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it's taken more than a few coats of (Vallejo) paint to rid the pink bleed through. I started with grey primer, then a few different coats of greys, light & dark. in the process, some detail has been lost to my disappointment. but there may be a better way. any help appreciated; thanks.

Most paints are semi-translucent - meaning they typically don't have the coverage you want. They're DESIGNED to bleed thru the color beneath it.

Gesso is cheapest.

Airbrush is cleanest.

first coat of slightly diluted emulsion paint, matt finish - the stuff you put on walls. when dry fully a coat or two undiluted - one or two coats will seal it enough you could use car primer over it

thanks. I will try gesso on the next one.

was a bit leery of anything too "hot" like spray bombs, but can understand how a dry coat over emulsion would be okay.

s.e.charles wrote:
thanks. I will try gesso on the next one.

was a bit leery of anything too "hot" like spray bombs, but can understand how a dry coat over emulsion would be okay.

you may find you don;t need it, covered some of the blue with three coats of household emulsion here

leopard wrote:

s.e.charles wrote:
thanks. I will try gesso on the next one.

was a bit leery of anything too "hot" like spray bombs, but can understand how a dry coat over emulsion would be okay.

you may find you don;t need it, covered some of the blue with three coats of household emulsion here

vs 1 coat of gesso.

[quote=skchsan ..... vs 1 coat of gesso.

 skchsan wrote:

leopard wrote:

s.e.charles wrote:
thanks. I will try gesso on the next one.

was a bit leery of anything too "hot" like spray bombs, but can understand how a dry coat over emulsion would be okay.

you may find you don;t need it, covered some of the blue with three coats of household emulsion here

vs 1 coat of gesso.

Depends what effect you are after though, Emulsion is dirt cheap, easily available and a wide colour range - also easier to get in larger containers for say painting a whole board with.

Gesso means being able to get hold of it easily enough in the first place (which is why I went emulsion, a DIY barn near where I worked, v an Art shop that was a fair drive away and only had a smaller range)

horses for things horses run round

If you're doing terrain, textured outdoor (masonry) paint will cover foam in a single coat.

I think there's a smooth version if you're painting model buildings, but I can't remember if it dries matt.

Sealing the foam with a heat gun is always an option although it can melt the foam if you're not careful.

How big is the area you are working with? Is this terrain? I just use cheap acrylic house paint, but if this is a small project you can get inexpensive acrylic paint from any craft store. Usually for foam you want thicker coats of paint than you would when working with plastic kits.

Are you painting with a brush or an airbrush?

Also, I haven't used pink foam for a while because it seemed like it now has a plasticy coating on top of it. I picked up blue foam instead. Not sure if that might be an issue or not.

 Alex Kolodotschko wrote:
Sealing the foam with a heat gun is always an option although it can melt the foam if you're not careful.

Yeah. The trick is reducing the pourousness of the surface.

I seal pink foam with a hairdryer then airbrush with Stlylnres primer. On larger pieces, I use a can of Krylon.