Realizing that a mirrored template was not the option to go with, I decided to make a template based on the whole turtle deck. No question this is the most accurate template I can come up with I decided to work with this.
Again, I spent a whole bunch of time bending using my feet and legs. Spent a crazy about of time on this with little gains. Sometimes I was going backward, sometimes forwards. Just a very frustrating process all round. I think I need some help with this, I'm going to reach out to some local builders who have experience and see what their suggestions are.
A key item worth noting. It is critical when bending the rear bow, that you are able to check that the canopy frame sits flat on a table. When bending the rear bow, you ultimately introduce twist into the frame. By the end of the very long build session I realized that after you bend the rear bow, you also need to twist the whole rear bow and set the frame a flat surface to check level. Its easy to do, just put the forward bow on the ground and step on it. Then twist the whole rear bow clockwise or counter clockwise enough that it will sit flat on a table.
If you do this, things start fitting well. If you don't twist or check twist....you will get nowhere!
