I needed to produce a canopy for my upcoming circa 1938 Olympia Meise and started out with idea of making a silver soldered steel frame as used in the full size. I found that the wire used by flower arrangers is relatively soft so that it can easily be bent to shape and it also silver solders very well. Everything was going great until I tried to make the sheeting that attaches to the wire frame to provide anchorage for the glazing. Without a wheeling machine I found it impossible to create the required shape.

Considering that the Meise was intended to be made by every country that wanted to take part in the 1940 Olympics I think a similar problem might have arisen. Where do you find a wheeling machine in Mongolia!

So, what to do? I had been given so much help by members of the full size fraternity who provided me with pictures and drawings that I felt an obligation to find a way forward.

Vacuum forming seemed a possibility and looking at the excellent articles by Dave Smith and Chad Veich on the SSUK hints and tips section suggested that it was a walk in the park. I also have some canopies from Dennis Bryant for a Henschal HS126 that I’m building. These have all the structure of the canopy moulded in.

You can see that ideas are starting to come together. Detail moulded in, including the rivets for the glazing. After talking with Dennis to get some idea of the way he made his plug I nearly gave up .His process showed a level of dedication that I couldn’t possibly consider for a one off. However, during the discussion I did get lots of valuable information regarding thicknesses for the structural members to make sure they stood out enough without being overpowering. For the size of Canopy I needed 0.75mm was suggested. Using balsa for the base shape a former was made and ply for the structure which was applied using cyno. I used short pins to create the rivet heads. Before applying the structure I gave the plug about four coats of sanding sealer, rubbing down between each coat. The finish seemed good

After the appliqué another couple of coats were applied.

Back to the SSUK articles. I need to make box and a perforated lid. 18mm MDF comes in 8x4 sheets and perforated hardboard is the same. Stopped again! Poking around in the workshop I spied an old drawer that would meet the need so I set too and made a perforated lid to fit. Before assembly all the joints were sealed with silicone, including the lid. A chain drilled hole in one end finished with a drum sander and we had the elements of a vac forming machine, without any involvement of B&Q.

The last piece of the jigsaw was a frame to hold the plastic while it was heated. I didn’t have the required bulldog clips or the Aly strip suggested in one of the articles. So I made two identical frames from an odd piece of 12mm MDF, cutting an aperture in each so that it would easily fit over the vac box. Held together with screw this clamps the plastic and gives something strong to hold onto.

After all that we’re ready to start.

Oven on, vacuum ready, Gloves ready, Vac bed ready. I loaded the frame with plastic into the oven and waited for the telltale signs suggested in the other article.

Vacuum on, Gloves on, Open the oven and plunge plastic over the former. I was now in for a great surprise; as soon as the seal was made, whoosh! There was a canopy.

The bad news. When I removed it from the plug it had taken some of the sanding sealer with it and also what I thought would be a great finish was anything but, the grain of the balsa was clearly visible. What a misery. Having come this far I went for the plan B that someone suggested. That is, leaving the first forming on the plug and then repeating the process. Success, one very useable front canopy. This, as they say, has taken longer to write that the moulding process.

There you have it. Not up to Roly’s Standard but acceptable.