Making a Miniature Candy Cane
On the occasion of the Christmas holidays, I made a vignette in a transparent plastic ball as a Christmas tree decoration. As part of the scene, I also needed a recognizable Candy Cane.
I decided to make it from a Plasticard (styrene) profile bought at Carta Magica. I chose a full circular section profile with a diameter of 4 mm. The problem was how to bend it without major deformations of the cross-section diameter or shape. Previous attempts at heating using an open flame ended in deformations that were irreparable. The heating with the hair dryer was too slow. I decided to try heating with hot water. From 4 mm thick balsa, I made a "mould" with the approximate radius of the rounding I wanted to get. I attached a piece of profile to the mold with crepe tape and heated some water in the kettle. After the water boiled, I dipped the profile and held it in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes.
When the profile softened enough, I began to bend it with my fingers over the radius of the mold, holding both ends tightly. First, I bent the profile 90 degrees and reheated it in hot water.
At a bending angle of 120 degrees, the profile started to slide out of the mold, so I tied both ends of the profile with a piece of wire in the desired position and dipped it in hot water for another minute.
In the end, the profile was bent by 180 degrees. I cut off the excess material with a file and rounded the edge of the profile with sandpaper.
With masking tape 2 mm wide, I spirally wrapped the profile as in picture 1 and painted it red. After the paint dried I removed the tape and enjoyed the result.
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