Calling all (or most) foam builders!

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Tom117

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After looking around the forum at other peoples builds, I can't help think foam builds have a better end result compared to pepakura. Therefore my question is, how difficult is foam builds? To me they seem more straight forward compared to pepakura as you don't have to match tabs and worry about scoring lines and folding...etc etc!

I'm guessing it will end up costing more? How much foam would you typically need for a foam build?

Thankyou in advance

Tom
 
Hello! well first of all, it depends on i guess patience. pepakura takes A LOT longer. And its more expensive. i personally wont ever do pepakura, as long as you have templates, sharp blades, and lots of hot glue itll turn out great!:) for my current foam build i have 9 sheets of EVA foam. my guess is i will use it all and may possibly need more. my ODST took about ... 12 maybe? 10-12 sheets.

foam is a way cheaper route:) Well at least the way i do it. Make templates, cut out, glue, fit, if you want apply plastidip so it lasts longer, paint and its ready to go!:) if anything youll only need pepakura for a helmet. or you can do what i do and buy raw casts:)

If i were you i would go the foam route:)

-Ian
 
Lonewolf260 said:
Hello! well first of all, it depends on i guess patience. pepakura takes A LOT longer. And its more expensive. i personally wont ever do pepakura, as long as you have templates, sharp blades, and lots of hot glue itll turn out great!:) for my current foam build i have 9 sheets of EVA foam. my guess is i will use it all and may possibly need more. my ODST took about ... 12 maybe? 10-12 sheets.

foam is a way cheaper route:) Well at least the way i do it. Make templates, cut out, glue, fit, if you want apply plastidip so it lasts longer, paint and its ready to go!:) if anything youll only need pepakura for a helmet. or you can do what i do and buy raw casts:)

If i were you i would go the foam route:)

-Ian
Click to expand...

Thank you for your feedback, the end results look more tailored to the body too!

What thickness do you use? And what do you mean by a sharp knife lol, I'm guessing a hobby knife wont last long

Isn't best to get different coloured mats ? I know you need different thickness for detailing
 
Hobby lobby sells craft foam mats called "silly winks", thats for detail. lowes sells EVA foam and i can only find it in 1/2" thickness which is perfect. you dont really need different colors. it just deoends on where you buy it. i get grey. and i use a dewalt 9mm knife for cutting:)

-Ian
 
You need sharp blades because the foam dulls them very fast you want smooth consistent cuts for best seam adhesion not jaggety messy sloppy cuts for sloppy in even holey seams so getting a blade sharpener and or a ton of disposables is recommended or you could get a hot knife which is also good for cutting and don't really need sharpness AL depends on how much cash you wanna spend
 
Foam is a much cheaper route than pepakura in the long, not to mention foam is much more comfortable to wear and lighter.

For the base structure of your armor pieces, you can use 1/2" think puzzle piece floor mats. These can be found at Walmart, Harbor Freight, Lowes, any hardware store really or online. For detail, you will want to get a couple different thicknesses of craft foam (2,4 and 6mm thicknesses.) These can be found at craft stores or online. A heat gun is a must when working with foam. You can find them in the paint section for around $20. I suggest buying a bulk of blades, you can get packs of 100 for pretty cheap. Hot Glue is the most favored adhesive for foam, make sure to get the high temp sticks, not the low temp or multi temp. That should be it for the building materials. When it comes to paint, there are many different ways to seal the foam. The easiest way is to use plasti dip. Other methods include using PVA glue or silicon caulking.

I was able to get away with using regular printer paper to print the templates. While 110lb card stock paper is preferred for pepakura, as it keeps it's form rather nicely, it can be a nice, stiff template to trace onto your foam with. But if you want to save a little bit of money, regular printer paper can get the job done. For larger pieces, use double sided tape to keep the large template from shifting on the foam while tracing.

It might take a couple tries to get the hang of using foam, but the end results are worth it. Good luck on your build!
 
I will add a bit to this.

As Demogorgon stated, use only high temp glue. This can usually be found only in craft stores. It is a pain to find, but is an absolute must for a foam build. Do not settle for low or multi-temp hot glue.

I have yet to use (or need for that matter), a mat thicker than 3/8", but that is personal preference.

I use #11 Surgical scalpel blades with a #3 Surgical scalpel handle. Both can be found online, and for the handle and a pack of 100 blades, I usually pay around $20. I also use a butcher's knife sharpening rod to extend the life of the blades (it will typically make the blade last for weeks, instead of minutes). Sharpen often for a clean cut.

To seal, I avoid the "traditional" method of PVA and Plasti-dip. It is too expensive, and the results are less than desirable. The PVA has a tendency to reduce details, and cracks easily. The Plasti-dip is used to hide the cracks of the PVA, and to give you a non-water based surface to paint on. I just spray my pieces with Polyurethane wood sealant. It seals the EVA and craft foam perfectly, with no loss of details, and also does not crack. Paint can then be applied right over it.

I would also highly recommend the use of a Dremel, especially with a barrel sanding tip. The sanding barrel is used to shape and/or smooth any rough cuts, and the rubber barrel is used to "polish" the EVA where needed.

Spend some time and check out peoples Foam builds, as well as check out some video tutorials. There are a lot of them out there. I have a link in my signature for my instructional videos, if you want to take a look :)
 
These are some really good tips, especially the longer descriptions by Demogorgon and EVAkura. I made my first foam suit a couple months ago, and quickly found that the "low-temp" glue gun setting didn't cut it- my foam pieces easily came apart. I also had to keep changing the blade on my razor to maintain clean cuts. I really like the idea of buying a sharpener, EVAkura, I never would've thought of that!
 
Tom117 said:
Is 18MM thick enough?
Click to expand...

In my opinion, 18mm is about twice as thick as you would want it. When it gets that thick, it is really hard to work with. The only time I would recommend that thickness, is if you were trying to replicate a very large item, like a warthog or something like ED-209.

The 9-13mm range is what most crafters use. 9mm would be the 3/8" (what I prefer), and 13mm would be the 1/2".
 
I am looking to build a foam Mark VI MJOLNIR Armor.. Any great tutorials you suggest to get me started? I keep reading foam is the way to go. Thanks for all the help!
 
I think I might do what I can to make a Tutorial/Guide/List thread for foam builds of what all the options are for tools and methods of building.
I will probably need some input from others, but hopefully we can get something going.

I haven't seen a stuck thread that has all the details listed in the OP which would be nice.
 
HaloGoddess said:
He also has a few threads on here with some tutorials: http://www.405th.com/search.php?searchid=2810436 I just linked you to all his threads. You will have to read the titles to find his tutorials. :)
Click to expand...

I'm getting:
"Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. "
when I try to click that link.

WandererTJ said:
I think I might do what I can to make a Tutorial/Guide/List thread for foam builds of what all the options are for tools and methods of building.
I will probably need some input from others, but hopefully we can get something going.

I haven't seen a stuck thread that has all the details listed in the OP which would be nice.
Click to expand...

The Guide has been started:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...terial-Tools-and-Methods-Used-for-Foam-Builds
 
I have done both fibre glass and a foam build and I must say the foam was a lot less hassle, cheaper, more comfortable to wear and more fun to use.

I have been on the 405th for a couple of years and it's not a surprise at all that most people have shifted from FG to foam.

What I did was actually pep the whole piece first in card stock. Check I was happy with the scale then dismantle the piece into templates for foam. This way I could work out the best way to V cut and fold each piece.
Also stock up on blades. I'm extremely lucky in this regard as I have unlimited access to break away (all sizes) and scalpels through work. I must have burnt through a hundred of those things.

How ever I'd opt to to make the helmet from pepakura and aqua resin as it's considerably more precise. As the helmet is the main selling point it's nice to get it bang on. Foam helmets always seem just a bit "off" to me.

So yeah do foam (with a pep'd helm).
 
Thanks for the compliment on the videos Ickaros. I have a link in my signature that goes to my main build(s), but if you search using my name, you can also find my tutorials for various armor pieces. They may not be exactly what pieces you want, but I do cover many of the basic and more advanced methods in those tutorials. But, the largest wealth of information is in my main thread. On page #1, I show most of the items I have built, and reference which pages they can be located on.

I hope this helps, and you can always ask further questions here, as people like myself lurk the posts looking for such. It is best to keep it public as a pose to via PM, this way, others can glean from the answers given as well :)
 
I have started my build using impact props templates. So far it has been pretty straight forward. However I cannot find templates for the chest abdomen and helmet in foam. Any help in finding those would be great.
 
Which chest are you looking for? Try 405th.4shared.com .... there aren't many helmet files in foam because foam helmets are pretty difficult and people who do foam builds still generally do the helmet with pep. There have been some that succeeded with foam though so try if you want.
 
Anyone have any good foam files in pepakura for Halo 3? I found files for 4 and reach, but I really wanted to do a Mk VI build.
 
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