The end result I'm after is sort of a transformed/timeless look - I wanted something that had no sense of "time" to it, like it could have been from the birth of photography or today, with the texture of canvas and the look of a large stretched canvas vs. a panel - which could be tinted by using oil glazes, which - after a final varnish - give a lot of depth. Doing a huge bromoil (my testing has gone up to about 18x28" or so) would be problematic, and bromoil on canvas I'm thinking would look very "dirty". So it's a way to get the pictorialist look of bromoil and the transformative effect onto very large canvas. Prepping the canvas is time consuming and the emulsion is pricey, etc., so dialing in the image in a less costly way is really paramount to me.
Thanks for the duping advice, I haven't tried ortho films - my initial tests were duped with Ilford Pan-F plus, which gave me good contrast control in development (the emulsion I use is about grade 3+). So a lot of testing to determine the contrast and speed of the emulsion vs. an affordable paper (so initial exposure tests could be done on regular photo paper). As I move up to larger sizes, I'll try to have two images ready for canvas, prep 2 large canvases, and also make some canvas test strips (which are handy for testing and dialing in the tinting colors down the line). So if I blow one print I can take another shot (seeing how I'll have gallons of chems mixed up) or if it's good get a 2nd image within a day or so.
Here's a so-so phone shot of where my testing is at - about a 28" print that included some of the props and style, though my finals will be complete "settings" with a sort of allegorical take, props and so on (not the best neg either, learned I'll need some harder focus, deeper DOF and so on). I plan to create the actual settings as small models, photograph those, and merge them with the model at the bromoil stage (gotten good at darkroom masking, sky replacement and so on, no photoshop allowed!) This gives me two opportunities for any minor retouch, as both bromoil and the final canvas are larger scale (than negs) and are ink or paint based. I have decades of illustration and photoshop work that's given me a good idea of what "reality" looks like when created from multiple images or sources - perspective, lighting, etc.
So, a nutty overall process that uses virtually every artistic discipline I've tried my hand at, from dealing with models and sets and props and lighting, model making, darkroom processes, and oil paints, with lots of technical/mechanical stuff. My goal is to make some fine-art, symbolic/allegorical work than any gallery owner would see and go "what the hell?!?!" - Scale, subject and color that stops you in your tracks, makes you think or question or fill-in-your-own blanks and reactions, and uses my creative side, my desire to sort of "say" some specific things with imagery and not words, and do it with a lot of cool process involved. Major goal being do work that hits a lot of my tech and creative obsessions, that I'd want to own myself, and could actually sell for significant $$. We will see!