Coating Armor

[AlienatedPredator]

I'll be making the armor pieces out of foam sleeping mats and foam board. What would be the best thing to coat the armor pieces with? Or do I need to even coat it with anything at all? Any advice would be great. I hate pepakura, too time consuming, but Im gonna use the models as reference.

 

[Jon]

I've been coating my foam armor pieces with 4 or 5 coats of white glue tinted with a little acrylic paint. Seals the foam nicely, makes it a bit more sturdy, and give me a surface I can scuff up before painting.

 

[AlienatedPredator]

I've been coating my foam armor pieces with 4 or 5 coats of white glue tinted with a little acrylic paint. Seals the foam nicely, makes it a bit more sturdy, and give me a surface I can scuff up before painting.

Like elmer's glue? Wouldnt that peel off?

 

[AlienatedPredator]

Not meaning to double post , but.........Im getting a huge jump start in this project starting this weekend and plan to get alot of it done, so any advice would be great. I mean, I know theres alot of members here who make their armor out of foam whether its from halo, predators, gears, etc. But im just looking for what would be the best to coat it with to make it look good and last long. Any explained advice would be appreciated.

 

[Jon]

I can't say for sure what will work for you. I know that using white glue tinted with a little acrylic paint has worked well for me, and hasn't peeled off yet. My armor is also reinforced on the back side with a couple layers of cheesecloth and liberal coats of the same glue, so my armor is pretty dang rigid.

 

[gramzy]

Hey mate i read somewhere you could coat foamies in fiberglass resin not to sure on the info as i havent tried it out. http://www.thehunterslair.com/index.php?showtopic=1266 check this link out to a great foamies tutorial, its how i did some of my armor. Also you could try plasti dipping your armor leaves a nice plastic coat to it some of my armor was made out of foamies and i coated it in plastidip and its preety solid now. anyways just a couple of ways to doing it or atleast that i have found around the lair. hope this helps karl (oh btw i agree with ya i hate pepakura to!!!)

 

[ShawDizzle]

i used prosaide then a base of spray paint (not on the latex), then dabbed on acrylic colors to givd it depth...then coated with an acrylic sealant like liquitex clear closs or permawet

 

[AlienatedPredator]

What kind of plasti-dip should I use, the spray or the brush on kind? Is it expensive?

 

[gramzy]

hey mate plasti dip i think runs about 7 bucks a can or so if i remember correctly. honestly i would go for the brush on kind because when i bought the spray it seemed that i wasted alot of it with overspray trying to hit the outer edges of my armor. also if you do use plastidip make sure your waring your respirator that stuff is serious. took off my respirator outside after i was done spraying it and got nauseas. anyways hopes this helps it gives it a preety durable feeling to the foam and its quick drying. karl

 

[AlienatedPredator]

hey mate plasti dip i think runs about 7 bucks a can or so if i remember correctly. honestly i would go for the brush on kind because when i bought the spray it seemed that i wasted alot of it with overspray trying to hit the outer edges of my armor. also if you do use plastidip make sure your waring your respirator that stuff is serious. took off my respirator outside after i was done spraying it and got nauseas. anyways hopes this helps it gives it a preety durable feeling to the foam and its quick drying. karl

How big is the can? (the brush on kind) And can I spray paint over it w/o the paint rubbing off?