Should I seal this armature or purchase a new one?

[KidHaru]

So in a rushed decision, I bought this head display to finally begin my quest into helmet sculpting, only to find that it's made of a relatively malleable foam.

Now I could either try to return it (if I can make it down to the dumpster to get its packaging that I threw away days ago) + a 20% restocking fee, or I could sculpt on it and pray for the best. (Lose about $12)

I could really use some advice on this because if there's a way for this to still service its purpose long term, I'd like to explore it. Otherwise if it's a lost cause, I'd like to return it before I alter it in any way.

If it is possible to strengthen its outer shell, I'd love some advice.

Thank you.
(My apologies of I broke any rules. If I am, please let me know and I'll gladly remove this post.)

 

[ChickenHaunt]

To my knowledge, those things are really only made to be mask display stands. I've seen people sculpt on them, but I don't expect the bust will make it through the molding phase. You're better off sculpting on a plaster lifecast. I think the thickness of reinforcement you'd need to make it durable wouldn't be worth it. But again, that's without having handled one personally.

 

[JPH]

1) test the material with fiberglass resin. If it tolerates the resin, coat it and use it for the original purpose.
2) Cover it with plaster to make an outer mold, then make the mold out of a sturdier material.

 

[KidHaru]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I decided to just see how it holds up on it's own for the time being. Since I mostly plan to use this just for helmet crafting, I decided to sculpt a base helmet onto it where I will then mold and cast the full display.

Here's what I've learned so far:
Despite being a sturdy foam, it's actually pretty resilient.

I messed up early on after covering a good half of the head and found that for the most part, the clay peeled off pretty easily unless I applied A LOT of pressure.

I used wood tools to pry up an edge and then was able to remove large chunks of the clay. (notably, I inserted it between the clay and the foam.)
Certain areas were borderline fused to the foam and I could hear the foam stressing under the pressure so I'd abandon that spot and move onto the same area from a different angle. That usually let me remove that same spot without any of the risk. I exhausted my clay and had to remove the entire cap to start over. This is where it's at now.



I can apply a ton of pressure to the display and as long as my nail or something doesn't touch it, the display will remain undamaged. So it checks out as far as sculpting so far. The molding phase is now where I'm curious. I have Brush-On 35 for a silicone mold but am open to any cheaper alternatives since this is just the base and I still plan to mold and cast actual helmets from the armature I make out of this.

 

[Jasonium]

I use chicken wire. Wrap the head and the clay will stick. Possibly, you might not be able to use it twice but I've used the same cheap polystyrene head loads of times.