Graph showing the impact of a lost-wax sculpture’s size on the time needed for the different steps in the fabrication process. The data are based on records gathered between 1973 and 2006 kindly provided by Jean Dubos, director of Fonderie de Coubertin, related to the casting of a standing nude man, whatever the model. The duration is given in person-hours and only factors in working hours; the time needed for drying and baking of the investment, for instance, is not taken into account here, although those steps can take a long time (as shown in table 1). Also, the more people working simultaneously on a bronze, the quicker the completion (again see table 1).