Post #598063 by komohana on Mon, Jul 18, 2011 1:16 AM

Love ya Lori.

K-H, welcome anytime.

yeah, the pre-formed foam is great stuff, i've encountered it quite a few times
over the years in my working life, most notably while working as a boat builder.
so, if there is a mob near you making fibreglass boats, they might be able to
steer you towards their supplier. it's not what i'd call cheap though.

or, if you had a mould of some sort you could achieve similar results, as the foam will
compact into an even density if it is contained. be a bit careful here as there must be
some sort of pressure relief. generally just a hole with something like a house brick over
it, if the pressure builds too much it will just lift the brick and escape. though for a
one-off like mine it wasn't worth going to this length.

when i did mine, i confess that i was impatient for results and sprayed the lot in one hit,
if i were to do it again i'd (lay off the 'refreshments'... :lol: ) and build it up in layers
to [possibly] avoid large air bubbles. as it was i carved him out twice, the second time was
after i'd filled all the dang voids.
the actual carving is easy and anyone could do it, while i was doing mine i thought it was rather
like filleting a large fish. like i said i used an old serrated bread knife and a bit of sandpaper.
i do have other pics but i don't think they'd be much help to you.

one hint: initially it didn't seem to stick to the ply, so i sprayed a little on then
worked it in with a spatula until the whole thing was covered then went back and put
the rest on.

to mark it out in the first place, i went down to a local electrical appliance store
and lifted a large piece of cardboard from their bin.
source your image, draw him out in one half, then flip him over on a centre line to
mark the other side, that way both sides are identical. after i'd marked his outline
i cut the cardboard out as i went on to do the details, eyes, mouth, nose, head-dress etc.
keeping all the bits as a guide later when it comes time to carve him out.

other times i've encountered poly-urethane, after it's srayed out and shaped you'd
adjust the chemical ratio and the p-u is sprayed on as a resin, or you could use
epoxy or polyester as a coating if he was going to encounter any heavy wear and tear.
in my case though, i just gave him a few coats of acrylic paint because the door he's
on won't generally be used by other people as it leads into a storeroom or into the shed.

as is, he doesn't weigh much more than a surfboard, which is what i was aiming at.

hope that helps,

cheers..bob.

edit: don't forget that all these chemicals are toxic.. at least until they harden.

wear eye protection at least because, as they say, "it sticks like shit to a blanket".

[ Edited by: komohana 2016-03-19 23:11 ]