FOAMIE ......molds or just paint ???

[Philby]

Looked around and asked a few people and noone seems to know,....

question is if i make something from foamie ,......can i mold the pieces or resin right over them ???
alot of people seem to just paint over it but i wondered if the resin would have a reaction with it,...
or if i molded them could i even get them back out ????


let me know if any of you have had luck / bad luck with this,...

Thankls ahead of time =)

Philby
High Caliber Tattoos
indianapolis

 

[celtic0130]

Looked around and asked a few people and noone seems to know,....

question is if i make something from foamie ,......can i mold the pieces or resin right over them ???
alot of people seem to just paint over it but i wondered if the resin would have a reaction with it,...
or if i molded them could i even get them back out ????


let me know if any of you have had luck / bad luck with this,...

Thankls ahead of time =)

Philby
High Caliber Tattoos
indianapolis

I dont actually know what will happen if you put resin on foamie
but theres one professional costume maker (sir cyback/benjie testa) here in our country..
I think he put molded acrylic sheets on top of the foamies and it come up very cool...
heres what it looks like...

 

[papermad]

I dont actually know what will happen if you put resin on foamie
but theres one professional costume maker (sir cyback/benjie testa) here in our country..
I think he put molded acrylic sheets on top of the foamies and it come up very cool...
heres what it looks like...

I have used fibreglass resin over foam craft board and it did not effect it.... I did a patch test first though. But as far as I am concerned... yes you can with UK craft foam board. Hope is helps.

 

[munson]

Would I be able to jump in with a question related to the topic?

I'm going to be making a part out of carboard and foamies and wondered if putting bondo [or something like] on the foamies to make it more durable. I've never worked with foamies and am wondering how durable they would be over cardboard?

 

[xdmray]

ok so i just did it.

i have monstermakers resin. the resin did not eat the foam at all.
if you were to do this, i highly suggest mixing very small amounts. if your resin has low viscosity (like water) like mine, then it will want to run off the foam.
problems with small amounts is it takes longer to cure. a couple small air bubbles also formed too.
so totally feasible to do it this way.

you also say you want to "mold" the foamies. do you mean you want to make resin molds using the foamies as your sculpture? what do you plan to pull out of resin molds?



EDIT: for picture

 

[Bovine13]

I have also thought about making some gauntlets out of foamies then molding in silicone for a resin cast. Couple things I am worried about is the foamies being somewhat porous and having silicone issues. I could seal them with paint or sealer but, that brings me to my second issue of the paint or sealer eating the foam. I guess its test panels before doing anything.

 

[munson]

Bovine,

What about putting bondo on the foamies? I see a lot of people do something similar to paprika bio helmets, then they mold them. I'm thinking of giving that a try. It could also lead to a decent piece to sculpt on too.

 

[Skullsplitter]

paprika bio helmets

I lolled.

A paprika biohelmet, one can imagine...

 

[TehEl1te]

I have also thought about making some gauntlets out of foamies then molding in silicone for a resin cast. Couple things I am worried about is the foamies being somewhat porous and having silicone issues. I could seal them with paint or sealer but, that brings me to my second issue of the paint or sealer eating the foam. I guess its test panels before doing anything.

I would test it out. I've done some older costumes where i used foamies and coated them in resin, and they were just fine... I thoroughly thought that the resin would eat it the hell up... but nope... it was A-ok! You could also paint on a thin layer of elmers glue, it makes a nice thin coat and some of it I am sure fills up the porous holes... cheap and quick too.

EDIT: Here are a few photos of some MK3 style shin/arm guards I am making for a friend. Sorry for the ass quality camera phone pics.

- Coat of glue drying

- Painted just needs clearcoat.

So you can paint the foamies for sure. I just do a glue layer or 2 for a surface to paint on as well as to help it be more sturdy. It makes it slightly more rigid. You can also paint the glue on and then put cheese cloth over top of it... much like you would do with resin and fiberglass. it makes it much much stronger. Good cheap way to strengthen the inside of props when you are on a budget... if you are clean with it, it can add cool texture too. Just figured I would share a little with you since I was toying with some foamies over the weekend and came up with these. Resin, in my experience doesn't eat up foamies... elmers glue has proved to be a nice "sealant" for me to give it a noce smooth surface to work with and you don't lose any detail.

 

[Philby]

thanks for the advice and pro's vs. cons of it all guys

got a few more answers and yea it seems like i need to just try different things with small pieces of it to see what's even possible,....
seems like a beginner like me would have better luck with symmetry and workability if i did some things with foamies,..
but i don't want flimsy cheap lookin crap,....i'll do it all 12 ways and see what happens,...

i'll add the results later,....ha ha

 

[Philby]

ok so i just did it.

i have monstermakers resin. the resin did not eat the foam at all.
if you were to do this, i highly suggest mixing very small amounts. if your resin has low viscosity (like water) like mine, then it will want to run off the foam.
problems with small amounts is it takes longer to cure. a couple small air bubbles also formed too.
so totally feasible to do it this way.

you also say you want to "mold" the foamies. do you mean you want to make resin molds using the foamies as your sculpture? what do you plan to pull out of resin molds?



EDIT: for picture

no by the resin question i meant could i just resin over foamie and incapsulate them ,.....

if i were to make molds of foamie i'd probably just try plaster and it'd be a one time use mold,.....
don't know if a release would work on the foamie though thats where i'm stumped,....

thought about a lasting mold out of silicone,.....problem is the foamies are a bit porous and who knows how the mold would
turn out,.....

thought more or less molding pieces then connecting them later to make it easier on me,...
( some of you would disagree,.....)

but like i said i'm trying for quality not " easiest way to pass " so,........

 

[Lazrith]

You could always use just plain Vaseline. It won't (or shouldn't rather) do anything to the foam, but it will fill in the pores and release both silicone and plaster like a pro. And if you're worried about missing spots or uneven coating, take some and put it into a Dixie cup, add some food coloring, stir it up real good and use a brush. That's what I did (minus the color) for a side project to get silicone to release from a Ultra-Cal 30 positive.

 

[poopymcbutthole]

phill i cant sleep and no one is awake enough to insult on facebook ... whats a foamie it sounds like something i would definitely try to eat ...

 

[Elderpred13]

Foamies are a rubber like material of different thicknesses, up to 1/4 inch. I have used them to construct predator armor, shins, and the like. I also made Comedian, and Dark Knight costumes some time back They can be heat molded to any shape. Their one drawback is the 1/4 sheets are only 9"x12". I am now trying a new product called Minicell L200. It is sturdier than foamies, and comes in thicker sheets, plus the sheets are as large as 48"x72". Don Roberts made an Iron Man costume from the stuff. I am going to attempt to make a Destroyer (from Thor) costume from it in the future. So, that's my dissertattion for today, nice videos on you tube, by the way.

 

[Philby]

phill i cant sleep and no one is awake enough to insult on facebook ... whats a foamie it sounds like something i would definitely try to eat ...

kissin cats under their tail gives ya " foamies "

thats all.........