A rotary apparatus for hydraulic forming of shaped containers including a rotatable forming wheel having a central axis of rotation and a plane of rotation perpendicular to the axis of rotation. A plurality of forming stations is supported by the forming wheel. The forming stations are operable to expand a preform into a shaped container by forcing a liquid into the preform. The longitudinal axis of each forming station forms an angle with the plane of rotation of the forming wheel of less than 20° while the preform is being expanded. The projection of the longitudinal axis of each forming stations onto the plane of rotation of the forming wheel forms an angle with the radial direction at the position of the forming station of less than 20° while the preform is being expanded.