ODST Foam/Fabric/Filament Build

[CMYKey]

Nice foam work. What type of foam/thickness did you use? I'm trying to get started in building foam armor and I want to see what other people have used instead of the typical foam anti-fatigue puzzle mats.

I used 10mm Oracle Tide foam from Red Moon Cosplay for the vast majority of it. 6mm and 2mm craft foam from Michael's for the details, with a bit of 5mm Oracle Tide here and there that I had left over from a different project.

Oracle Tide has a much different feel than the floor mats in my experience. It feels lighter, despite being much denser. It cuts and sands way easier, and doesn't dull my blades as fast. It holds its shape better as well. It also has better quality control, meaning that the thickness is going to be pretty consistent across the roll, whereas with foam mats I find that there's up to a 2mm variance between pieces and there's often small air bubbles and holes in the foam that can become apparent after you paint and weather.

That being said, Oracle Tide is also significantly more expensive than puzzle mats and you can still get really impressive results with them. I did my Tank Trooper build using puzzle mats and was more than happy with the result. My only real complaints were the thickness (I'm only able to find 12mm mats here) and the bubbles in the foam, which were only really obvious because of the white paint job and from a distance it just looks like normal weathering.

 

[Universe38]

I used 10mm Oracle Tide foam from Red Moon Cosplay for the vast majority of it. 6mm and 2mm craft foam from Michael's for the details, with a bit of 5mm Oracle Tide here and there that I had left over from a different project.

Oracle Tide has a much different feel than the floor mats in my experience. It feels lighter, despite being much denser. It cuts and sands way easier, and doesn't dull my blades as fast. It holds its shape better as well. It also has better quality control, meaning that the thickness is going to be pretty consistent across the roll, whereas with foam mats I find that there's up to a 2mm variance between pieces and there's often small air bubbles and holes in the foam that can become apparent after you paint and weather.

That being said, Oracle Tide is also significantly more expensive than puzzle mats and you can still get really impressive results with them. I did my Tank Trooper build using puzzle mats and was more than happy with the result. My only real complaints were the thickness (I'm only able to find 12mm mats here) and the bubbles in the foam, which were only really obvious because of the white paint job and from a distance it just looks like normal weathering.

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind when I find the time to get started.

 

[Rock Lobbster]

Regarding the airbrush, what is the needle size of the new brush? Some paints require a larger needle to spray at proper consistency.

 

[CMYKey]

Regarding the airbrush, what is the needle size of the new brush? Some paints require a larger needle to spray at proper consistency.

It's a .5 needle. The good news is that whatever the issue was, it seemed to have fixed itself in the months since I last tried and it's been smooth sailing thus far. Perhaps it was due to temperature/climate/etc.

 

[CMYKey]

Full steam ahead on meeting my Calgary Expo deadline. Should have a big update once the con crunch subsides, but here's a little sneak preview in the meantime. Nothing more gratifying than finally seeing it all come together - the battle is worth it!

 

[CMYKey]

Will return with closeups and process insights, but in the meantime, I have a few photos of the suit from Calgary Expo this past weekend. Still lots to finish and improve upon, but it was great to finally have something to wear out. Also swung by the 405th booth to meet some fellow members - would love to volunteer next time around now that I have a complete-enough suit.