As a new builder, trying out the ideas on this board and attempting to think of things that might work are fun. What works for one, may not be the best for someone else. When it came to bending the strips into place I tried just the heat gun, wetting the wood and heat gun drying, steam ironing and heat gun drying, soaking the strip fixed to the forms overnight with towels wrapped around and then heat gunning the next morning worked but was messy with water all over the floor, steaming in a steam chamber worked but took a long time to get going, but what worked best was the wet towel being ironed against the wood strip and then heat guned. It was fast and worked for me. Thanks for all of the ideas. Also, for the discoverer of the duck tape clamping idea here, thanks.

John