Eva Foam - Tumblr Posts
First ever experiment with makins something out of EVA foam! It's exciting...
First impressions of using a rotary tool to shape foam - I miss the undo button!
Hopefully I can clear up the worst of the mistakes with sandpaper...
The front part is starting to come together - the back part still needs work though
carved the chamfers on the upper bit with a knife then cleaned it up with sanding blocks
That wonky barrel is looking worrying - might need to stick a rod down the middle to straighten it out. Probably my fault for screwing up the laminating the foam together to make it in the first place
Added some thin strips of foam to extend the upper barrel guard slightly
Time to make the grip
The chequered texture was made by cutting part-way through with a knife then heating with a heat gun to open up the cuts
Carving the grooves into the foam with a rotary tool was... difficult. Hopefully it won't look too bad when it's painted
The foam work is almost finished - time for the 3D printed bits
Printing the cylinder took 3 attempts - first print came loose from the print bed; second print I forgot that you need panel gaps if you want details to be visible from a distanct.
Luckily I modelled it in Fusion360 so I could tweak individual settings without too much difficulty
Drilled a shallow hole in the rear half to hold the spindle
Starting to look like a revolver now
For the muzzle & front cap, I printed them with a raised chamfered lip so I could sharpen the edge and then use them to cut slightly into the foam.
Then they got superglued into place
For the round details, I wanted to try and cut them out with a sharpened tube because I didn't want to try freehanding a circle with a knife. It turns out you can 3d print cutters from PLA and after sharpening with sandpaper they work ok! They do need frequent re-sharpening though.
Cut out part of 2 of the big circles, glued to the other big circles, then added the small circles on the other side - and the hinge details are done
Propped up like this for a progress shot because I don't want to glue the cylinder in before painting.
Not much left to actually make before painting either...
First a coat of grey rattlecan primer to try and seal the foam, then a coat of yellow filler-primer followed by sanding to try and smooth out the texture (especially on the 3D printed parts)
Following a final priming with black polyurethane primer, the pieces were basecoated by hand
I did edge highlighting, because I didn't want drybrusing to pick up on the mistakes made when I was making the foam pieces. The wood texture was done with a thin brush.
Finally, weathering with water-thinnable oil paint.
All that's left now is sealing and the final photos!
And it's finished!
Drawings and STLs to make your own are available for free HERE
Lessons learned:
1) I should have sealed it with modpodge before priming - sealing with rattlecan primer worked, but there's an obvious difference in finish depending on face or edge of foam sheet.
2) Trying to cut perpendicular curves with a knife is HARD
About 2 weeks ago I made my mask for my Sango cosplay from Inuyasha and I've uploaded a video with a summary of how I made it.
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Incase anyone was wondering, TNTCosplay actually does send out sample packs of their EVA foam. I got mine today and my first impressions are good! Pretty dense, doesn't seem to want to tear very easily, haven't messed with it much yet but I'm excited to try it out! :0
Got my shipment of four different sizes of EVA foam today from TNTcosplay!
How to Strap EVA Foam Armor
Tutorial by: wmarmory Tutorial Link: http://www.wmarmory.com/?p=1380
My sister, mother and I did a 3 part vlog series in cosplay. This is part 1. Please watch, subscribe and like if you enjoy. Thank you!
I recommend contact cement over E6000 for gluing pieces of foam together. It's more forgiving than most glues but once it's together it's not going anywhere and heat shouldn't effect it.
hey there! I have a q re: foam wig - yours was a dark wig and didn't need paint on the wig cap itself, but would you recommend it for something lighter? I'm attempting to make Zarya's hair from Overwatch and I'm thinking i should make the wig cap base pink before starting on the rest of it?
Ooo a zarya foam wig is gonna be tight as heck! I don’t think there’s anything really to be gained with your foam wig’s base being the correct color, since all the visible parts will be painted in the end. But using white or pink foam will certainly be easier to cover with pink paint than black will!
More WIPs of my Exo mask got the back of the head built and started adding surface detail.
