Hi all 
This is a follow on to this thread:
http://www.rcgroups.com …s/showthread.php?t=698953
I've just built a new panorama head for my Canon EOS 40D / 10-22mm lens combo and thought I'd share the build with you! Sit back and enjoy! 
Soo, as with all my designs, I start with a pencil and paper:
I already had a pretty good idea in my mind of what the eventual head would look like, so the sketches were just a way of noting down the key dimensions. Fortunately the key dimensions for my camera/lens combination were already available here
so I didn't have to calculate the location of the lens' "entrance pupil" (why the original site isn't working I'm not sure ... I'm glad Google had a cache of it!).With that done, I made a start on one of the trickiest parts of the build, the knobs. As with the previous head I designed, I wanted to make the knobs myself. I did this by using Polymorph plastic to create a mould of an already-existing knob, and then using car body filler to create duplicate knobs. The knob I selected came from an old audio amplifier I think (I found it in the 'KNOBS' box in our attic
). So, first stage is to pour the Polymorph pellets into hot water:
When heated, they turn from white to transparent – once they're transparent you can start moulding with it. You have to knead the pellets first (like bread dough) to get rid of any air bubbles. Once that was done I pressed the existing knob into the plastic, and formed the plastic around the knob:
Once the Polymorph has cooled (which can be sped up by dunking the mould in cold water), it turns white again, and is INCREDIBLY tough!
), and I used a screwdriver to push the filler into all the corners of the mould.
