attended a number of special schools.

He also has Fragile X syndrome - a genetic condition that causes a range of developmental problems including learning disabilities and cognitive impairment.

When he turned 12, he started making models out of Babybel wax and his wonderful creations grew.

Now his work, which you can see in our picture gallery below, has gained him thousands of fans across the world, thanks to social media accounts set up by his family.

His creations are regularly showcased on his Facebook page, Mitchell’s Marvellous Models, and members of the public send in donations of the red wrappers so he can continue displaying his skills.

His recent models have included characters from Toy Story, The Simpsons, The Addams Family, Mr Bean, Detective Pikachu, Family Guy, Futurama, The Snowman and The Snowdog, and even the mask from the Jim Carrey film The Mask.

Mitchell's sister Margaret says he makes a lot of the models from memory and only looks at the pictures now and then to check he is on the right path.

Mitchell McLanaghan (Newcastle Chronicle)

Some of them can take days to create, while small ones can just take 20 minutes.

He first collects the wax, scrunches it in his hands and rolls it to make different models.

The heat from his hands helps him to mould the wax. He then uses small tools to carve the fine details.

Margaret said: "Mitchell has more than 5,700 followers and he gets messages from so many people who love what he does.

"He's made a great set of models recently and he really enjoys doing this. He also likes reading people's messages.

"We’ve always thought his work is amazing and we're proud of him."

Mitchell's previous models have included Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Wallace and Gromit, and characters from Star Wars, Red Dwarf and Lord of the Rings.

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