styrospray 1000 over 3D HDU carvings?

[mjindustry]

Hi,

We are carving somewhat detailed carvings into 15 lbs hdu, we need it to be stronger than 15lbs though as finished product will be well within reach of the general public.

We're hoping to not have to sacrifice too much fine detail in the carvings...Any advice for us? The Stryospray 1000 seems interesting.

Thanks!

[eric_schumacher]

I recently searched for this on the forum as I was interested myself.

What I found is that there are some people that have had issues with the product on some of the less expensive EPS insulation sheets from hardware stores. This may or may not have been due to some of the mold release residues that exist on the sheets on flat surfaces that are not cut.

Some people recommended using some of the epoxy products like the West system and others. I was interested in some of the polyurea coatings that are possible and they do seem to work well if you can afford the equipment or can work with the colors available in the cartridges.

Depending on the detail needed and the final finish desired you can also consider cutting the foam under then coating and then cutting again into the coating to get the detail.

I'm not that experienced with this so I am sure others will chime in.

[cabnet636]

spend a little more on a 30# foam, in the end the product will be fine and you will save a small amount and have a lot les headache.

jim

[Brady Watson]

Typically Styrospray, et al, are only used on low density foams, usually of large scale. The HDU foams (10#+) are beefy enough to handle people touching them without too much worry.

HDUs are often coated with Coastal's FSC88 to fill in the pores. Then the FSC88 is sanded & can then be shot with your finish coat - OneShot, automotive paint etc. You can also use epoxy to give it a hard shell.

Or...you can go with a higher density urethane, as suggested by Jim. I like to use Butterboard from Golden West Mfg, but they also have 20, 30, & 40# Precision Board (also from Golden West). GW is a nice company to work with: http://www.goldenwestmfg.com/ You can tell them that I sent you.

-B

[dlcw]

James,

Where do you get the 30# foam? I've been searching all over the Internet and everyone lists 15# but not 30#.

TIA.

[khaos]

... Golden West Mfg, but they also have 20, 30, & 40# Precision Board ...

X2 ... What he said.

[mjindustry]

Ok, great..thanks! I will be going with the highest density I could get, 18lbs sign foam.

One more finishing question. Planning to paint this with nothing too fancy, just acrylic paints. What would be a good solid clear coat to go over the acrylic? Something really strong and high quality, I want it to look like an auto finish, but can you put auto clear coat over acrylic paint?

[Brady Watson]

I like Permalac (http://www.permalac.com/), but I am sure that there are a million other choices out there.

For water based stuff, Sherwin Williams probably has something, but I have used Sculpt Nouveau's Water Based Clear Sealer (http://www.sculptnouveau.com/Details.cfm?ProdID=47&category=7) for several projects and it is REALLY good stuff. Plus, Sn's staff are always wonderful to deal with.

-B