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I have planned a globular design that should work well as a box. I plan to make the armature out of rabbit wire, shaped over a childs ball.
However I recently read that making boxes can be problematic due to fitting the lids, once the layers of PM have been applied. Any ideas on how to avoid poor fitting lids?
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I've never made any boxes of papier mache, but I've been thinking of it.
From what I've seen of cardboard boxes that have lids that fit nicely, they all have an inner lip in the bottom edge that sticks up a bit from the edge, and the top part of the lid comes down over it to keep it aligned.
The ones that depend totally on the hinges to keep the lid straight seem to start coming apart soon from all the stress on the hinges. (my opinon)
If I were making a globular design, I would think that making the whole ball would be the best way to start, get it rigid enough to hold its shape, then carefully cut it apart, and build up each section, paying close attention to thickness of the edges and sides so you don't have one section much different from the other.
For some reason, I tend to view boxes with more suspicion :twisted: than other creations. I think it's the matching edges that would look odd if they didn't match completely. Again, my opinion.
Surely someone here has made some boxes and can give us some tips?
Sue
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Too often, the card on which you laminate can warp. A way of overcoming this is to use very strong (thick) card or . . . . . using thinner card (cereal packet type stuff) cut two pieces of identical shape. Laminate them using PVA. Fix them to a flate surface with masking tape or string until thoroughly dry. Then laminate with newspaper (or similar) all the way round, allowing each layer to dry before continuing.
This way you can easily build the inner and outer layer to create the lip that Sue is talking about.
DavidO
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