Pink Foam Question

So I have worked with that worked with that pink insulation foam before and the one down side to it is that it melts if you use spray paint. I would like to do another project with it but I dont want it to melt. What would you recommend using a a sealer for the foam and what kind of glue (besides hot glue) would not melt it?

hi,
there are several options, you can firstly apply a couple of layers of latex or thinned down Pva glue with water. Then fibreglass can be laid over and worked on or even if you actually thin down some water based clay to a wet slip then give the whole thing thinnest coast ever and I mean not far off dirty water thin, let it dry and rub off any built up areas, its just to give enough of a dusty/matt surface (literally as if the surface is dusty, the clay should be present at all other than having dullened/dirtied the syrface of the foam.) that you can then actually build a couple of thinned layers of plaster or even better jesmonite on by just brushing over, this can then be sanded much easier and safer and cheaper (plaster) than the fibrglass option, it'll just never be quite as durable. And then paint and finish however you like.
The clay tip is something i found out by accident when trying to do something similar myself. All the clean pieces of foam I was coating ready to paint, the jesmonite was just running off but where bits of clay had dried and been removed before this it was holding. ~I guess the pour layer of the clay is just enough to dry out that beauty coat.
much like how plaster moulds almost instantly grip to latex.
hope that might help.

I had the same problem making a big sword and it didn't turn out too great. What you can do is coat it in gesso which is for canvases and you can get in large quantities at a local art store. If your budget is higher try coating it in resin but that can get pricey depending on size, lastly you can always hand paint it which is longer but definitively wont melt it. That's all i got for you, best of luck!