Yes, that's pretty much the way it can be done. See the group home page, and look at the picture on the right. Towards the bottom you can see the top half of a dome that we put together several years ago during a workshop. The dome I'm living in right now is made using this method, and now I'm slip forming a 1' thick covering over it. Once that cures completely I plan to remove the frame and the triangle blocks.
Whether a frame is needed for assembly is an unresolved question. All that I have put up have had a frame inside, which can later be removed after everything is thoroughly dry and has reached its full strength. In theory you could just wire the triangles together to create a dome, but the question would be if your mix is able to retain its strength while absorbing the water from your top coat. A couple who attended one of the workshops went home and built a dome using this method, but removed the frame while everything was wet and they were still adding top coats. They had a partial cave in, which they were able to fix by putting the frame back in until everything dried.
See http://starship-enterprises.net/Paperdome/ for pictures of yet another that was made with the same method. It had oversize triangles that did not rest on the frame, and were self supporting.
spaceman
Evelyn Vollmer wrote:
If you want a frame, spaceman is the man to talk too. He knows everything about domes. When we were in NM at Judith's we put together a dome frame that spaceman manufactures. I don't think that it is much money to buy one from him. They are very strong (see pictures of gathering) and very cool. I will someday have one. After you put it together with bolts, you then make papercrete blocks in the shape and size (actually a little bit bigger to compensate for shrinkage when dry) of the triangles. He told us that then they would be wired in place, then a coating would be applied on top of that. Is this right, spaceman?
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