Hi all, I'm thinking about sculpting a full-size t-rex skull out of pink rigid insulating foam (mainly because I was able to acquire a a big pile of old used foam!).
I'll be doing it in manageable sections and then merging everything together at the end.
I have some ideas about covering/finishing the foam but am wondering if any seasoned sculptors out there had any good tips. The goal is to cover/paint/seal the foam to the point where it looks and feels like a museum resin fossil casting.
I really like the darker, more matte weathered look (see attachment):
Ideally the final sculpture will be sturdy enough to stand on and could sit outside and withstand the weather and not easily chip paint (a nice garden centerpiece? ).
My first instinct was to coat the foam with PVA or something to protect it from any solvent use. Then I would cover the entire thing with fiberglass/resin, maybe do some finishing work with Bondo etc and then paint, weather, and seal it.
I'm thinking if I use fiberglass it'll introduce a lot of finishing work because of the grid-like fiber texture so I'm wondering if there's a better alternative - maybe something like Line-X (never used it before)?
Would your local hardware store automotive Bondo resin be good enough or do you think there's a better alternative? (I'll probably need a lot of this stuff)
Luckily there's a lot of margin for error on the texturing because of the bumpy/broken surfaces of natural fossils.
If anyone has any better ideas or time-saving tips I would be eternally grateful. Will be posting progress along the way!
Cheers
I'll be doing it in manageable sections and then merging everything together at the end.
I have some ideas about covering/finishing the foam but am wondering if any seasoned sculptors out there had any good tips. The goal is to cover/paint/seal the foam to the point where it looks and feels like a museum resin fossil casting.
I really like the darker, more matte weathered look (see attachment):
Ideally the final sculpture will be sturdy enough to stand on and could sit outside and withstand the weather and not easily chip paint (a nice garden centerpiece? ).
My first instinct was to coat the foam with PVA or something to protect it from any solvent use. Then I would cover the entire thing with fiberglass/resin, maybe do some finishing work with Bondo etc and then paint, weather, and seal it.
I'm thinking if I use fiberglass it'll introduce a lot of finishing work because of the grid-like fiber texture so I'm wondering if there's a better alternative - maybe something like Line-X (never used it before)?
Would your local hardware store automotive Bondo resin be good enough or do you think there's a better alternative? (I'll probably need a lot of this stuff)
Luckily there's a lot of margin for error on the texturing because of the bumpy/broken surfaces of natural fossils.
If anyone has any better ideas or time-saving tips I would be eternally grateful. Will be posting progress along the way!
Cheers
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