[Help] Painting on craft foam

[GrieverXVII]

Hi guys, I have seen so many great quality costumes on this forum from pro skilled people lol...i really need some advice from the highly knowledgeable and experienced. as this is my first experience with craft foam i would just like to set my path straight.

My goal: black metal armor pieces with some durability and some flexibility with a high gloss/shiny look to it, also without worry of crack or flaking if slightly bent.

Question: how do i acheive my goal and which products will get me closest to my desired results?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Kevin Gossett]

You'll need to seal the foam first, so it isn't so porous anymore. This can be done using several light coats of PVA/white glue. Some people dilute it 1:1, others use it straight up. Test on a scrap piece of foam to see what works best for you. Basically, you brush it on, let it dry, repeat. Do this 3-4 times, then you can go about painting. One option is to use Plasti-Dip to allow a little more flex. Couple coats of that, then prime and paint.

 

[GrieverXVII]

You'll need to seal the foam first, so it isn't so porous anymore. This can be done using several light coats of PVA/white glue. Some people dilute it 1:1, others use it straight up. Test on a scrap piece of foam to see what works best for you. Basically, you brush it on, let it dry, repeat. Do this 3-4 times, then you can go about painting. One option is to use Plasti-Dip to allow a little more flex. Couple coats of that, then prime and paint.

thank you Kevin for the quick helpful reply! i've been told some other people are saying that they prefer to seal first, paint then finish with a floor lacquer?

btw if i use paint should i use acrylic as it's thicker and has flex to it? or spray paint..or will that just crack?

edit:
I've just been thinking about methods here since i'm hitting up hardware stores early tomorrow morning for supplies, I'd use plasti-dip to seal the foam pieces, prime the surface, paint it using spray paint? or acrylic by hand? and then as an option i can then put a floor lacquer over the paint for that high gloss/shiny effect?

 

[randalgraves]

docholiday78 came up with a really good method for getting a shiny finish while keeping the foam flexible. I went ahead and followed this method on some test pieces and it does work quite well.

Here are the steps that docholiday came up with:
Step 1. Heat sealing the foam. If you dont have one you can try a blow drier. Heat but dont burn it just till foam looks like it has glitter on it. Do it twice but let cool in between.

Step 2. Modpodge time. Coat as needed but no less then 3 coats. Look closely at the foam coat until pores are filled. The pores on the foam are the little dots on it that absorbthe coating. Youll know when sealed good when no more dots And have shine like. Let dry for 30 min

Step 3. plastic dip 2 to 3 coats. no less then 2.follow directions on label for amount of time to wait in between coats.

Step 4. Adhesion promoter 2 coats and let dry.

Step 5. Filler primer. Heres where youll be able to tell if ya followed directions cuz itll be really flexible. After the first coat ya can lightly wet sand with 800 grit. If not proceed to next step. If you sanded make sure its cleaned before next coat.

Step 6. Paint foam. Preferrably a duplicolor paint but if ya cant find your color any paint shoud be fine. The first pic is of it painted only with barely one coat. didnt have enough oops lol but paint your with 2 coats and let dry after and in between.

Step 7. Is the cherry on top. 2 coats of that glaze it will make it scratch resistant and super shiny. I put examples of how flexible it is and returns back to its original form. Wait about a week then wetsand with 2000 for smoothin out any orangepeel if ya have some . Then polish compound, wax n buff n it should be oh so smooth n shiny like a brand new car lol n thats it your done.. pretty easy huh...enjoy


The steps are laid out in his thread along with pictures:
http://www.therpf.com/f24/foam-rondo-abs-weathering-149883/index8.html

 

[GrieverXVII]

So today i went out and bought some black EVA mats, plasti-dip, krylon black gloss spray paint, krylon triple thick clear gloss spray paint. Gonna do some tests tonight and hope for the best

 

[FrankV]

docholiday78 came up with a really good method for getting a shiny finish while keeping the foam flexible. I went ahead and followed this method on some test pieces and it does work quite well.

Here are the steps that docholiday came up with:
Step 1. Heat sealing the foam. If you dont have one you can try a blow drier. Heat but dont burn it just till foam looks like it has glitter on it. Do it twice but let cool in between.

Step 2. Modpodge time. Coat as needed but no less then 3 coats. Look closely at the foam coat until pores are filled. The pores on the foam are the little dots on it that absorbthe coating. Youll know when sealed good when no more dots And have shine like. Let dry for 30 min

Step 3. plastic dip 2 to 3 coats. no less then 2.follow directions on label for amount of time to wait in between coats.

Step 4. Adhesion promoter 2 coats and let dry.

Step 5. Filler primer. Heres where youll be able to tell if ya followed directions cuz itll be really flexible. After the first coat ya can lightly wet sand with 800 grit. If not proceed to next step. If you sanded make sure its cleaned before next coat.

Step 6. Paint foam. Preferrably a duplicolor paint but if ya cant find your color any paint shoud be fine. The first pic is of it painted only with barely one coat. didnt have enough oops lol but paint your with 2 coats and let dry after and in between.

Step 7. Is the cherry on top. 2 coats of that glaze it will make it scratch resistant and super shiny. I put examples of how flexible it is and returns back to its original form. Wait about a week then wetsand with 2000 for smoothin out any orangepeel if ya have some . Then polish compound, wax n buff n it should be oh so smooth n shiny like a brand new car lol n thats it your done.. pretty easy huh...enjoy


The steps are laid out in his thread along with pictures:
http://www.therpf.com/f24/foam-rondo-abs-weathering-149883/index8.html

If I go right in with paint over the plasti-dip without priming, am I humped?