#but there's styrofoam AND foamboard

[jynxeddraca]

Guess who just discovered her house has siding under her siding?

That's right. This bitch.

Bright side: Because the siding is damaged everywhere and cannot be matched insurance should cover it.

...

...

Should.

[cartyrs]

I’ve been on a little art hiatus - mainly due to creative burnout, but still wanted to channel my creativity into something, and ended up spending all July into August crafting my very own reverse bear trap!

Made mainly from foamboard, styrofoam, and random pieces I borrowed from work ⚙️🩸⛓️

[iddp-noah-blog]

_MODEL

Our first assignement to build a scale model of an interior. The task was to furnish this square flat for a specific group of inhabitants. The couple living in this quiet generous flat, have started ther small family. They do work from home and also like to have lots of friend over. Our goal was it to make space for all their needs with a possibility to extend their family.

I find it particularly interesting to bring ideas to the “real” physical world. On one hand I like to craft, but more interestingly a scale model brings another quality to the design process. The space gets easier to grasp and you can intvestigate and experiment with different aspects like natural light or the volume of a room.

[cowbuttcrunchies]

Wig Styling: Working with Foam Part 1 of 3 - Planning Your Project

When sitting down to write a foam tutorial for you guys, I realized that this is a really complex topic that will take way more than a single tutorial!  This will eventually become a big section in my wigworking guide, so I wanted to keep it pretty detailed.  With that in mind, this overview slash planning portion will probably be the first out of three understructure and foam-related tutorials I'll be posting here.  I love using foam for most of my over the top wig structures, but how I use it will often depend on each individual wig:

Keep reading under the cut for more information!

When your wig needs a little extra "oomph" or a gravity-defying shape, an easy way to pad out your wig without adding huge amounts of weight is to add an understructure layer.  This can be made from anything lighter than hair: batting, stiffened foam, or styrofoam all work great.

Foam (or a foam-like material) has two big advantages: first, it's very light and can easily double a wig's size without adding a lot of weight. unlike teasing which requires more and more fiber to create more volume.  Second, foam is extremely sturdy!  Hair that is glued to foam is less likely to move or pop off, and while you will likely always have to fix a few runaway strands after transport, in general you do not have to worry a lot about your style melting in transit.

Always take a moment to form a plan on attack BEFORE starting on your project. Foam can be complex and the shape you choose will dictate a lot about your project, including when to attach your extra fiber and how to prep your base wig. When starting your project, try to run through the following checklist:

1) What understructure shape do I need?

An easy way to determine this is to look at your reference art and imagine a large shape underneath the fiber. Sketch out a simple shape, and don’t be afraid to draw more than one shape – sometimes more than one structure is required, especially if you are creating a spikey design.

I created these wigs using the following understructure shapes:

Left: styrofoam balls / Center: stiffened felt curved into a cone / Right: expanding foam

2) What base material do I want to use?

In general you will want to pick your material based on what sort of shape you picked in step one.  For thin, flat shapes, stiffened foam or eva foam work great.  For larger or more three dimensional shapes, I like using styrofoam because it gives me high control when carving my base shape.   However ANY kind of light, structured material will work - this decision will largely fall to what material you personally enjoy working with, but if you’re just starting out and are looking for some guidance, consider these basics:

Flat spikes or flat objects: Stiffened felt, foamboard, or eva foam

Large spikes: Stiffened foam or Styrofoam

Drill curls: Wire and packing tape, or wire and felt

Buns or odangos: Foam balls

Hair bumps: Styrofoam or batting

Extra large ponytails: Styrofoam or batting

Extra large braids: Batting

Other 3-dimensional objects: Styrofoam

3) How will I attach my foam to my wig and when should I do so?

For security I always recommend attaching the understructure to your base wig netting.  You can do so with either glue or a needle and thread but remember that the former will require that you expose some of the base netting in order to glue the foam directly to the net. This means that you may need to prep your wig ahead of time by removing some wefts before it’s time to glue down your foam or understructure.

You have two choices when deciding when to attach the understructure. One option is to first wrap your spare fiber around the foam, and then glue the entire finished piece to your base wig.  A huge advantage to this method is that you can often hide the ugly glued edges of your spare fiber underneath the foam where it attaches to the base wig.  The second option is to attach the foam to your base wig first and then lay the hair over the foam. I typically make my choice based on whether I am mostly covering my structure with loose fiber, or if I am partially covering the structure with the base wig's hair since this would hide any ugly weft edges.

Attach your foam last if you are only covering the foam in extra fiber, and/or if you plan on hiding your weft edges underneath your foam.  IE, odangos or buns.

Attach your foam first if you will be laying hair from your base wig over your structure.  IE, spikes or extra large ponytail support.

4) What direction should I wrap my hair in?

Consider two things when deciding what direction to lay your hair over your foam: 1) What will make your life easiest, and 2) What will hide any raw weft edges.  If possible, always hide raw weft edges either underneath the foam itself where it attaches to your base wig, or underneath the top layers of hair.

Here's an example of three ways to wrap an oval.  In option 1 we are left with some nasty exposed edges where the wrapped fiber ends at the top of the bun.  In example 2 we wrap the hair in the opposite direction.  Unfortunately we'll probably have some difficulty cleanly finishing the top of the oval, plus we'll have an ugly line in the back where the fiber ends.  In example 3, we hide all of the edges by wrapping the hair over the top of the oval and then back down to the bottom again.  This way both raw edges are hidden underneath the foam.

"Ease" of wrapping is a trickier concept.  However here are a few tips I've picked up:

*Hair does not like to bend in tight curves.  You may have some difficulty creating curves tighter than a silver dollar unless using a strong glue or a lot of tension.  Try to use straight lines or gentle curves whenever possible.

The hair on the left is an easy glue job, as all of the fibers lay straight and flat.  The hair on the right was far more difficult to get right.  You can see gaps in the hair where the fiber slipped or did not stay perfectly in place, and it required a lot of pulling to prevent the fiber from slipping.

Work with gravity and tension whenever possible.  If your fiber is loose or hanging upside-down, it's going to be harder to get it to stick and dry.

Keep your wrapped hair short whenever possible.  While you can technically wrap a six foot weft, you're going to have a harder time keeping all of that fiber taut and untangled.

5) How much hair do I need?

Always be generous when buying your extra fiber – it is never fun trying to scrimp and save your hair because you do not have enough. Your mileage will vary depending on your style of hair wrapping, but I can wrap a large bun with a little less than half a pack of wefts or one short, thin generic ponytail clip. In general you will need 3 or 4 layers of wefts to cover your understructure (lighter fiber requires more).

Parts 2 and 3 with more specific techniques will be coming soon!  You can also find those upcoming parts and more wig tutorials on our Patreon.

[ohicosplay]

Cosplay tutorial pet peeves

EVA foam and Styrofoam are not the same thing. This is important because CA glue and spray paint will melt Styrofoam if applied directly, but not with EVA foam.

Styrofoam is a trademarked brand for extruded polystyrene foam. HOWEVER, when most people use styrofoam in the US, they mean expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is the bead-like foam you often seen in craft stores. Extruded polystyrene (XPS) is most commonly seen as insulation board.* 

EVA foam stands for “ethylene-vinyl acetate” and is simply a category of foam. Craft foam/foamies in the US is a kind of EVA foam, not a separate thing. 

Rubber cement and contact cement are not the same thing. Contact cement is much stronger and designed to permanently bond materials together.

Sintra (trade name for closed-cell PVC foamboard) can release chlorine gas when heated up. Please do not heat form Sintra without proper ventilation and safety gear. Please do not suggest heat forming Sintra without noting the risks. The same for PVC tubing.

CA (cyanoacrylates) glue is a strong adhesive commonly known as “super glue.” Not all glues marketed as “super glue” are CA glue. 

Unless it’s been marked food safe or for oral use, DON’T PUT CA GLUE ON THINGS GOING IN YOUR MOUTH. Or liquid nails. Or nail polish sealer.

Tl;DR: Precision and clarity is important when writing tutorials because “I glued my foam and painted it” can result in a finished prop or a melted mess. 

*You can also get EPS insulation board. You can probably still use it for props, but it’ll be easier to sand and shape XPS board.

[the-crimson-king]

Hello! Here is a tutorial I’ve been working on recently, hope that it all makes sense to y’all.

So I wanted to make a set of harbour walls for my game boards. Originally I planned for the harbour to be set up along one board edge as in the first picture. (obviously the green squares are the boards, the grey bits are the harbour walls and the blue’s the water.)

I decided that it was easier to do each harbour piece maximum 12″ long as that’d make them easier to store. So for the first set up I’d need four 12″ sections. 

I would have preferred to use 40mm thick Styrofoam but here in the UK it seems horribly difficult to get hold of Styrofoam, so I defaulted to my standard of using foam board. In picture 2 I’ve just detailed the tools etc I use when making terrain - sharp hobby knife, cutting board, PVA glue, nice steel rulers, and also pins.

Anyways, I decided that each harbour piece should be 12″ long, 40mm tall and 2″ wide. To start with I cut out eight 12″ x 2″ pieces of foamboard for the top and bottom of each harbour piece. Then I cut out eight pieces of 12″ x 30mm for the front and back. (with the added thickness of the top and bottom that’ll add up to 40mm tall). Finally I needed eight end pieces that are 30mm x 40mm. In picture 3 you can see the three different sizes of board I cut.

Because I want the harbour walls to have a stone effect, I took four of the 12″ x 2″ pieces (the tops) and four of the 12″ x 30mm pieces (the fronts) and peeled the paper off one side. This exposes the foam as you can sort of see in picture 4.

Finally in picture 5 I scored some stones into the exposed foam using a craft knife. When the walls are stuck together I’ll deepen the scores using a pencil, but for now I find it’s better to leave them like this.

In my next post I’ll show you what I did next! Hope you find this useful! :D

[dhisarliarici-blog]

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#styrofoam #beehive #foamboard #Beekeeping

[hotwirefoamfactory]

@kara_walker_designs has been designing a set for a local school's production of Snow White, using EPS foam sheets and #HotWireFoamFactory tools. Here's the castle set so far, with a gallery page for this build coming soon! . #kara_walker_designs #epsfoam #styrofoam #styrofoamart #setdesign #foamart #foam #polystyrene #foamprops #foamsculpture #styrofoamsculpture #insulation #insulationfoam #foamboard #hottools #hotwirecutter #hotwire

[ladytalon1]

Good News: Finally have the lower parts of my jumpsuit pinned so that I can baste and then go over the seams from the outside. It looks great with my tactical vest on top of it!

Bad News: my jumpkit is still two styrofoam balls and a jury-rigged box made from hot glue and foamboard.

WORST NEWS: When I remove my helmet, I become 1,000% less cool.  Looks like I can just walk up to the IMC and demand to see their manager.  Just call me Militia Mom.

[danteria]

Display for a video game store. #instablog #cnc #foamboard #styrofoam #pet #pepakura #durst #display #farcry5 http://ift.tt/2IKaDCP

[hotwirefoamfactory]

From @thatguyscustoms - the start of a foam diorama in 1/6 scale. He’s using #HotWireFoamFactory tools to make working with foam easier. Check out his profile for more photos of his fantastic diorama builds. . . #diostructure #diorama #dioramabuilding #eps #dioramaartist #styrofoam #styrofoamart #foam #epsfoam #polystyrene #toydiorama #onesixthscale #foamwork #commissionsopen #foamboard #acba