Foam Armoring

[n1njqch1cken]

ok, i bought some foam today and tested cuts with the scroll saw and cuts with the knife, the knife works well, but the scroll saw works just as great, with wayy less effort, so scroll saw ties with cut quality and comes out way infront with mechanical advantage i haven't tried band saw yet, but i cant really carry a bandsaw down the road from my pop's house to mine i could test it at his house, but i still can't use it at home because i don't own my own one

 

[Dragon Sunkiller]

Wow! I just found this thread! I'm almost done pepping my helmet, and I think I'll do the rest of my Mk VI in foam! Very useful tut! I know this is borderline necro posting, but I think in this case it should be fine. Quick question on fillinf in the lines... Couldn't you just fill them in with hot glue, then prime/paint over that? Thanks for the tut! Great work everyone!
-Rich

 

[RedJak]

do I have to exegerate sizing when doing foam

 

[Bryce Youtsey]

do I have to exegerate sizing when doing foam

A bit yeah. When using templates, Make sure the template is bigger to leave room for the foam

 

[calladar]

i add about an inch to the scale to account for foam thickness and give a little wiggle room. if it ends up being a little large it is easy to adjust size by cutting small strips out at key places. and vice versa to make it a little larger.

 

[Bryce Youtsey]

i add about an inch to the scale to account for foam thickness and give a little wiggle room. if it ends up being a little large it is easy to adjust size by cutting small strips out at key places. and vice versa to make it a little larger.

Very true happy to help

 

[RedJak]

thank so much guys.

 

[GunGryphon]

Hey everyone, I got a quick question about templates. Do you guys prefer to use a high def template or a low def one? I am setting up to rebuild my shins and forearms out of foam and am aiming for high def quality.
-Gryphon

 

[Jester1014]

HD works the best, IMO. Low def just doesn't carry any par detail to the templates.

 

[Omega Ravager]

Just a quick question.
Does plastidip help cover some "cracks" in the joints of the pieces? Or do you get them as level to the surface as you can (with hot glue or some kind of filler) and then just kinda sand everything together. . .
I know this was at least discused earlier in the thread but I never really saw a definitive answer, just discusion.
So does anyone know what should be done. (or should this sort of thing not happen )

Thanks

 

[mkshane81]

You want to try and glue as close to the edge as possible when first fitting the pieces together. If you still end up with some kind of margin, here is what I do: I fill the crack very carefully with hot glue, taking care to not overfill it. Once it sets up, I use the side of the nozzle on the glue gun to heat it up, spreading the excess over a larger area and smoothing it out. Once complete, it will make that area much less noticeable. As far as small imperfections in the foam, i.e. pits, small cracks, tear lines that have been reglued, etc., the plastidip will help to fill those in and cover them up.

 

[Omega Ravager]

Thanks a ton!
That really helps, I know ideally everything should be perfectly aligned to each other but since it was my first time working with foam everything wasn't quite. . . perfect I'm definately getting better but I want to make it look as good as possible.

Thanks again,
Omega

 

[J326]

I think i'm gonna work on a foam build soon but i need some numbers from people that have completed the entire armor with foam and plasti dip:
How many mats of eva foam was used for the entire suit:
how many cans of how many oz of plasti dip was used?

if you have not completed the entire armor:
then list the pieces completed and how many cans of plasti dip used so far.

this data will help me as well as others the cost of a foam build.

 

[Zat German]

Just an FYI for you all: You can get a lot more for your money if you can find the cans of Plasti-Dip, not the aerosol version. A lot of the contents of the aerosol Plasti-Dip is the aerosol itself, not Plasti-Dip. Also, with the cans of liquid, you are supposed to thin it with 10% or more of naptha, which means you control how thick it goes on and get more out of a single can. Shake the can of Plasti-Dip before using it. If you do not plan on using the whole thing, buy an empty pint paint can. Plasti-Dip settles when it sits around and using the plastic lid it comes with for storage will not keep it from drying out.

Be aware that liquid Plasti-Dip will crack at seams pretty easily. If you want to get a lot of use and abuse out of your armor, you may want to try some Boost and Foam Coat. You can see my tests with it here.

 

[J326]

Just an FYI for you all: You can get a lot more for your money if you can find the cans of Plasti-Dip, not the aerosol version. A lot of the contents of the aerosol Plasti-Dip is the aerosol itself, not Plasti-Dip. Also, with the cans of liquid, you are supposed to thin it with 10% or more of naptha, which means you control how thick it goes on and get more out of a single can. Shake the can of Plasti-Dip before using it. If you do not plan on using the whole thing, buy an empty pint paint can. Plasti-Dip settles when it sits around and using the plastic lid it comes with for storage will not keep it from drying out.

Be aware that liquid Plasti-Dip will crack at seams pretty easily. If you want to get a lot of use and abuse out of your armor, you may want to try some Boost and Foam Coat. You can see my tests with it here.

ooh nice, do you use standard paint brushes to apply it? and my final question would be how well does it hold up with spray paint?

 

[Zat German]

ooh nice, do you use standard paint brushes to apply it? and my final question would be how well does it hold up with spray paint?

For the Foam Coat/Bounce? I used a brush I got from the dollar store. Nice thing is that this stuff is water clean up so you rinse out the brush when you are done and you can use it again. I did buy a foam roller from Walmart for a couple bucks that I thought would apply it a lot smoother, however, I have not had a chance to try it out. I was waiting until I had a real piece to coat and paint.

I imagine Krylon Fusion would work just fine with it but I still need to test that. I do have my samples from those pictures still. Once it warms up here a bit more, I will try Krylon Fusion on them. It is going to be rainy and cold the next couple days, so no good for spraypaint tests.

 

[amancue]

thing I've fallen in love w/ for cutting my EVA foam, is the router attachment for my Dremel
also does great w/ helping detail and rout in designs. with a hot knife/razor my cuts were always coming out a bit slanted because I cant hold the blade perfectly vertical when cutting, but w/ the router attachment I just sink it into the material and slowly trace my outlines and perfect lines and shapes and smooth too, as long as you remember to cut in the right direction, the dremel spins clockwise, so if you want the smooth side to be the piece being cut out, follow the line when cutting counter clockwise if you want the otherside smooth reverse the direction you follow its that simple.
the router attachment is about $30 so if you have a dremel its not a bad or expensive investment. I love it because I suck @ freehanding things

 

[Mensrea Prod]

May have to check this thing out. Off to the store I go cause any thing to help cut the foam is a good thing to have..

 

[Zat German]

the router attachment is about $30 so if you have a dremel its not a bad or expensive investment. I love it because I suck @ freehanding things

Are you talking about this?

Dremel 565 Multi-purpose Cutting Kit

If so, I agree. I picked one up to cut channels(project003's "trenching") for better folds and it works awesome. Way better than trying to eyeball the right angles.

If you are talking about the Dremel routing table attachment, where the Dremel is below the foam, stay away from this. The design is horribly flawed and will ruin your Dremel because the material from the piece falls into the Dremel and gets inside the motor.

 

[amancue]

actually no, I do have that one havnt used it yet, came with my Dremel 4000 kit
I was referring to this one

it's really nice

Are you talking about this?

Dremel 565 Multi-purpose Cutting Kit

If so, I agree. I picked one up to cut channels(project003's "trenching") for better folds and it works awesome. Way better than trying to eyeball the right angles.

If you are talking about the Dremel routing table attachment, where the Dremel is below the foam, stay away from this. The design is horribly flawed and will ruin your Dremel because the material from the piece falls into the Dremel and gets inside the motor.