Armor - fabric (what glue?) foam

joeranger

joeranger

Sr Member
Does anyone have a technique for using foam padding and fabric to make shaped armor pieces? Spray adhesive it fast and easy, but does not stick very well. Hot glue is fast and easy, but too difficult to apply evenly.
I am using 1/2 in foam held in place on a mold and then trying to glue the fabric on one side, letting dry and then turning over, putting on reverse mold and then using glue to apply the fabric.
 
Down at fight club, we use these foam padding armour things - Helmets and stuff.
They're all basically foam held in shape by being covered in a PVC/vinyl sort of coating.

I'd suggest finding something like that.
 
Heat n' Bond is what I use with craft foam. Maybe the process can be modified for your foam?

P11554879.jpg


- Iron it on to the fabric first in a large sheet.
- Draw your template shapes on to the paper and cut it out
- Lay the paper/glue/fabric on to the foam
- Trace and cut a bit bigger because the foam will shrink slightly
- Peel away the paper so the glue lays on the foam and iron again
- Shape as the foam is cooling.

Best thing about the craft foam is that if you make a mistake or don't get the shape you want you can reheat and try again. :)
 
Cardboard and glue.

I made a commedian costume two years ago for halloween. I took an old t-shirt(black) and then hot glued cardboard plates to the back of it so that it would have the basic shape I wanted. then I coated the cloth in a heavy amount of water and elmers glue so that it was soaked, let it dry and it becomes hard. Then you just paint away at the armor and you are good. Thats what I did, I don't have any idea if it is something that might be useful to you.

What kind of armor are you making?
 
Basically, when it comes to craft foam armor, listen to Guri. She's the queen of craftfoam armor. Another suggestion, based on your spray adhesive experiments, is to try Super 78 (I think)... Super 77 is general purpose spray adhesive and 78 is specifically for foam. Problem with foam is that its finicky about what sticks to it.
 
What about contact cement? You can spread that stuff on with a brush which should insure an even application.
 
I thought about contact cement, but was concerned about the working time. Walmart sells tacky fabric glue by the gallon, I could paint it on with a brush.
 
Well, have you tried evo-stick?, i'm not sure i am understanding properly what you need...but it stinks, and its a bit dirty if you don't know how to use it but i shaped every armor i ever had to do with this, and it keeps the elasticity in the foam, in keeping the all thing resistant...might be worth trying it out?

:confused
 
Well, gobs of tacky fabric glue = Long dry time.

I went to the fabric store and they have a spray can meant to attach foam to a car dash board. That is probably the best, but I was concerned about the fumes.
I have opted to use hot glue for the smaller pieces and do smaller patches one at a time. Instant results and great adhesion.
 
One of the methods I use when making foam parts is actually two different spray adhesives.

On the one side (foam) I spray a layer of either 3M Foamfast 74 or 3M high strength and, on the fabric I use, I spray the 3M super 77. The super 77 doesn't discolor the fabric and has a low soak to it and adheres nicely to the higher strength stuff on the other side.

If I've covering vinyl to foam, I usually go foamfast all the way unless the vinyl is garment thin. Then it's back to the other method.

Also, it sometimes helps to sand the surface of your foam just slightly to help with the adherence while not affecting the outside look.

Example:
phillip1.jpg

Power Rangers Green ranger shield

armor.jpg

Generic armor


Ryu
 
Awesome work. I am going to have to play around with that technique.

Hot glue isn't an answer except for small parts and edges. This is going to take me a little longer, but it is working well. I ordered a gallon of the stuff off JoAnne Fab. I also am going to experiment with watering it down a little to make it easier to spread. Each chest piece has about 5oz og glue. The result is great. It looks like a kevlar vest, but has some play to it.
In the top pic, you can see where there is missing glue. On the bottom pic, the fabric can be stretched over the coffee table my wife wanted to throw out. It is a perfect mold since I can turn it over and use the inside curve to form the interior lining.
In the "Glue" picture, I took the pic before I used a plastic ruler to spread an even coat.

4471083.jpeg
 
For sticking foam to fabric, or plastic, I've used Fabritac. Since the foam is porous, it absorbs a lot of glue (contact cement, especially), but Fabritac is viscous enough that it doesn't soak in a whole lot.
 
For foam I use Volara 2A and craft foam. For fabric I use different types of vinyl. My favorite type of glue is Weldwood contact cement, it really makes some pretty cool results (here's some examples of my stuff I've achieved using it.
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2015365/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2121789/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2405936/
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2405937/

I like Weldwood because it spreads on really smooth and makes the vinyl look smooth and even when glued on.

Here are a few guys who use this method and similar materials; I think they look pretty awesome. :)
(Pages are in Japanese but the pics are still there)
http://www.ops.dti.ne.jp/~darkk/
http://gaogaygar.fc2web.com/page00.htm

However, if fumes are an issue then contact cement is probably not the best as it has some pretty bad fumes (and don't go for the "low odor" water based stuff as it's stick looses itself after a short time, I hated the stuff )
 
Thanks everyone. I am rocken and rollen on the suits, so I am going to "stick" with the current process. I solved the biggest issue which was cost.

JoAnne had a gallon on sale for $18, but web only so $10 for tax / shipping. I am going to water it down a little and let dry/cure longer.

7037665.jpeg
 
joeranger said:
Awesome work. I am going to have to play around with that technique.

Hot glue isn't an answer except for small parts and edges. This is going to take me a little longer, but it is working well. I ordered a gallon of the stuff off JoAnne Fab. I also am going to experiment with watering it down a little to make it easier to spread. Each chest piece has about 5oz og glue. The result is great. It looks like a kevlar vest, but has some play to it.
In the top pic, you can see where there is missing glue. On the bottom pic, the fabric can be stretched over the coffee table my wife wanted to throw out. It is a perfect mold since I can turn it over and use the inside curve to form the interior lining.
In the "Glue" picture, I took the pic before I used a plastic ruler to spread an even coat.

4471083.jpeg
Click to expand...

joeranger said:
Thanks everyone. I am rocken and rollen on the suits, so I am going to "stick" with the current process. I solved the biggest issue which was cost.

JoAnne had a gallon on sale for $18, but web only so $10 for tax / shipping. I am going to water it down a little and let dry/cure longer.

7037665.jpeg
Click to expand...



Okay, I am looking to do something similar so I just want to make sure I got your preferred method right.

You cover the foam in Aleene's Tacky Glue then use a plastic ruler to get an even spread then lay the fabric over.

Now my questions are before I waste any material with trial and error, should I water the glue down any and by how much, what are the pros and cons for that? Should I keep constant pressure while drying? If so, how long should it take to dry? Should I be concerned with glue seeping through with certain fabrics?

Now just to give some insight to what I want to do, because I want this to be ready for Halloween and want to avoid major mistakes. I plan on cutting simple shapes out of foam to look like armor and gluing them underneath a shirt to give a beveled shape on the outside. I'm thinking of using hot glue for the side of the foam and this tacky glue on the top. Using a poly/cotton shirt. If that doesn't make sense, here's a diagram:

examplefb.jpg


I thought about making another thread but this one is very good, I just want to make sure since my plans are slightly different that I don't screw this up (which I have done in the past, many times) So any help advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
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