6 inch clear tubing - I needed 3" clear rings for the headlights but I didn't have the 3" clear PVC. I had 6 inch Clear PVC so I cut it down on the table saw and miter saw to get the length I needed. I then used a heat gun to melt it into shape. It didn't work well as the plastic would mis-shape or melt unevenly. I did end up finding a scrap piece of clear 3" PVC instead and used that.

Hand shaping round pieces - Several of the foam pieces are round on the ends. I drew out the round shape and tried to hand shape some and use a belt sander on others. Neither worked well. I ended up using a band saw which worked well and allowed me to smooth with a sanding pad later.

Hot wire foam fails

Wire types - There are so many types of wire. Welding wire was used for longer runs as the resistance would hold the heat. .010 Nichrome wire was used for short runs (less than 16") as it was thinner diameter so more accurate cuts. I couldn't get long runs of it to heat up though so I was limited in it's use. The welding wires would break on short runs under 24 inches as it would heat up too much no matter how I adjusted the DC dimmer. It also would heat up to red hot on the ends not going through the foam which would melt the foam on the edges as the heat build up had to go somewhere.

Tension - As the wire heated up, it elongated even if it says pre-tensioned. This allows for way too much wiggle room when trying to cut a square edge. Many times when I didn't adjust it enough as it was heated up, I got an angle cut of 5 degrees or more which over an 8" thick pieces is off by a 1/4 inch.

Square - Keeping the pieces square required the right tension, a good fence to run the pieces against as well as supports on both sides for long pieces coming through the wire. Many tries and fails, and even at the end on my last pieces of foam I cut, it didn't always work well. I love the hot wire cutter. I hate its constistency or lack there of.

Plexiglass

Plastic film removal - The plexiglass I had was old stock. It was at least 10 years old and still had the protective plastic film on it. I scraped it off with a razor blade but it left micro scratches. If I had to do it again, I would not deal with the scraping and such but would just buy new. It just isn't worth the hassle.

Bending - I bent the plexiglass with a hot wire under and a heat gun on top. I tried to use a coil wire from a hair dryer. It sparked and shorted out and tried to catch my basement on fire. Yeah, that one didn't go well. At least I had it on a switch so I could kill it from a distance knowing it may not play nice. I then used my hot wire from the foam cutter with welding wire in it. It heated up nice but then got too hot at the end and discolored the plexiglass right as it was at bending stage. I just never got this one quite right.

I mis-glued a piece in place on the hood of the batmobile. The air intake was 1.5 inches too high or one block of foam. It looked off from the moment I made it and I didn't figure it out until I had primed it. I cut out the whole section with a Japanese hand saw and lowered it the depth it needed. Now you can't even tell.

I painted so many areas the wrong color. I thought I had the block height right and was off or used the wrong color for the wrong area, but they there are a ton of pieces so I was bound to make some mistakes.