High Density Styrofoam Molds

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GhostSniper116

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Okay, so in OXM, I was reading that famed article about NAS's GoW stuff, and they had something in the sidebar regarding how they made the molds and stuff, but I can't figure out what they mean within the first two steps, which has me confused for the later steps. If I do break down and decide to make armor for myself, I would try to use this method, since I loved how their armor came out, but I can't figure out how to make the molds. Any explanations?

Thanks in advance.
 
Yeah, never got along well with clay, it always bored me. I could however make a mean lookin T-Rex :p.

If I can, I'm going to try to get my hands on some foam, and I'm going to shoot the moon on this one. Not to seem too gung-ho about it, but I'm relatively sure that I could get the foam carved out to what I need, and then the only parts that I'd have a real difficult with would be the process of turning the carving into a mold. Eh, any ideas on where to buy foam at?
 
That I expect, whether I make it or I buy it. Got a good lazy little job down at a crappy movie theater where I get paid to eat popcorn, so I'm good on money :p.

I'll probably work on drawing the chief, a lot, then doing some smaller clay models, and then gradually build up in size until I'm ready to sculpt the thing out of the foam. Make the silicone cast, and hopefully get this sucker going. Maybe by the end of my freshman year in college I can have it done... A good year from now. *Sigh*
 
I've spent alot of time carving high density foam, and I can honestly say that it's a pretty painstaking process. I've used it for two large scale sculpture jobs... one making a 12' x 26' life sized dinosaur, and the other making large cast architectural elements.

I don't think that you can adequately make your own high density foam... The stuff that these places make isn't the same as the 'great stuff' expanding foam that you can buy in stores... it's much much denser... which is important because of the air bubbles that show up in great stuff... it's not very cood material for carving with all those air pockets.

I have lucked out because there is a company near me that manufacturers high density foam. I contacted them and asked if I could have some of their scrap, and was able to get everything I needed for much less that it would have cost me outright. Look in your Yellow Pages for 'Specialty Insulation Products' and make some calls. Maybe theres a similar company near you.

Hope that helps,

-Sean
 
Thanks for the tip on where I may be able to get some high density foam for cheap Sean.

And thanks for that link Adam, if all else fails, I may be buying from them.

And the only problem with EPS foam is that it's not good for carving out details....
 
Not sure if it's even close to the stuff you buy online, but theres foam wall insulation that you can buy at most hardware stores, it comes in up to 5" thick here and in pretty big rectangles. It's pretty inexpensive and easy to work with, plus if you glue it together you can get it to the right thickness at a fraction of the cost.
 
That's a pretty good idea sniper, thanks for the tip. I'll probably swing by Lowes in a couple of days on my way to walmart to get some clay to work on some models.
 
Note: All insulation board is not made equal.

The stuff you see in hardware stores is more like stryafoam... it's pretty spongy and kind of tears when you try to shape it unless you're using a razor sharp instrument. It isn't very easy to work with, and getting fine detail is very difficult.

The high density foam is VERY easy to work with. It carves like butter with a sureform plane, and can be worked with files, rasps, even sandpaper. You can get really fine details... so sometimes it is worth the money.
 
you mix them together and it just foams...the whole thing as some air bubbles in it thats what foam is made out of also but there tiny
 
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