Eva Foam or Card Board?

[Noc]

Whats up people? Im starting to work on a Iron man mark VI helmet( just the helmet for now). My questions are: should I try going the foam or card board route? My 2nd question is....the home depot in my area has a pack of four 2ft x 2ft foam floor interlocking mats EVA Foam Flooring-BS100-4HDT at The Home Depot. How many packs do ya'll think I might need just for a helmet( normal head size)?

Thanx

Ps I wanna say thanx to this whole community for inspiring me to try a replica build and hopefully succeed at it.

 

[STEALTH]

are you using pepakura or scratch building the helmet?

 

[Azurial]

if it is a helm and you want it quick and easy, i'd say go cardboard

 

[Noc]

if it is a helm and you want it quick and easy, i'd say go cardboard

I dont think is gonna be quick nor easy being that its my 1st build lol. Thanx

are you using pepakura or scratch building the helmet?

Pepakura

 

[Hamsterstyle]

Well if you are using pep, you should be using cardstock. I'm assuing you are skipping the resin/fiberglassingsteps as well.

If you can find Sintra/PVCFoam/Foamex (different names), I would go that route over foam or cardboard.

 

[Noc]

Well if you are using pep, you should be using cardstock. I'm assuing you are skipping the resin/fiberglassingsteps as well.

If you can find Sintra/PVCFoam/Foamex (different names), I would go that route over foam or cardboard.

I didnt think about the fiberglass step....but I figured I could resin the outside to give it a not so foamy look. And I was looking at xrobots MkVI foam build XRobots.co.uk - Iron Man MkVI Armour and wanted to try that also. Remember Im new too this and dont know what I can and cant do with different materials.

 

[isusuperman]

You cant really resin the foam, I tried that years ago and it just shrinks the foam. The helmet is hard as crap with foam. I still cant get it right. I would do cardstock and or Card board. esp if it is your first one.

Less room for error that way. And when you get it done i would follow a youtube on how to resin one. It is your best bet. Time consuming but it may show a better result than playing with foam... if you go the foam route, get 3-4m foam at a craft store. Anything thicker is not going to work as well

 

[Noc]

You cant really resin the foam, I tried that years ago and it just shrinks the foam. The helmet is hard as crap with foam. I still cant get it right. I would do cardstock and or Card board. esp if it is your first one.

Less room for error that way. And when you get it done i would follow a youtube on how to resin one. It is your best bet. Time consuming but it may show a better result than playing with foam... if you go the foam route, get 3-4m foam at a craft store. Anything thicker is not going to work as well

Thanx for the info.....I did not know that resin shrinks the foam. I think I might just go the card board route but I'll use the cardstock as temp.

 

[Graphic Jordan]

If it's any help. I've used resin on the EVA foam.. the stuff I use and it doesn't shrink. As matter of fact I've fiberglassed the inside of my Iron Man builds thighs for added strength. Worked beautifully.

 

[Cal]

After fiddling with the foam I found myself really wishing I had used a harder material because the foam shows every single scrap and dent. definitely use card stock.

 

[Noc]

I think Im gonna try using card board....becuz with the cardstock I have to cut out every little part and I figured that since the card board is thicker that I might can get away with not using the little parts(thats just my guess). Plus I can get some free boxes from the stores in my area. Thanx too everyone for the advise and input yall gave.....and will do another post of my of work when I start.

 

[groone]

From one newbie to another. I learned that with cardstock, albeit taking a little longer to compelte, you get to learn better with what you can take shortcuts on and what you can't. I think I've done 3 ironman helmets now in cardstock - lol. I tried glassing the 3rd but stopped the project when I found my sons head got too big haha. Unless you are chronically ill and going to die soon, spend some time with cardstock. It's easy to work with and gives you plenty of room for error. That's my advice, but I'm new too so my advice could be wrong

 

[Graphic Jordan]

View my thread in my signature.. either the Iron man or THOR for what EVA foam can do... Hope this helps in your decision.

 

[Noc]

Unless you are chronically ill and going to die soon, spend some time with cardstock. It's easy to work with and gives you plenty of room for error. That's my advice, but I'm new too so my advice could be wrong

Lol...if Im gonna die the last thing Im doing is building a helmet...unless its a magic live forever helmet lol. Thanx for the advise.

View my thread in my signature.. either the Iron man or THOR for what EVA foam can do... Hope this helps in your decision.

Graphic I seen your work.....U and a few others are the reason why Im trying this build.