BLUE FOAM

Does anyone know where I can get the blue foam stuff that aeromodellers use to make thier wings sometimes?? This stuff is very close celled and easy to work with. I have a tiny bit, I need some more for terrain and stuff...
I am in the UK.
GAZMAN

Hi,
Try builders merchants,It's used for exterior insulation comes in various densities and is blue or pink.
Cheers,bran.

And if you cut it with a hot cutter, do it in a well-ventilated location - like outside. On a windy day. Avoid breathing that toxic junk.

Ok now that I have some how do I go about coating the surface and adding color and texture. If you use spray paint on untreated foam board you will have a puddle of foam board when you are done. What kind of coating does one used to prevent this from happening?

Sincerely,

Trey, aka SunTzu

P.S. Try some insulation outlets for contractors. I think the thickest I have seen is 8"h x 16"w x 8' length. It comes in 1/2", 1", 2", 4" height in a 4x8' sheet.

They are building a new house across the street from me and the owner stops in daily to take pictures of the progress.

Anyway they had a lot of scrap pieces of the blue insulation sheets and I snagged about a full sheets worth. With his permission of course.

Anyway after shaping with a hotwire and checking the slope for figure stability I was ready to flock.

I used Acrylic craft paint and laid it on pretty thick. I used a fairly dark shade of green and then laid on the flock.

When all was dry I used a spray sealer (an old can of Partha Paints clear matte)and sprayed that on pretty thick as well.

It came out great. The spray sealer gave it a rubbery texture that keeps the stands from sliding.

One thing I may try next time is to use some browns, greens and even some black to give the base paint a camo effect. I'm hoping that will give some shading effect to the flock if and where it is and / or wears off.

Marty

PS. In the craft acrylics I found Texturizing Medium and thought of trying that with foamcore to build some stucco walls. Anyone out there try this stuff?

[ June 13, 2003, 19:10: Message edited by: Martian ]

Originally posted by SunTzu:
Ok now that I have some how do I go about coating the surface and adding color and texture. If you use spray paint on untreated foam board you will have a puddle of foam board when you are done. What kind of coating does one used to prevent this from happening?

I use some soft grey latex acrylic interior house paint. Lay it on thick. Then paint and texture and what-not.

Use only flat-matt Water Based Acrylic
paints (no foam eating solvents) in spray cans.

Craft Stores have these and Water Based Acrylic
Clear Coat Sprays.

Note:
These take longer to dry but have no solvents
and next to no fumes.

You can hit them with a finish dull-spray after
eg. Krylon brand

slap on a good coat of PVA, this seals the surface and swallows up some of the obvious polystyrene surface effect. You can then spray paint it with anything.
I normaly use about three coats on polystyrene, not tried it on the blue stuff yet..
Si2

Thanks for the ideas guys!

Sincerely,

Trey, aka SunTzu

I actually use spray paint. The solvent creates a rough texture to varying degrees depending on how much paint (solvent) you get any one particular spot. Afterwards I use regular latext paint filled with sand or a type of vermiculite filler that is used to create textured paint (get it at home supply stores) . Before you spray you can use a carving tool to develop deeper gouges before spraying. I've used acetone to "carve" a river bed. You need to watch out that as the solvent evaporates the remaining foam with shrink and warp if you do a lot of this. Its worth experimenting.

[ June 16, 2003, 17:08: Message edited by: Roland Fricke ]