EVA Foam

Moljourn

New Member
Hi RPF!

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I was going to go as Thor for Halloween (as that is my namesake and the movies have generated the buzz) and my girl wants to go as Sif. I started looking at costumes online and quickly decided that I was not going to wear the production costumes out there...

I then found the Hero Tutorials on Youtube and was amazed by the work Stealth is doing and found Graphic Jordan's Thor armor work. I'm in! I am a pretty artistic guy so hope that I can get my work to look half as good as those two guys!

Anyway, I have been trolling the intartoobs looking for good deals on EVA foam and have had a hard time finding the 1/4 inch stuff that Stealth is suggesting. Until today that is... Has anyone heard of www.foamorder.com? They are a San Fransisco based company that looks like a God send for this hobby. I can get a 40"x80"x1/4" sheet of EVA foam for $24.75 plus S&H. I have an email in to them to get more info on the product, such as how it is shipped (rolled, cut, folded, etc) and the make up of the foam (printed on one side like the faux corogated steel look or what).

I look forward to starting on this project, and hope I have given myself enough time to finish before Halloween! If anyone has a better deal on EVA Foam or anything to clue me in to I'd love to hear from you!
 
I too am interested to know where people get their foam from on here. I have collected a few couch cushions from free couches listed on craigslist in hopes of using that foam for something... but the EVA typethat most builds call for is kinda pricey at home depot, but I think it was 3/4" floor mats.
 
DUDE!

How is THIS for timely? Just last week I had to take a business trip to SF and had some time to kill. I remembered there was a foam place there and did a quick look up and found that they were just a mile from my hotel and took a stroll there.

Other then buying EVA foam from Hobby Lobby and Michael's I really wanted to get a look at it in person and do a compare. They were just unlocking the doors to open as I strolled up and they let me in to check browse. I will say most of the stuff on display was finished work but they did have a display that allowed you to see the various open and closed cell foams which was awesome.

After a brief discussion about what I wanted they let me see the rack of clearance stuff since I was mainly sample shopping. While looking at a few different things the sales person went and looked around and found a nice roll of 1/4" eva foam that was on clearance but never posted or moved.

They were very nice, friendly and helpful. They only stock basically white and black and said if you wanted color eva you would need to buy a bung at a time. If you are not familiar with the term it is basically a block of foam 4 feet x 8 feet by about 4 feet high.

Since I'm in Chicago there are other places closer for mail order for me but if you are out on the west coast I think they would be a good source for foam.

While there I asked about shipping and he let me know that they only charge for the cost of shipping. He did say that depending on the material that they have an options to vacuum pack the foam to reduce the size which might be 1 or 2 dollars extra depending on the amount of material being shipped.

Hope that helps.

Dean

PS. I did mention that I was using the foam for costuming.
 
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Dean, did you notice if the foam had the corogated steel print on one side? I kind of want to avoid that as some of the pieces I am planning will be visible on both sides of the foam.

Payton, are those mats 1/4 inch thick. I have seen several that were thicker even close to 1/2 inch but none that were 1/4 inch or less, like I want.
 
You can get rolls of 1/4" EVA from Big Lots for around $16.

It DOES have the pattern on one side so you would have to figure out a fix for that (maybe cover it with thinner craft foam from Michaels or something)
 
If you have a mat cutter and fiskars the half inch is easy to work with and very durable with high heat glue sticks... fully capable of taking a few hits and still super light. I used 4 packs from lowes... But the back side has the carbon color diamond plate. I am also very interested in finding a THOR PDO file for the chestplate that has been cleaned up, so if you guys have any extra info!willing to share throw it out there!!
 
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Look anywhere that they sell treadmills. They use them to go under the treadmill to catch dirt, protect carpet, etc...

I used a roll I found at Big Lots. I also bought some of the thicker interlocking squares from Harbor Freight. Walmart sometimes has them in the kids section as playmats.
 
Dean, did you notice if the foam had the corogated steel print on one side? I kind of want to avoid that as some of the pieces I am planning will be visible on both sides of the foam.

Payton, are those mats 1/4 inch thick. I have seen several that were thicker even close to 1/2 inch but none that were 1/4 inch or less, like I want.

The foam is smooth on both sides from everything I saw. It's not designed to sit on the floor or to need any traction so there are no grip patterns on them. The foam roll I picked up is smooth on both sides as well.

Dean
 
G'day guys! I'm from Australia, so we don't have the stores/ products that you guys talk about purchasing. I've looked around locally but with no success. I saw that someone had posted that they purchase their foam from Welcome to Foam Factory, Inc.

I was looking at using
Foam Insulation, Padding, Closed-Cell Foam - Volara - for the helmet and hands

and

Minicel Foam - Closed-Cell Foam Padding, Packaging, Foam Sheets - for the rest

Sorry for the overkilled question, but do you think these would suffice?

Thanks HEAPS guys!
 
Having just had a chance to check out a sample of volara in person it seems a bit softer then the standard craft foam eva I'm been using. That could have just been what was there I did nto ask about specific densities or hardness for the volara but think that the minicel is firmer from what others have said.

Personally at this point after seeing the volara I would go with minicel first, and plan to.

Dean
 
Best EVA foam I've ever worked with is from HERE. Built all my son's suit with her 3mm foam. She has 6mm (1/4") foam as well in 18"x24" for ~$1.70 per sheet. You can email Caroline if you have a special request or order that she can help you with.

Hope that helps! :):thumbsup
 
Well, I've decided to take the plunge and ordered some additional materials from Welcome to Foam Factory, Inc.

3/8" Minicel
1/4" Minicel
3/8" 2lb Volara
3/8" 4lb Volara

Just purchased a 1/4" EVA foam sheet and in addition to what was ordered, I also have some foamies sheets in 3mm and 6mm, and some foam floor tiles already. When the new material gets here I'm going to do a direct comparison between all the various materials and post some pics and such.

I did notice last night that my Hobby Lobby foamie sheet reacts to my super glue slightly differently then my foam floor matting does which got me curious about comparing the various materials. Estimated time of materials is sometime next week.

Dean
 
I am also very interested in finding a THOR PDO file for the chestplate that has been cleaned up, so if you guys have any extra info!willing to share throw it out there!!

I found pep files for the chest, arms and shins on a pepakura index site just by googling thor armor pep files. Hope that helps. I should be starting my builds in the next week or so. I will start a new thread to show progress and ask for advice!

Thanks for all the input so far!
 
i dont know if you have miejers where you are but they have craft foam for like 6 dollars for a ton of it. its thinner but super easy to work with. you can even double up the sheets.
 
Best EVA foam I've ever worked with is from HERE. Built all my son's suit with her 3mm foam. She has 6mm (1/4") foam as well in 18"x24" for ~$1.70 per sheet. You can email Caroline if you have a special request or order that she can help you with.

Hope that helps! :):thumbsup

I can vouch for her as well. Indie told me about her last fall. I got foam from her very quickly and in good quality. Much better than i got from other places.

Also the sears foam deal is not good because they charge a ton for shipping unless you live near one and can go pick up.
 
I'm trying to make iron man as well and i can't find foam available in the US. I looked at Foamorder but couldn't find the product you mentioned in the first post. Could you post a link to the foam itself please?
 
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