A Tintin installation was inaugurated on the fourth anniversary of Mother’s Wax Museum and it is located not inside but outside the centre.

In another first, the statue was unveiled by two students of The Newtown School. Diya Tantiya, former head girl and a student of Class X, and Om Sharma, literary vice-captain and a student of Class IX, unveiled the statue.

“A few years ago we had written to Madame Tussauds, inviting them to open a branch in New Town. They replied that while they were planning to spread to India, Calcutta was not on their radar,” said Debashis Sen, chairman cum managing director of Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation that is in charge of the museum. “The response was hurtful but we took up the challenge and set up our own museum.”

Sen also launched a brochure and website www.motherswaxmuseum.in with details of the same.

Four people who have been instrumental in the museum’s success — Susanta Ray, who has made most of the wax statues, Subimal Das who has made many silicon statues, Indrajit Basu, whose team has made fibre statues, and Vivek Rathod of Salient Design Studio who has designed the interiors — were felicitated.

“Our biggest challenge is making sculptures without measurements,” said Ray, while Basu said some special preparations had been made before installing the Tintin statue outside. “We gave it special paint with fireproof coating that will be washable and also not fade under the harsh sunlight,” he said.