[tcarter]

Just wanted to show off my work, and also some opinions/ advice. I was thinking about using some technique to weather the foam so it looks old and pitted. The look I'm going for is numerous small pits or pores on the surface, maybe a few stress cracks. I've experimented with heat, and don't like that. Spray paint gives a nice texture, but it's difficult to get it consistent, and it takes quite a bit of paint to eat at it enough. any ideas how to go about this or should I just rely on the finished paint job to indicate the effect?

 

[grim reaper]

wow that looks great !!!!!!! hmmm i have never tried effects on foam lots of other people on here would know.

 

[heresjohnny]

Wow, very nice. I have had a lot of success dry sponging for a stone look, and using burnt umber or equivalent watered down for staining http://www.johnnyspage.com/images/Picture%20808.jpg. I have also used a jagged cut peice of cardboard as a mask for pitting the foam with spray paint http://www.johnnyspage.com/images/tombstone12.jpg.

 

[kevin242]

very cool!

 

[Gloomy_Gus]

Looks amazing. Have you tried wetting the foam before heating. Keeba uses this technique and I think it gives the look you are going for.

Does anyone know if there is a difference between pink foam and blue foam? I've been using blue, but all of you seem to use pink. I haven't seen pink at my local lumber shop.

 

[Dr Morbius]

Leaving it pink would make it the first Barbie Mausolium I ever saw. If you don't want that, try putting acetone or some other solvent in a spray bottle and spritzing it all over (wearing gloves and a face shield, of course), then paint it. Awesome job!

 

[edwood saucer]

I know nuthin about effects - but that my friend is darn cool... great job.

I wonder if I could save on my own funeral costs if I just erected a foam mausoleum in my backyard...

hhmmmmm

 

[ScareFX]

Outstanding detail tcarter. Excellent work.

 

[tcarter]

Looks amazing. Have you tried wetting the foam before heating. Keeba uses this technique and I think it gives the look you are going for.

Does anyone know if there is a difference between pink foam and blue foam? I've been using blue, but all of you seem to use pink. I haven't seen pink at my local lumber shop.

The only difference is the color. The pink is made by Owens Corning and the blue is made by Dow. Pink is a trademark of Owens Corning so they are the only ones that can produce pink insulation products.

heresjohnny, I like your pics. that's kinda what I'm going for. I'm just not sure about using That much spray paint since I'm doing a large piece.

 

[Xpendable]

That is incredible! I can't wait to see it when it's finished! I use the "cheap" technique for nicks and wear on my styrofoam. I just an exacto knife and a cut a rough, tiny "V" into an edge. No more than 1 cm deep. Then I use my finger nail and scrape/gouge a chunk of styrofoam away. I use a small sanding block with heavy grit to rough things up, too. I would experiment on scrap first!

 

[SpectreTTM]

Oh My. I bet that was a lot of work. But what a fantastic job you did.

A few questions if you don't mind.

How long did it take?
Any special tools or techniques?
Does it come apart for storage?

Wow.

Thanks for sharing

 

[trishaanne]

I've used a wood burning tool with the small tip for making cracks and marks in the foam. It works great and since I'm assuming you don't want to stress crack the entire thing, it won't take but a few minutes. You can also use the tip to make little pock marks whereever you want them. Just my .02.

BTW...BEAUTIFUL JOB!!!!!

 

[heresjohnny]

The only difference is the color. The pink is made by Owens Corning and the blue is made by Dow. Pink is a trademark of Owens Corning so they are the only ones that can produce pink insulation products.

heresjohnny, I like your pics. that's kinda what I'm going for. I'm just not sure about using That much spray paint since I'm doing a large piece.

Just a thought, the spray paint technique might be good for some isolated areas of decay, like it was isolated to part of the tombstone edge. Again, outstanding job on the construction!

 

[tcarter]

Oh My. I bet that was a lot of work. But what a fantastic job you did.

A few questions if you don't mind.

How long did it take?
Any special tools or techniques?
Does it come apart for storage?

Wow.

Thanks for sharing

thanks, and to answer your questions
1. I've been working for about three weeks now, One week I took off for vacation time, the other 2 mainly just weekends and an hour or so here and there during the week. I'm not sure of total hours, but i think it might be around 40.

2. Special tools? well a compound miter saw, and a radial saw. I wouldn't really say they are special, but probably someting not everyone has.

technique? I loosely followed these plans for the wood frame construction
http://homepage.mac.com/nephilim/imagineerieing/2004/crypt.html
I made the bones on the Bat wing out of Caulk, I guess that could be called special. Otherwise it was just measure, cut, miter, screw, nail, glue.I did find my rock mix CD helped, sespecially Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock."

3. Yes. It does come apart for storage, or at least I HOPE it does. I haven't disasembled it since I applied the foam, but the frame cames apart into left and right sides, the front and back, which both break in half, and the roof comes apart in the middle, so I guess that's.... eight pieces?

hope that helps.

 

[shaunathan]

t carter, this technique I'm about to suggest MAY BE BAD.
so please do not get angry is this eats all your hard work into lumpy useless madness....


GRAB SOME TEST FOAM

and hit it with super 77 by 3m, but spray it VERY CLOSE to the foam, this will eat the foam away and you may get the pitted look you like...

of course, too much arosol and you'll melt it away, not enough, and you just got a sticky surface...

maybe it works? maybe it's a horrible idea, but it's late and it just came to me...

 

[slimy]

That thing looks very cool. Great job.

 

[NecroBones]

Man, looks fantastic.

*envious*

 

[Dreadnight]

Not sure what you meant by "don't like heat", but have you tried a wood burning tool? You can use the tip to make the pits and vary the size of them by how far you push it in. Also very good for making stress cracks by dragging the tip across the surface. Takes time, but you get a good effect. If you look at the big bat sculpt I made for my 2004 haunt, you can see the type of finish I'm talking about.

 

[tcarter]

Not sure what you meant by "don't like heat", but have you tried a wood burning tool? You can use the tip to make the pits and vary the size of them by how far you push it in. Also very good for making stress cracks by dragging the tip across the surface. Takes time, but you get a good effect. If you look at the big bat sculpt I made for my 2004 haunt, you can see the type of finish I'm talking about.

What I meant was applying flame didn't give me the right look. I experimented with Keebas wet technique last night as suggested by Gloomy Gus. I like the results. I'm not sure exactly what the water does, but it gives a pattern not possible dry. I will try the wood burning tool for the cracks.

 

[SpectreTTM]

thanks, and to answer your questions
2. Special tools? well a compound miter saw, and a radial saw. I wouldn't really say they are special, but probably something not everyone has.

technique? I loosely followed these plans for the wood frame construction
http://homepage.mac.com/nephilim/imagineerieing/2004/crypt.html
I made the bones on the Bat wing out of Caulk, I guess that could be called special. Otherwise it was just measure, cut, miter, screw, nail, glue.I did find my rock mix CD helped, especially Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock."

40 hrs wow you work fast.:googly:

Thanks for the info. I guess I should have been more specific.
How did you do the inlay work on the columns?
How did you do the arch way around the door?
How did you do the raised bat wings?

I love the idea of the caulk for the bones.

Thank you so much for your input.