Smoothing out seams in EVA armor?

[nayhru]

Hello everyone!

This is my first time working with EVA foam, and for my first project I'm attempting to make a layered breastplate. However when assembling my pieces together I noticed that the seams weren't quite lining up right (I know now due to my patterning, I should have just made each section in one piece).

I'm afraid to start Plasti-dipping it incase the seams show noticeably even after being coated. Does anyone have suggestions on how to smooth the middle seams out? (The other lines are my attempt at engraving a design into it..)Thank you very much!



What I'm trying to get it to look like:

 

[Immigman]

I've had success with foam seams by using flexible latex caulk. I'll smooth it with a putty knife then wet my finger with water and further smooth it out. The we finger technique helps to feather the latex caulk.

 

[nayhru]

I've had success with foam seams by using flexible latex caulk. I'll smooth it with a putty knife then wet my finger with water and further smooth it out. The we finger technique helps to feather the latex caulk.

I'll have to try that out. Is there any specific type of caulk you would recommend? I know that there are some with acrylic, silicone, etc mixed with the latex. I'm still learning what will actually stick to EVA and what will peel off. :lol

 

[Immigman]

I've used both acrylic and silicone. Acrylic worked a bit better but both stuck to the foam just fine.

You can peel off the caulk but it takes some effort. What is nice is that any mistakes (e.g. globs of caulk or fingerprints) can be fixed by simply peeling the caulk off and starting over.

 

[Immigman]

One other technique I tried was using Mode podge to seal the foam then coating the piece in Epoxy resin. That provides sandable hard-coated armor. The Modge-podge is essential, since the resin won't bond to untreated foam.

 

[hydenseek]

Hey nayhru, I'll be going through the same thing soon so thank you for starting this thread.

 

[WhillB]

I like the piece that is just labeled "Boob"! :lol

Sorry, but that's all I have ATM.

 

[nayhru]

Hey nayhru, I'll be going through the same thing soon so thank you for starting this thread.

I will be trying out the caulk and could post photos here to let you know how it works out!

 

[jrbagadoughnuts]

I've had pretty good results with Dry Dex drywall spackling, smear a little on the seams, then smooth flat with a good bit of water. drys hard & smooth with very little sanding. I picked mine up at lowes, it goes on pink & turns white when dry, once all sealed & smoothed, it's ready for plasti-dip. the Plasti-dip keeps it flexible, with very little to no cracking...just don't go too overboard with the spackle.

 

[laellee]

My vote is still for paintable silicone, smoothed into the seams and cracks with either a spatula (credit card lol) or usually my finger. I cut the caulking nozzle small, and then either apply it directly to the seam or on my finger first. Either way, I then use my finger to smooth and work it into the opening, feathering out the edges to make a nice transition. A credit card or piece of plastic works great for filling pinholes and gouges with silicone as well; I've tried using my finger as well, but the card does a better job it seems getting down into small imperfections.
The nice thing about your plastidip is that you don't have to do your application in one go.... I usually caulk my seams, then lay on a heavy coat of plasti for a base. If more areas needing caulk show up, I fill those, let it cure, and lay another coat of plasti over the repair. Plastidip bonds and blends to itself very well, and I've never had problems with it intermingling with caulking layers. The Plastidip does a good job of covering small imperfections if it's laid on thicker.

As for the caulking I use, I just make sure it's paintable and silicone. The stuff I'm using now is this, big tubes but it was 2/$3 at Menards. It also comes in smaller squeeze tubes: