Florist foam

[matty1001]

Iv gotten myself some foam stuff from a florists and carved same scenery out of it for a display base. But, I have a feeling that when I prime it it will disintergrate, if not, when I start to paint it (mainly drybrush) the brush will just pull it to bits.

Is there something I should use to protect it first? Polyfiller layer? PVA glue to seal it?

 

[Elly3438]

When I made scenery out of that (a long time ago) I went to a railroad hobby shop and picked up some flexpaste... put that over it and was able to spray it/paint it no problem! Im sure there\'s tons of other stuff to use, just be sure to coat it... I sprayed some styrofoam once and distingrated it and ended up inhaling some pretty toxic fumes...

 

[ZapotekE]

pva-glue, watered down maybe... have not used it for scenery my self but I use it for my wet palette. I know it can like disintegrate just by pressing your finger down in it so I guess any sorts of paint/paint medium could do some bad harm to it...

 

[vincegamer]

can\'t say I\'ve ever worked with the stuff myself, but I learned something from a dollhouse builder about the use of it that I\'d like to try some day.

You take something with a rectangular shape and push it a short way into the foam. Do it again.
Do it tons of times in staggering lines. You should see a brick pattern in reverse.
Pour plaster of paris into a tray and press the florist foam into it. You will get a nifty brick wall. - or the yellow brick road.

Now of course with more random shapes you can do stone walls/walkways or whatever you like. The mold is reusable so long as you don\'t bang it against something.

 

[matty1001]

Cheers, im going to try some watered down PVA, if it doesn\'t work I can always get another brick. Its only a quid a bit.

 

[airhead]

matty, I feel you will probably not be happy with that stuff unless it is for a one-shot game.

You can give it some strength with plaster and guaze from the model RR section.

If you want something that will travel better between games, go to the builders supply (DIY store?) and get some extruded polystyrene. Pink (Owens Corning) or Blue (DOW) are good, the white made from little compressed beads is worse than the florists stuff.

Cut with a hot wire cutter (again from the model RR or the florist craft area - shouldn\'t run you more than the cost of the two D batteries.)

 

[matty1001]

Its for a display base, so once it is set up it won\'t be touched (hopefully) and will not be suporting anything, so it doesn\'t really need extra strenght or anything. Just need it to be paintable.

 

[krom1415]

Is the stuff grey/green, has a crunchie (the chocolate) like texture
I think its called oasis
If so I would cover it in polyfiller/tetrion, but I guess it depends on the texture your after

 

[matty1001]

Yep Oasis is the one, I love pressing the cut off\'s lol Iv started PVAing it, so if this doesn\'t work, il get filler and slap some on.

 

[Tinweasel]

If you wanted a quick \'n\' easy route to seal it against the evils of styrene-dissolving aerosol propellant and kill two birds with one stone, you could just use straight latex paint in the color of your choice and paint it on as a basecoat...

Just don\'t go expecting floral foam to be durable - the interior can get compressed and deform the whole thing even if the exterior is sealed and reinforced with spackling or plaster or something as well as PVa glue. As mentioned already, extruded polystyrene insulation (blue or pink EPS insulation foam) is much more resistant for use in displays, bases, and terrain.

I\'d say go with Murphy\'s Law and understand that even if you\'re expecting it not to be touched and just occupy space when finished, something annoying\'s going to happen to it somehow!

 

[Onis Lair]

Ugh, yeah that Oasis stuff will disolve faster then water on the sun if you just spray it. i know i did it one. On the bright side when it disolves from the spray it does become more firm and less crunch. latex paint would probably be the best bet or the watered down PVA glue like you plan to try. just something to seal the actual foam form the spray but remember, if there is any spot not sealed the spray paint will eat the foam.

 

[frenchkid]

I use PVA glue over polyester.
Or just paint it as it is, it should hold paint well enougth not to need an undercoat.

 

[Sand Rat]

Just painting it may not work - the Oasis green foam is designed to hold water.

Although now here in the states we have spray latex paint - havent tried it myself yet, but am planning on getting some to basecoat some terrain I built.