It is time to prep the board for the armature. I will need a sturdy plywood base on which to secure the two armatures and it will need to be large enough for the 'lily-pad' (the ground that the boys will be standing on) as well as room for the mold-maker to make a large rubber flange to facilitate casting. I start by sanding the plywood smooth and getting some strips of wood to secure to the bottom of the board. The runners of wood will make it much easier to pick up the board to move it once the armatures and heavy clay are added.
Below you can see that I have cut the two strips of wood and am preparing to attach them to the bottom of my base. First I will drill three pilot holes through the strips and into the plywood.
The first drill bit was two small so I got a larger bit. Then I secured the strips using clamps and drilled the holes.
It is a good idea to counter-sink the screws so that they sit below the surface of the wood strips. If you don't countersink then the tops of the screws will scratch any surface that the board sits upon as well as add a bit of wobble to your work surface. As I didn't have a countersink bit I simply chose a larger drill bit and created some depth to the pilot holes.
Once the strips are solidly in place with the three screws then I flip the board over and give it three to four coats of sealer. This will seal the porous surface of the plywood and make it easier to for the mouldmaker as the clay and rubber will stick less to the wood. I'll let this dry over the weekend and then it will be time to start building and attaching the armatures.
