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Hey y'all

I've never made rock formations out of foam before (only done papier mache`) and I have a bunch of leftover pink panther XPS. should I coat it with thinned pva glue after I've done all of the cutting of detail into it? Im planning on spraying it and i know that reg Styrofoam needs it or otherwise it will melt. I know some melting is necessary to achieve the natural look.

Basically I'm staring work on my Armies on Parade board and am making a canyon, any thoughts/ideas/tips would be appreciated.

thanks

I don’t coat it in pva, just saw it with a rough blade, I use the blade from a bayonet saw. Then base it with some cheap acrylic paint.

You can check out Thebige61 on YouTube on how to sculpt xps foam

The propellant in spray cans will melt xps too, in most cases. PVA or modpodge (sp?) will seal it well enough for spraying, just keep the can a bit farther than you normally would.

Roll a crumpled up piece of foil (the stuff you'd wrap a baked potato in) to get a good rock-like surface, once you've done your carving. It will help remove straight edges and will dimple the flat parts.

cool, I wasn't sure since XPS is different. thanks for the input.

It's still affected by the solvent carriers in most rattlecans, though - much the same as the expanded poly sheeting. They are still polystyrene, just a different manufacturing method to make them.

Hot-wire foam cutters work just as well on it, too.

(The lava planet miniature set for SW ep3 was carved from a truck load of XPS foam.)

I tend to seal mine with a heat gun then paint with a lightly textured paint made from sand, pva, any colour emulsion and maybe a splash of water.