How do you seal Pink Insulation foam?

takaaaa

Active Member
Greetings,

So I'm not new to this material, I did a few builds (swords) using this kind of foam. People who know this material know it's not like eva foam and will melt if you hit it directly with spray paint.

I was recommended that using KILZ2 is a good sealer before spray painting, but I noticed that it doesnt "stick" to the foam good, and over time I get bubbles because it separates from the foam.

I was told Gesso or Mod Podge was another favorite sealer, but does it stick to the foam good?
Also read that while polyester resin will melt it, epoxy resin wont and works good too. But I never used epoxy resin, only polyester.

There was a thread on this 3years ago but possibly someone found a new method.
 
gesso is the safest bet. it's the stuff people use to seal the base screen of a painting before actually painting on it. it's also the cheapest and least health hazardous
 
You can also use a product called Styro Spray 1000. I haven't used it personally, but from the videos and demonstrations that I've seen, it seems to work really well! It not only seals the foam, but also makes it rigid.
 
There was discussion on using PVA (Elmer's Carpenter's Glue) as a sealer for foam underneath plastic coatings.
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--Paul E Musselman
 
I've always used 3M's Fastbond 30 to "seal" pink foam. To be fair, this is for theatrical purposes and mostly to use as a primer, since paint doesn't like sticking to foam.

Just throw on a coat or two and let dry before paint or whatever your next step is.
 
I used papermache but it didn't give me the smoothest end result. I think gesso or mod podge would work fine. You can always experiment on scraps!
 
Find a recipe for "scenic dope"/"scenery goop" and mix it yourself. The ingredients are available at regular hardware stores and pretty cheap, the main ingredient being latex paint. There is also a ready-made foam coat product called "Vanillacryl".
I have not tested any of then, but they are usually used for theatre scenery or model railroad scenery made of pink or blue insulation foam.

I use epoxy.
 
I've found that if I roughed up the flat surface first, I could seal it was Elmer's white glue and have been able to use acrylic paint on it.
 
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