"Help!" for: Foam

[Gray]

The term they will likely recognize is "Anti-fatigue foam mats", or something of the like. You should find them around the treadmills and elliptical cross-trainers (I found em on a shelf underneath them). If you have a Harbor Freight near you, that would be even better because they tend to be cheaper there, and they are usually running sales there. You can find the little 2mm and 5mm "foamies" for details at craft stores. Hobby Lobby has a great selection of sizes, but you can find some at Walmart or Michael's too. They have them near the beads at the Hobby Lobby here, but I'm not sure if it's the same at other stores.

One thing I've noticed building with foam is that it is easier to avoid getting burned if you're careful not to glob the glue on (it'll drip). Smooth it down with the nozzle of the glue gun before you join your pieces together, and your seam will be cleaner, too. ^^ It also cures faster that way, so you're not stuck sitting there waiting for it to dry enough to hold. Lots and lots of fresh x-acto blades really make a difference in your seams, too.

Heating them is helpful to end up with the right shape (My Wetwork helmet ended up longer rather than wider because I didn't heat the pieces much), but if you do heat them, be sure you heat pieces for both sides the same way or it'll try and warp a little. I've personally noticed more scratch-builders heating the foam than pep-builders, but to each their own. I heat em either way if the situation calls for it.

Erm...that's all I can think of from personal experience that might help. Good luck! I'll be looking for a build thread! ^^

Wow! All that information helped me a lot! Thank you for that! Oh, and I found a Harbor Freight near me, and I'll be headed there ASAP! Thanks again for that help

Oh, and at Harbor Freight is it called anti-fatigue roll mat? That's all I found there that seems to be relevant.

 

[sarlume]

You're welcome! Glad I could be of help!

Yes, but those are a little bit thinner. I haven't used them yet, so I don't know by how much. They should have the puzzle-y ones there right next to the roll mats too, though.

 

[the rice shield]

Is there a glue, other than hot glue, that dries pretty fast and is safe to use on the pink insulation foam?

 

[Gamemaster]

I have done a lot of foam crafting, not just the armor I made, but weapons, kids crafts, various other Halloween costumes and even homemade x-mas gifties. My preferred, and pretty much only, tools I use are:
Heat gun. Seal the foam first, its easier to work with, you get nicer cuts, uses less paint. Also for rounded parts.
Hotknife. This is the tool you need. Forget about exactos and scalpels, get a hotknife and a sharpening stone. So much easier. Also branding bits can make some interesting designs.
Hot glue. Cheap, easy and strong. You can also take it apart easy for mistakes or modifications, cleans up easily. Other glue sucks. (IMO)
Plastidip. After trying a few different sealers I found plasti-dip spray paint to be the best, along with acrilique (I can't spell it and neither can the spell checker) paint.

 

[Zaff]

You mean acrylic?

As for other glues safe for insulation/foam board, white glue, sometimes called "glue-all," or "Elmer's glue" might work as well. It's cheap, cleans up with water, and shouldn't have any bad reactions with the foam itself. Might be best to scuff the surface on both sides that you're gluing together to promote better adhesion, though, as it doesn't always grip as well as hot glue does. A quick once-over with a sanding sponge (nothing coarser than 100 grit, higher numbers are less coarse) should be enough to make it slightly rough without taking away so much material as to throw off the desired shape. Even so, it's still possible the piece could pop off if the glue doesn't set properly. After everything's dried, definitely would be a good idea to seal the whole thing in plastidip to help keep everything where it's suppose to be.

 

[Foxfysh]

That was my thinking. Better to have something that will flex with the body while still staying in place. Strapped on armor pieces have a way of shifting, drifting, and sliding out of place, which can make movement awkward and clumsy, and velcro can come undone or get worn out after a while. Granted elastic will wear out eventually as well, but in the meantime it's likely to perform better than velcro because of its flexibility.

Thanks Zaff! The elastic would be ideal for the arms and legs.

They might work. Personally I'd use those more for "interchangeable parts," such as shoulder attachments, so that I could swap around the look of my armor without having to make several base parts with the variations hard fused to them.

One down side I've noticed with elastic that it will also get turned around and shift if it doesn't have an anchor. To expand on that (or stand alone I guess?) I have an idea that I've used on sewing and lighter projects but should still work on armor. Or it might work better with armor? Keep in mind that I haven't used this method on armor builds before but I intend to use this when I start on my build. Basically, elastic rope (like small rubber bands) or the stretch jewelry thread and buttons. If your under suit is form fitting, it'd be better as it won't shift as much as loose shirts. If you use rubber bands, keep extras handy as it could snap. Elastic rope like hair ties would work well since it is covered in fabric and less likely to snap.

Sew buttons to your under suit at strategic places. Good examples would be at both sides (left/right) of the knees or joints. Use black buttons or clear ones so it isn't as noticeable and at the right places it could even blend in with your suit well enough to look like its part of the suit. These will act as your anchors for your pieces. More doesn't necessarily mean better since you'll need to be able to loop the elastic around each button. However, put as much as you think is necessary to hold it in place. Then simply attach a loop of elastic to the corresponding spot of the armor. I imagine hot glue will work well to hold the loop in place. Keep in mind that this is a hook/eye method so don't place tack where you'll be attaching the loop to the underside of your armor too close to the button. Try to make the loop small enough where it won't fall off the button too.

Plus, it is very interchangeable!

I'm pulling from sewing experience here so it may not work as expected with armor builds. The theory sounds about right though. Thoughts? Suggestions? There could be some problems I'm overlooking with this so let me know.

 

[Foxfysh]

I realize this might not be right thread to pose this question in but I was just wondering what your thoughts were on the matter. I have been commissioned to build officer vi's gauntlets and back piece. Aside from obviously charging for the cost of materials, what would be a reasonable price for labor then? I wouldn't say I have the experience to confidently build it from scrarch but I do have experience working with foam builds. I know what to expect but not confident that the outcome will be the best. But then again I would be the one that would most harshly judge my work. If you were in my position then, what would you do? Since I cannot be objective, could you please give your objective opinions?

 

[JayOneSeven]

I realize this might not be right thread to pose this question in but I was just wondering what your thoughts were on the matter. I have been commissioned to build officer vi's gauntlets and back piece. Aside from obviously charging for the cost of materials, what would be a reasonable price for labor then? I wouldn't say I have the experience to confidently build it from scrarch but I do have experience working with foam builds. I know what to expect but not confident that the outcome will be the best. But then again I would be the one that would most harshly judge my work. If you were in my position then, what would you do? Since I cannot be objective, could you please give your objective opinions?

That's a really tough question to answer without knowing anything about the quality of the products, nor the amount of time put in.
Some people make hand pieces from foam in 10 minutes, others take a week. Some look like they've been ran over, others look straight out of the game.
Without any idea of how long you're going to take to labor these pieces, or how well they're going to look, it's really not possible to give an estimate.

 

[SubZero24]

If you want texture flip the foam over to get that cool look to it

 

[Hawkins]

Question, is it possible to apply fiberglass to foam pieces? Just out of curiosity

 

[Ulfhedinn073]

I've begun work on my Noble Six build and I had a question about what adhesive to use to attach craft foam for detailing? Hot glue doesn't work because it dries quick and can be lumpy. So I was wondering what would be a good adhesive to use for a large surface area that won't warp the craft foam?

I've also found (in my very limited experience) that if you use a small amount of hot glue and spread it with something, the craft foam will lay flat. (My glue gun has a metal tip perfect for spreading)

 

[Saint Cadaverous]

I was wondering if any one has done Foam with Worbla or any kind of thermoplastic. I was thinking of making a Destiny Hunter suit. I wanted to use Foam because the suit does not require a lot to build. I then thought about coating it with thermoplastic to give it some durability. I was not sure if this has been done before.

 

[mattmcg13]

Does anyone have any halo reach pep files that are made for foam

 

[vshore100]

Does anyone have any halo reach pep files that are made for foam

Here's a link to L3X's foam reach torso. Scroll down until you see where it says foam template.
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/28565-Another-Reach-Mark-V-Torso

 

[Pbrtacos]

Does anyone have a foam stencil for the halo reach security shoulder???

 

[mattmcg13]

Does anyone have a foam stencil for the halo reach security shoulder???

yeah, it's in the 405th foam pep database at this link: http://www.4shared.com/folder/CCB_6QwQ/405th_Pepakura_Database.html

 

[Millertime2114]

I'm new to the concept of armor modeling and was wondering what the easiest material is to use as a beginner. Should i use foam or pepakura?

 

[mattmcg13]

just wondering, does anyone have an ODST shoulder template made for foam?

 

[Harri51]

Hugh does in his ODST build. Got to search for it but it is buried in the thread somewhere....might even be in the odst files in the database.

 

[cha0skn1ght]

just wondering, does anyone have an ODST shoulder template made for foam?

I converted one of Hugh's files. It's pretty basic and it's only the outer armor, not the bicep piece.
ODST Shoulder
Let me know if you like it.