Great attention to detail. It reminded me of a series on You tube of a great American scale model builder Don Rice (sadly now passed away). He showcased a series of him building an F4U Vought Corsair. He like you went to great lengths in building his Corsair from originally a commercial kit. There was a section on him making a mould and forming numerous canopies to get the perfect result. I enjoy your series immensely, so keep up the good work. Off to Weston Park now to see more fabulous models.
Thankyou, and glad you are enjoying my antics. I followed Don, the canopy saga was epic. I remember one session where he mixed a bucket of casting powder and water, much as I did here, only I think Don was a but over exuberant when mixing and the whole lot ended up everywhere in his shop. His antics were fantastic to watch, clever, tenacious, and funny. Great guy, very sadly missed.....
I for one don´t like to waste on the materials when I do a cast like that. I carve a piece of foam that leaves around 1-2 cm all around. I put a big weight on top of it to make it stay submerged before filling around it with plaster. It has one more advantage as it makes the plug lighter to handle....
You are quite right, however in practice the entire structure needs added rigidity to keep the foam submerged, and the setting times mean that you have to act quite fast. But in theory you are right. In my defence 5kg of Herculite is just £11 so you have to balance cost versus time. But a bigger plug, I would definitely think of adding cheaper ie foam packing.
Does the plaster get hot enough to melt the plastic or make it softer? Would multiple pours solve that problem? I'd be tempted to use spray foam to add more support to the plastic so it's not just supported by the rim. Would that help?
No the Herculite doesn't get hot enough to do any harm to the plastic. Modellers do build a box around the outside of the stand and back fill with sand to help support the weight. The weight of this one was okay to just be supported by the edge. I do say in the video that the distortion was actually in the original vac-formed canopy......
