Female Street Judge Build WIP

I've seen other people who had used foam for their costumes to coat it in a Elmer's glue mix or Plastidip prior to painting, that way it's a hard but flexible surface as opposed to a sponge surface that just absorbs paint and takes too long to dry.

You may want to get your discarded scrap pieces to experiment on to see what works.

Found this site by accident, but I've got a few things I'd like to build someday...

Tips for foam? I used to build models myself, help mum with assorted crafts, and built model aeroplanes with my granddad (up to a 1/4-scale sit-in aerobatic ultralight - weighs less than I do!) I know about painting foam, it can be a hassle, because it's so porous. Things I've used in the past?

- Wood Dope. Used when building models from balsa wood - which is damned near foam in its own right. The wood dope is painted on before even priming, and it helps to fill the pores in the wood. Even primer will stick better (but definitely prime!)

- Water glue. Something water-based (like Elmer's "white" glue,) cut about 2 parts water to 1 part glue. This will thin it out, helping it to soak into the pores you're trying to fill, and making it paint more easily.

- Casein glue. I don't remember how to make it - but it's quick, it's easy, and any middle school chemistry/science text should tell you (and recipes are probably online in spades.) As I recall, it's made from milk. It may be thinned as "Water glue," above.

In any case, brush them on fairly lightly and wait about an hour (for the latter two. For the wood dope, follow the instructions.) Several light coats are better - reduces the need to sand to final shape, and to knock out runs and such. Check the label on your wood dope to make sure there aren't any VOC carriers in it, which can dissolve the foam (that's the advantage to the other two.)

The resulting surface will still be workable, will be easy to sand and touch up (if needed - use a fine-grit paper. I wouldn't go any coarser than 240 on foam,) won't destroy the foam, and will take paint better than nearly anything else you're likely to use (especially Plasti-Dip! That stuff is a pain to paint - worse than foam, I've noted.) If you're worried about weathering after using a water-based fill, use a good primer and then several light coats of a good latex or acrylic paint, making sure to paint around the edges and at least partially onto the back side of the item you're painting.

For forming around a curve? While you're getting your craft foam sheets, pillage around and you should be able to find rigid or semi-rigid foam balls in various sizes - I've seen them up to about 18" diameter. Measure your shoulder (in this case,) and get a ball about that size. This foam is highly porous - so either dope it well, or coat with wax or waxed paper. The bottom may be cut flat to make it hold still while you're working (or, I usually prefer to cut the bottom inch or two off on the larger sizes, and I've got a board with 4" of dowel sticking up - just ram the flat side of the ball down onto the dowel, and work away!)

I really need to get back into model-making one of these days...
 
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