"How to coat and seal pink foam" Topic

I've had lots of experience coating pink and blue foam as well as bead board with a mixture of wood workers glue and saw dust. It gives a nice rough texture and is hard as a rock once it dries. However, I am now doing some projects with more fine detail as in brick work carved into the foam and cobble stone patters. My method above would cover(destroy) all that hard work. I recall that there is an inexpensive coating material that you can pick up at Lowes or Home Depot or any other DIY store but cannot remember the name of it. It comes in a gallon paint container and can be brushed right onto the foam and seals it up nice and tight. I know there was a gentleman who swore by it who came to Historicon and ran these huge Martian VSF games. All of his fantastic terrain was coated with this product. And it did not obscure the detail and dried hard as nails and of course could be painted and sanded. Anyone know what I am talking about and tell me the name of the product?

Not sure the specific paint you're referring to, but I use a simple Latex house paint. As a matter of fact it was a free-bee from Ace when they have free Quart samples every so often. Works like a champ and will not melt or damage your hard work drawing in details. After the latex paint dries, then you can spray paint it.

Hope this helps.

P.

Skip the sand additive and use the watered down glue?

Latex house paint.

Watered-down PVA glue.

(New) Krylon Craft Foam Primer (white only):
link

Second von Ted's suggestion. I have done this, but suggest 2 coats of glue/water mix. Had one project almost ruined when I was in a hurry and only coated the foam once, then sprayed primer on it.

Latex house paint. Add the sand or turf while it is still wet. Boards I've done have stood up to years of use

Flexcoat… it is a coating made to cover foam insulation when used as basement insulation. It dries very durable but maintains flexibility so it won't crack.

Also has a sandy texture but can be smoothed out. Can also be tinted prior to application to the color you want. It is great stuff.

Another option is Durham's Rock hard water putty. It works but will dry out and crack over time.

PVA but mix in a bit of appropriately coloured cheap acrylic paint when you thin it down – this way you're much less likely to miss a bit.

One of the modelers on youtube uses Mod Podge to seal
insulation foam. It is available in most craft stores.
I think it also comes in matte and gloss.

I've used polyfilla before. It dries rock hard which is why I like it. You could just about use it on detailed terrain, you'd just have to be very careful/very patient.

I know the terrain you are refereeing to. My buddy made the terrain and coated it with durham's water putty.

I use caulk, then smooth it with denatured alcohol. You can spread it pretty thinly over detail stuff. It is not rigid and is self sealing so you can push trees right into it, take them out and you cant tell they were there

Another vote for Durhams water putty. Dries to a nice hard shell. I used it on my terrain.

All great suggestions, yes it was Durham's I now recall. What about the cracking that Liedang mentioned?

Kallman: Are you talking about the anti-skid paint? I have a gallon of it in gray, it's paint with a fine sand added to it. The texture is "sandy" but it's more paint than sand. I've been using it to coat my foamcore buildings. It's "Quickrete anti-skid textured coating" and is acrylic. I have light gray

Based on my experience any cracking is going to be a a function of the moisture content of the putty when applied and the amount of time it takes for it to dry.

High initial moisture content and drying to quickly would lead to the most cracking.

Might be worth some trial applications to find an optimum set of conditions.