Now that I'm over the flu I'm back on the project.

The forced 'vacation' time allowed me to reconsider the mold process. What was nagging me was that each time I estimated the volume of silicone needed even after packing the mold box, the amount needed seemed excessive. We just need a thin layer around the canopy and I kept thinking there must be a better way.

What I decided to do was to hollow out a chunk of blue foam to fit around the canopy with a gap of about 1/4" all around. Then the canopy on its frame could be laid on top of the foam block to support it over the cavity while silicone was poured into the gap.

The process was started by tracing an outline 1/4" larger than the canopy base on a piece of paper. The outline was then cut out and centered on top of a block of foam measuring 4" X 4" X 15".

Then the fun began hollowing out the foam. Messy, messy, messy. Fortunately the job goes quickly, the cavity doesn't have to be neatly finished and progress is easy to gage by putting the canopy into the hole. The primary routing was done using a Moto-Tool set on very low speed, followed by coarse sandpaper.

Next step is to mount the canopy on the plate.