I think the gaps are supposed to be open through. Take a look at the pictures in my post #327. The neck rings are lying on the base in the second photo.
I've never noticed the pipe details under the head before . Are you making a specific model ? I really like them , maybe I should add them to mine ?
Can I ask , are the flak parts on the sides of the harrier engine on both sides ? Or just the side shown on your picture it's hard to make it out on the reference I can find
http://www.therpf.com/f11/atat-w-i-p-107841/
The neck ring parts looking great!!!
The 3 screen-used models had these parts. Actually, the casting of the MR set is missing several parts.
Regarding the flak parts... yes and no ! It all depends of the model you are recreating. AT least one (on which the AT-AT is made from) has a flakvierling part on each side (trimmed differently though). I let one side blank on my master because there was a different part here on the other AT-AT's.
Thanks for letting me know....if it's ok ill use your pictures as reference and get busy on the lathe !!!!
Just in case it helps you guys with the neck mold, here is a couple of pics of how i did the neck mold on the double studio scale one. I'm sure you guys have something in mind but I had to go thru a couple of incarnations before i got something to work reliably. Basically a 3 part mold, core is a plastruct tube reinforced with abs, the lower mold holds the inner tube in the correct location, 3d part of the mold is the outer details. It works well because you can pour the PU rubber in and pressure cast it, which i think it needs with all the detail. Wax up the inner core so it pulls out cleanly, then you can kind of fold the cured neck in on itself to avoid damage to the mold.
Looking forward to seeing the progress on the neck...
mike
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/modelguy/001_zps0342c68c.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/modelguy/004_zpsd4b9ae7d.jpg
In the scale that i worked in too thick meant no flexibility at all. I used Reoflex 40 from smooth on, 40 hardness. Tried 20 hardness first and it just collapsed in on itself. Here is how mine stands now, a small amount of distortion but has some flex. I did make a couple of relief cuts in the rubber that are hidden under the neck guards, last pic shown with the upper neck guard removed to show the flex. Another bit of advice that i found is to dye the neck black and use custom mixed oil paints (matched to your spray paint), no spray paint, including ones intended to be flexible wanted to stick to it well without flaking. but oils stick to it very nicely and remain soft and flexible.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/modelguy/006_zps1a406bd5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v501/modelguy/008_zps13fabd20.jpg