Lining the insid of EVA foam

[poncho82]

I'm working on an iron man cosplay with eva foam and I was wondering if anyone else out there lines the inside of their foam with any material like fabric or resin or something to give more durability as well as protect from heat and moisture and whatnot from getting in the seams. I want this suit to hold up to some wearing and I've noticed with other builds that the seams will break down or areas will tear from the inside. Just wondered if anyone had thoughts on that and what they use. Thanks

 

[Crafter1542]

I’ve worked with EVA foam a bit, and while I haven’t had a seam tear like that, I could see it happen. The foam is already very insulating. lining it completely with fabric might turn your iron man into a molten iron man, or at least, that what you’ll feel like. A fabric of some sort would probably be best, though. If you only put strips that are a few inches wide around the seams that are taking the most stress, you’ll probably be fine, and no warmer than without the fabric.

 

[Mad Monkey]

With eva, if glued properly with contact cement, the seam is actually stronger than the foam.

Adding fabric to exposed areas makes sense.. Or to create neck seals etc.

 

[Crafter1542]

That’s true, and also why I never use reinforcement on my seams. If you don’t have contact cement, though, then the fabric is probably a good idea.

 

[Mad Monkey]

I've seen videos showing guys hot gluing eva.. But that's terrible ideas.

 

[Crafter1542]

I’ve seen it turn out well, but more often than not, it’s too weak and messy

 

[Mad Monkey]

I found contact cement was great. Personal 'pro', tip - put wax paper on your work table and use the surface of the table to line up the joints .Helps make nice smooth transitions

 

[poncho82]

i typically use contact cement on everything but i know some heat and moisture can cause contact cement to come undone. I guess it wasnt just for the seams but for all of it. I made a batman costume for halloween this year and used some 2mm foam as a rib guard and that has torn in areas. I reinforced it with some extra foam but i know that size is thin to begin with but I figured i would get ahead of the curve if i did it to my iron man as well. I know some suggest 8mm foam for iron man suits but i prefer 6mm. its not as bulky.

Ive hear of some people using smooth cast. Anyone have thoughts on that? I know it is a bit pricey and makes it more of a hard plastic.

 

[Crafter1542]

To reinforce the entire piece, I guess you could use a liquid rubber to seal it, something that you can brush on thick, since it is flexible. Actually, before reading this, I didn’t think there would be any need to reinforce foam, but I guess it can happen. I think that your 6mm foam is fine for any parts not taking a huge stress, though.

 

[Mad Monkey]

Heat seal, then plastidip the foam and you're golden

 

[SMP Designs]

Contact cement always. Pre-shaping complex curves with heat before gluing is also key for 5+mm foams. It reduces the stress on the seams and edges having to make the shapes. For thinner pieces, like 2mm, I tend to use something like headliner foam as a backing to provide some additional structure and support. I would, personally, never use 2mm unless it was attached or layered on top of something more sturdy or for simple details that don’t have to endure any stress. Even with Plasti dip, 2mm will tear under stress.

 

[Mad Monkey]

yeah 2mm is for details etc, not for structure

 

[poncho82]

Yeah it was really a last minute, ran out of material addition but definitely lesson learned haha. It worked in a pinch but i shoulda just went with some fabric with foam glued on top for an area that sees so much movement.

Thanks for the good tips. These are great.

 

[Crafter1542]

No problem! Can we see what you got, or is that for a big reveal elsewhere?

 

[poncho82]

So far im just in construction of the Iron man. Still getting things made and figuring out sizing and attaching.(oh and ignore the batman cowl on iron man. The head was just too creepy on my mannequin lol)

The batman one is the one that I had the issue with. The red colored rib area is what tore. It was minor but it was near that small piece of green tape by the armpit. But like you said. Definitely too thin to be a structured piece. I really should have just did some fabric and then accented it with foam but thats how we learn in this awesome craft.

 

[Mad Monkey]

5mm plus is best but in thoes areas if you wanted to use thinner foam for flexibility that one area you could back with cloth!

Agreed that's a creepy mannequin

 

[Crafter1542]

That mannequin looks like it wants to kill me, but the suit is coming along great! The Batman is pretty cool, too. Quick question, what did you stuff the duct tape dummy with? I’ve been thinking about making some for my costumes I have completed, but I can’t find anything that would stuff it well.

 

[Mad Monkey]

That mannequin looks like it wants to kill me, but the suit is coming along great! The Batman is pretty cool, too. Quick question, what did you stuff the duct tape dummy with? I’ve been thinking about making some for my costumes I have completed, but I can’t find anything that would stuff it well.

 

[poncho82]

I stuffed it with old plastic bags and newspaper and then filled in any gaps with the canned spray foam. If i felt a cavity id poke a hole and spray in it. then let it dry and cut off any stuff that came out and taped over it. it really helpped that the bottom was wide open so it helped to spray in it that way.

I found the mannequin cheap on amazon otherwise I might have gone and made a full duct tape dummy. I still could but its not high on my priority right now.

 

[Crafter1542]

Ok, cool