Pipe Bending Ponderings

Planning out the next steps for fabricating the body of the Dodo was important after creating the head, and gave me a good start on doing something whilst waiting for the plaster to set. I began by doing some 1:10 scale drawings of the Dodo's body and how the frame would sit with the rider in. As you can see the 'saddle' part of the frame is the most complex in its shape, with bends in two directions that will make it challenging to create evenly. However, having a rigid frame inside of the saddle may (hopefully) mean that I don't have to do the fume-filled and itchy process of fibreglassing.
The only way to find out whether I will need to or not is to make the frame and saddle and then see how securely it sits on the wearer with the harness.

The layout of the supporting bars may change as I create the frame to fit how best it should be supported. I am in effect making a structure like the underneath of a boat, just with the widest points being the front and back respectively of the body. This will allow me to easily get the organic, curved shape I need without sacrificing structural integrity.

On parts where I will need to create joins between pieces of tube - such as the circle which makes the neck base - I plan to cut off a piece of PVC and create a 'cuff' by cutting it down the length of it, and then feed it onto the join, butting the two internal pieces inside of it. Then, I will drill through it and use a pop rivet gun to secure the connection between the two strongly with a neat, flush outer.

Using the pipe bender is definitely getting easier with practice, the PVC has a sweet spot when it goes shiny and is soft enough to flex, but if pushed too hard or heated too much it will stretch and collapse. When cooled it hardens to a strong and smooth finish. It is proving to be a challenge to make the pieces match but my paper templates are definitely helping this. If I cannot get a good, tight bend on any of the tighter pieces I expect I will have to draw the template onto a board and screw in struts which the PVC can be bent around.