Foam builders- I have a question for you!

[GBrittelleJr]

I'm about to start on some armor of my very own, using the half inch EVA interlocking mats. I specifically chose to use foam because it's easily accessible, I can make it do what I want, and most of all, I hate the sound of plastic/fiberglass armor clanking together. But, I rather dislike the idea of something bending my foam armor and ruining it.

So here's my question- once all the armor is constructed and glued together, could I run resin or lay a thin layer of fg on the INSIDE of the pieces? I would think that would negate the worry of the armor bending, but still allow the pieces to interact with each other as foam armor would do.

Seeing as I have no bits that need to move, I would think this shouldn't pose a problem, but I wanted to double check beforehand. Thanks!

Greg

 

[Peep Williams]

I think I heard somewhere fiberglass resin can react badly with the foam? not positive.

 

[GBrittelleJr]

Hmm. I hope not, because I don't have an alternative. Granted, I know the suit is just foam and not sculpted and cast, but I am still spending an awful lot of time and energy on it, and would hate to see anything happen to it.

 

[CJS]

Fiberglass can chew it up and dissolve alot of foams, however.... If you are casting off something made of foam you can apply a layer of packing tape and use johnson's floor wax as a easily removable, cheap and readily available mold release. I have done alot of f-glass resin work this way for armor and car parts etc, I used it for the first time on my ZF1 pod build. Has never let me down.

 

[GBrittelleJr]

No, unfortunately not. The final armor will be foam- I was just hoping there was a way to prolong the life of the armor.

 

[EyeofSauron]

it depends on the resin afaik
epoxy wont eat the foam i think.
polyester definitely will

 

[HMS Mike]

use spray plasti dip tool spray on the out side to give it a strong skin. test it on a small piece of foam before you start but it works well.

Plasti Dip Protective Coating Products | Plasti Dip Protective Coating Products | Rubber Dip Coating

Hope this helps,

HMS Mike

 

[wondersquid]

I have done this before, just on the outside of the foam and it doesn't eat at the L-200 I've used (EVA foam) but It does have a tendency to separate from the foam over time. I think your defeating the point of making a FOAM armor, it's supposed to bend and allow you to move, if you fiberglass the inside it will cut into you as you move and be very uncomfortable, like a fiberglass armor. If you coat it with the plastidip or some form of heavy vinyl coating it will keep things pretty intact. Yes it will crease where flexed often and it will wear down over time, but I know from my own experience, just engineer the armor to allow no contact from other areas, and things should hold together very well. Just make sure you have a lot of room under your arms, behind the knees, at the crotch, etc and I think you won't need the fiberglass. At any rate, you should probably glass with epoxy resin as it's stronger and use only a few layers of glass, remember you still need to give yourself plenty of room to get your body parts in there. Also, after you sand and smooth the fiberglass, line the whole thing with felt or some cloth that's soft and will help to not expose your body to direct contact with the fiberglass. Take my word for it, even sealed fiberglass still gets itchy after a while. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Judge Spartan]

You can use epoxamite 100 from Smootheon, It is a great alternative to fiberglass resin and there is no odor to it so you can use it indoors. You can use fiberglass mat kevlar or carbon fiber mat as well.

 

[GBrittelleJr]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I'm using foam to cut on costs for sculpting and molding, and because you can do some powerfully awesome things with it. But this is by no means meant to be a budget costume or anything like that.

To give you guys an idea as to what I'm making, it's basically a suit of armor based off of traditional knights armor, but more modern. Once I start cutting the foam, I'll start a WIP thread.

Would that smooth on product absorb into the foam, or would it just basically create an inner shell? I guess that question is valid for fiberglass as well...