"Could We Use This FAST SET Urethane Foam For Terrain?" Topic
9 Posts
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Cacique Caribe | 20 Sep 2018 8:21 a.m. PST |
I've never seen this fast set foam before, but there HAS TO BE some potential use for us in terrain-making. Either for filling molds OR perhaps for something no one has ever thought of before. There must be: YouTube link So, can you see this material having a place in a terrain-maker's workshop? Thoughts? Dan PS. He needs to learn to always read instructions beforehand. ;) |
Narratio | 20 Sep 2018 8:38 a.m. PST |
I've used it to make terrain, but it's hard to work with, as it will always try to settle out flat. And once you've cut it there are a myriad small air holes to fill. Eventually you throw your hands in the air and use pink foam insulation sheets. |
Cacique Caribe | 20 Sep 2018 10:32 a.m. PST |
Narratio Are the holes on the surface that makes contact with the mold? Or were you carving up a lump of it you put on the benchtop to rise and cure without a mold? Dan |
Ran The Cid | 20 Sep 2018 12:05 p.m. PST |
I've used Foam It from smooth on. Good for large terrain pieces – tank wrecks, hills, cargo dumps…. that sort of thing. Needs a box to hold the pressure. The finished product is smooth, holds detail and takes spray paint. |
Bobgnar | 20 Sep 2018 12:43 p.m. PST |
That's a very interesting video, thanks for posting it. I thought he was going to take the moulds off the foam and have a solid representation of the mask but I guess he just wanted to make them solid. I have used spray insulation foam to fill up cardboard buildings, giving them some stiffness. If I use too much I end up with a bulging building. This stuff might work. Just need to know how much to use. I wonder if you could put this stuff in a silastic RTV mold And get an object out of it. Or a plaster of Paris mold for that matter. |
AICUSV | 20 Sep 2018 6:22 p.m. PST |
I tried molding some spray from a while back. Besides the pressure issue on the mold, I had to use a release to make sure the foam won't glue the mold sides together. The release reacted with the foam and prevented it from completely setting. I've found it useful to make hills, gun in placements (loonets), or trench sides. Over all I found it not worth using. |
Narratio | 20 Sep 2018 8:38 p.m. PST |
Dan, The holes are when you carve into it. There are… Hmm, "micro bubbles" I suppose you'd describe them. At least on the edges, I suppose that holds true for all the way in, my experiments didn't get that far. Tried a small cup size blob on a Formica board, it spread out to about 300mm diameter and between 2 and 3mm deep. With paint and flock it became a reasonable piece of rough terrain, fens or swamp land. But was brittle and snapped easily. Fixing the two pieces back together was another experiment in frustration. To make hills I used lots of odd things. The best being an old shallow soup bowl. The best release I found was to cover the soup bowl in cling film. After a day or so the cling film could be pulled free, leaving a surface you could paint. But I never did find a paint that it liked, except for a latex based waterproofing house paint. So I ditched the whole thing. That was a decade or so back. Maybe the basic formulation has changed? Dave |
Zephyr1 | 20 Sep 2018 9:23 p.m. PST |
I could see making an impression in damp sand (the reverse of what you want to make), then spraying the foam in and letting it expand. After it cures, just pop it out of the ground or box (it will probably have a layer of sand as the surface ;-), trim the bottom flat & glue it to a stiff board for support. I haven't tried this BTW… ;-) |
TheOtherOneFromTableScape | 21 Sep 2018 9:19 a.m. PST |
This material is used to mould a myriad of items, for all kinds of applications, and has been for decades. Much of your car is made from various types of polyurethane – rigid and soft foams along with hard resin – often in combination. A good example are the bumpers. The outside is a thin hard self coloured resin layer shell with a rigid foam body underneath and all bonded together during manufacture. I've been using it to cast wargaming scenery since 2005. Zieterdes (in Germany) and Hudson and Allen immediately spring to mind. Gladiator Games, who then sold their stuff onto Battlezone Miniatures used it, Games workshop has used it, as did Ian Weekly, who's models are now made by Magister Miniatures. It is widely used in the special effects industry to make props and parts for sets. Using wet sand probably isn't a good idea. Small quantities of water are added to one of the components in order to generate carbon dioxide that creates the foam. Using a wet surface would make the reaction unpredictable, increase the foam's expansion and decreasing its strength. There are loads of videos online about using it. Just go to YouTube and search for "polyurethane foam" |
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