Warhammer 40K Space Marine build.

[Kstrohm]

Im using the brush on plastidip, the spray on takes too many coats. Aside from plastidip i hit all the pieces with a heat gun before i start dipping it. Helps make it a little more smooth, kind of preseals the foam too to keep it from absorbing so much of the dip and takes less coats to hide the foam texture. The shoulders are pretty robust, i did the perimeter in 1/4" ply wood to give it some structure. And the paint is pretty durable, doesn't seem to crack or peel at all when flexed. And no problem on all the questions haha, glad to see some people are taking interest and asking questions. And as for my dead line, it will be close ill probably be working till Friday night yet to make it saturday haha.

 

[Kstrohm]

Unfortunately I didn't make my deadline like I wanted to, was just a real grueling schedule to try to meet was up till 1-2AM every night for about 2 weeks trying to get this build done but no big deal I suppose. My plan is actually to retire most of the parts of this build and start over again with the knowledge I've gained from this one to make the next one better, just overall techniques that worked and didn't work for me and what tools and materials I got the best results with. Scored some vinyl covered ducting off amazon for the leg and arm tubes that I liked, tried gluing some stretch fabric on the regular ducting I had and wasn't happy with my results and honestly got the craps of it reeeeal quick. Here's a few things I thought were worth taking pictures of though that I got done since my last post. Also note to self, plastidip melts styrofoam haha.

/Real happy with this blue though, real close for ultramarines I think

 

[Kstrohm]

Hi K -
Loving the build so far! I'm a huge fan of the PLUS size costume builds I'm at the seam caulking stage myself and frankly, I'm terrified. I'm really impressed with what you've got going with those shoulders - that smooth/solid look is exactly what I'm going for, but I can't come to a final decision about how to finish the surface. Are you just using the liquid Plastidip for the surface? or prepping it with something else first? And how's the flexibility of the shoulder piece? And how durable is the paint?

Sorry bombardment of questions... But hey, I haven't used a single template for my build, in part because they don't exist, but also because I'm a firm believer that the end result will be much more satisfying and unique if you're not using someone else's design. Give it your own flare! that's what'll make it stand out among the others! Anyway, nice work so far, can't wait to see the final result! Best of luck on your final push! Think you'll hit your deadline?

This weekend I looked into it a bit more as for caulking the joints. It sounds a bit crude but I ended up using Dap Kwik seal (Comes in a squeezable tube) and applied a generous amount to each joint and ended up "smoothing" out with a wet sponge. Really fills the seams nicely without removing too much and any excess is feathered out to the point where when your plastidip or what ever you use to coat the foam is applied to wont see it. Hope this might help you out, or give you some ideas. I was messing around with applying and tooling it with a painting spatula and then sanding and honestly didn't really like sanding foam, real hard to get the texture to fully return once you do that.

 

[Ikras]

Sad to hear you didn't make your deadline but it's great to hear you plan to keep at it. For the speed and experience with foam you've been working with you've been getting great results and I'm sure that mk2 will look even better.

Most spray based things will tend to melt what you spray them on unless you seal it properly first. I think that even something like a layer of PVA or something similar would help avoid that.

The DAP Kwik seal is a brand I've seen recommended for just that purpose on here. If you haven't come across it then there is an evil ted video all about his use of it for reducing seams along with some sanding methods he uses too. Hope that's of use.

I'll keep an eye out for further progress with this. Looking forward to it.