Kanga's Foam Findings, tips, advice

[Kangabox]

All right guys, I'm going to be switching my builds to predominantly High Impact Polystyrene and Rivets for the time being.

Thought I'd tell you guys what I've found. This is to help you guys save a bunch of money on such, so you don't end up wasting a ton of money on some items like I did.

Here's what I've learned with EVA foam building:

SAFETY EQUIPMENT:
-Harbor Freights sells entire respirators for only $15. Rated for 30 days, chemical and organic vapors.

FOAM (For the US of A Kids):
-Harbor Freights sells a pack of 4 2'X2' anti fatigue mats for $10 a pop, get their newsletters tho. They'll have sales that lower them down to $7 apiece every now and then, combine that with a 20% off coupon they give out, and voila.
-Big Lots sells a 6 pack of 2'X2' mats for $19 a pop
-Pep boys sells a 8 pack of 2'X2' mats for $15 a pop
-5mm Craft Foam. EXCELLENT for detail pieces.

SHAPING:
-Soldering Irons make good indenting tools
-Don't have a heat gun? Can't afford one? Go to your Dollar Store and grab a few lighters. Just be careful with them. They're not as effective as a heat gun, but they can get the job done of curving stuff. I recommend you doing this outside with a respirator on, as they do give a kinda nasty smell.
-Dremels make VERY rough cuts, same applies to any sanding tool
-If you manage to mess up cutting, don't panic. You can either fill the hole/mess up with hot glue, and sand, or you can buy the latexite caulking tubes and fill in the gaps with those. And for you people planning on using Foamed to vacuform, this stuff is esentially bondo for foam. Yes it's sandable.

GLUING PIECES TOGETHER:
-Just found out that epoxy resin WILL NOT hold pieces together. Haven't tried your glue yet.
-Hot Glue is the standard for getting your build together, but you HAVE to seal your build afterwards. Think about what happens with hot glue+100 degree Texas heat.
-Gorilla Glue is the BEST option. The problem is that it expands out with this yellow stuff that can't really be sanded too well, but it's EXCELLENT for pieces with high breakage points. Oh, and it also takes a couple of hours to dry. Think shoes, abs, etc. I lined the seams inside my pieces with gorilla glue, they're still held together. Gorilla glue sucks at bonding
plastic to foam, or bonding plastic together.

SEALING:
-PVA glue or Wood Glue WILL crack
-Stay the hell away from that blacktop stuff. It's not meant to seal anything. At all.
-I bought this "concrete sealer" stuff. Didn't work either
-Fiberglass Resin on PVA Glue sealed EVA foam will just crack right off.
-Thru the roof sealant seems to work, problem is that it dries VERY rough, and cannot be thinned out with acetone.
-The only sealant I've found to work is Plasti-Dip. STAY AWAY from the spray cans. Spray cans cost $12 a pop, and run out REALLY quick. The brush on kind is the way to go, and can be thinned out with Acetone, and fed through a spray gun.
-Remember to seal the inside of your build with at least 2 coats of plasti-dip, and outside with 3 coats. This stuff causes cancer, so wear gloves, a respirator, and goggles.

If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

 

[vargatom]

What about replacing the heat gun with a hair dryer instead of lighters?

Also, I've found that the spray Plastidip works better on craft foam, at least on the type that I got; standard brush-on version just ran off those surfaces and multiple coats didn't help either.

Didn't really think about sealing the inside, what exactly is your reasoning for this? It won't be seen and you'll basically have to buy twice as much from the stuff...

 

[Zaff]

Any experience with other brands of "Plasti-dip?" For example the "Flex Seal" stuff they show on TV ads, or Rustoleum's "Leakseal" spray-on rubber coating, do they work as well as the Plasti-dip line of products, or are they just cheap (or rather, expensive) knock-offs?

Another thing I've been wondering about is if anyone has used a clear rubber coating (such as anything mentioned above) after painting to add a protective layer over the color to keep the paint from being scratched/chipped, and if so, were there any issues with clarity or would it be fairly simple to just buff the rubber coating to achieve true clear?

 

[Kangabox]

I only recommend the lighter methods for times of sheer desperation where you NEED a curve in your foam. Direct fire is hotter than what the heat gun emits, so it is possible to end up with a black stumpy crisp if you do it wrong.

This is the first time I've heard of Plasti-dip not sticking to well... anything.
It sounds like you either thinned it out too much naptha/acetone, or you got a pretty bad batch. My problem is usually quite the opposite with the brush on, if I don't thin it out correctly, I can't brush it on without it having uneven coats.

Plasti dip is basically what puts foam builds in the moderately expensive margin. Then again, if you thin out your plasti dip with Naptha, you won't have to buy AS much. Online ordering will help too. That being said, plasti dip is basically a liquid rubber coating holding everything together. Since your build is basically hanging onto itself with hot glue, if you only coat the outside with plasti dip, the seams being held together by only plasti dip will rip apart inside. Temps can very well reach above the melting point for glue on the inside of your suit, especially if you're walking around outdoors.

However, if you use the Gorilla glue backing method that I mentioned above, you would be able to get away with not needing to plasti-dip the inside. Little savings tip for you.

 

[Kangabox]

Any experience with other brands of "Plasti-dip?" For example the "Flex Seal" stuff they show on TV ads, or Rustoleum's "Leakseal" spray-on rubber coating, do they work as well as the Plasti-dip line of products, or are they just cheap (or rather, expensive) knock-offs?

Another thing I've been wondering about is if anyone has used a clear rubber coating (such as anything mentioned above) after painting to add a protective layer over the color to keep the paint from being scratched/chipped, and if so, were there any issues with clarity or would it be fairly simple to just buff the rubber coating to achieve true clear?

Oh boy. Leakseal does the job, except it dries on pretty rough, and 100% more expensive. The same applies to that Rustoleum truck bed liner stuff. I used both, now just keep them around the garage for household repairs. They do the job, just not for cosplay. Unless you WANT rough looking armor...

Quite a few people have added clearcoat after on their builds afterwards with great success. I'm almost certain you could add transparent plasti-dip on your build afterwards for the same shiny effect. For my IM MKVII, I just slapped on cheap $10 shiny latex paint, so even if the paint does chip off (Which does, but not as much as you would think, surprisingly), I can just add more paint.

 

[Zaff]

I wasn't refering to the truck bed liner at all, but rather this stuff, which appears to just be Rustoleum's version of Plastidip, and the Flexseal also seems to be just another rubber-ish spray on sealant/coating (albeit a more expensive one, as most "as seen on TV" products tend to be).

For me the only place I can find plastidip seems to be Ebay, as none of the stores in my area carry it, which means at minimum $7 a can, plus another $6-10 for shipping (and oddly the prices seem higher for the non-spray variety), so dropping 10 bucks on a can of the Rustoleum stuff at Walmart is actually the cheaper option for me.

And for the clear coat I was again refering to the clear rubber coating as opposed to the "traditional" clearcoat methods (generally acrylic or enamel), not sure if I did a good enoguh job clarifying that the first time around. My concern is that with it being a rubber coating as opposed to merely being clear paint, that the thicnkess of the coating or simply the inherent traits of the rubber itself would result in a hazy or otherwise distorted look. I haven't had any personal experience working with foam or any other steps of that method yet, so I'm trying to see if other people have used the methods I've been considering and what successes, or obstacles, they've found in doing so.