Need help with Eva foam!

[LilyNion]

Herroo!


So. I'm very new with EVA foam and so far, it went okay. I have the shapes, a good working contact glue and so on. But I'm now stuck with two issues. I also want to tell that I don't have a big budget!


My first issue: My EVA foam fluffs up when I try to sand the edges, with both of my sand papers. (I believe it's 180 and 220.) What's the best way to fix the edges?


My second issue: The coating for under the paint. I've tried some standard white glue that you can use in school, 4 spoons of glue with 1 spoon of water. I used two rather thick layers and it felt just fine, but I needed to sand it down as not every spot was even. As soon as I touched the glue with the sand paper, it just ripped apart. I removed all the glue for now.
I've heard that quite a lot of cosplayers use white glue and I have no idea what I did wrong. Is there another cheap replacement for white glue for the coating, that's easy to get in the Netherlands?

 

[Badgersbunk]

If you run a torch or heat gun over the edge it will get rid of the fuzzies from sanding. I used mod podge(spelling) that I thinned and sprayed on so there wasn't any brush strokes. It seemed to work nice.

 

[mmilan]

Personally I try to sand as little as possible. Use a blade as much as possible and make sure they are sharp. Get a dremmel if possible for whatever sanding you need to do. The pores of the foam seem to "rip" open when you sand especially at low speeds which will make it difficult to paint over if you're planning on doing that later

 

[thearchangelwwe]

If you run a torch or heat gun over the edge it will get rid of the fuzzies from sanding. I used mod podge(spelling) that I thinned and sprayed on so there wasn't any brush strokes. It seemed to work nice.

I have worked with foam a lot over the last few months and have some experience as I'm sure most of you guys do. Badger is right though the only way to eliminate the fuzziness is heat sealing. Either with a heat gun or blow torch. You can get less fuzziness by using a higher grit sandpaper upwards of 320 and even moving on to wet sanding I have seen some people recommend. (Though I have never tried this myself)

As for coating I would imagine that pva isn't sandable at all regardless of how many coats you apply. Even when dry it's rubbery. Sealing with glue in my opinion is best in thin coats 10 thin coats is better and more accurate than 2 thick ones and I also like badgers idea of watering it down and air brushing it. It is the method I use though I know others like evil Ted smith seal with balloon latex.

Hope that helps.