"Modelling uses for Expanding Foam??" Topic

Okay, so I've got half a can of the expanding foam used in building to fill awkward shaped gaps, I've completed the job I bought it for, and I have to use the rest of it in a coupla days or it's going to waste anyway. So, anyone got any ideas how it could be used in any way relating to Wargames; I'd love to use it for casting houses and things, but I guess that would require inverse moulds and it all seems a bit complex, especially when you lack thumbs.

Its great for making big steaming piles of dino or Kong poo. Just spray some out on wax paper, let cure and paint in any shade of fecal matter you wish.

The problem with using it for casting is that moost brands continue to cure and expand for some time, not just the few minutes to hours it takes to become hard to the touch.

I used some leftover to make a lava field board, that worked well but it was more a case of spraying the stuff out and adapting the use to what I had.

You are correct. The spray can of foam will be useless very soon. Heres one project that I did with the leftovers that was simple and fast. I made a small volcano. You will need:

*Chunks of styrofoam
*Hot glue and glue gun
*Hardboard base, I used an old piece of paneling
*Cardboard shipping tube
*Leftover foam

Hot glue works great on styro. It holds tight and you can work very fast. Start a stack of styro chunks and blocks by hot gluing the first layer to the board. Glue a section of cardboard tube standing upright near the center. Continue to glue blocks and pieces around the tube, forming a rough cone. Cut off the tube flush with the top of the styro pile. Now the fun part. Use the foam to fill in the gaps. I start at the top and spiral down, letting the foam flow a bit like lava. Let the finished pile cure for several days before painting. It has a tendency to continue expanding and moving around for a time.

Now if you are up for it, a dice tower can be made this way by cutting and gluing up a tube system to connect to a "lake" or lava pool below. I have two of them, one for each end of the table.

Make hive mounds or "biologically smeared" hallways. You can even stick figures onto the walls much like they did in Aliens. Great stuff :) Just don't get it in your hair…

I have often wonder about using it to make a zeppelin by taking a suitably shaped balloon and squirting the stuff into the balloon. I think I would have to apply some sort of filler to seal the surface for painting.

I have not tried it because I don't game WW1.

I use it to fill paper buildings. Be very careful with the amount of expansion you will get. I have some nice buildings that are now bulginig at the seams :)

Saw it used in a demo game once painted up as markers for napalm strikes.

A guy in my gaming group made a nice mushroom cloud for a Nuke in Starship Troopers. Xintao posted some pics from a game here:

link

Iirc, Our friend used a cardboard tube as the center of the piece and covered it with the foam. I'm guessing he used a disc at the top and bottom as well.

Trailed some across wax paper to creat long wavy lines about 16" long, dried and applied spray glue. When glue was tacky touched the whole length with cotton balls, pulling off excess. Then cut of end of piece, made a plastic base about 4 inches in diameter, put a peg up thru the base, glued 16" rough column of "smoke" or "burning wreck" on the peg. Nice effect of the smoke rising above the usual 2 or 3 inches.

I tried spraying in a mold, and it didn't expand sufficiently to pick up the detailing, as expected.

Maybe I needed to pack it a bit tighter, but heeded the warning message not to, to prevent problems.

Anyway, not much luck with the stuff.

It's useful for making rocky terrain: let it set and carve and file to one's content or left as is to represent terrain affectecd by erosion. In Chainmail Set 2: Blood & Darkness there's a picture of a cavern with a tall waterfall and the surrounding areas are sprayed foam, left as is, painted grey and covered in gloss to represent dampness. In Osprey Masterclass: Terrain Modelling the stuff was sprayed into a foamboard frame, then left to cure, then carved and covered by gauze and plaster to create a cliff face.

Thanx to all for answering; loved the idea of a Volcano (limited use for Napoleonics; maybe a distant Vesuvius), and think I understand "dice tower" – which would definitely mean rolling – but as I expected, most uses are for cheap landscaping, which I might try; but the idea of the columns of smoke seems pretty hot.

Use it to fill acetate packaging..? Just be sure the outside walls are braced against expansion..

Too late; the foam has gone off!

Ahwell.

I'd seen it used to make some very… blobby.. terrain and even blobbier trees.. Stick a wad of the stuff in a branch, paint it green when it dries. Layer multiple blobs upon one another, to form an arch, and you have a cave entrance.. Overall effect was.. unusual, but given the painting skill of the gamers in question (rather, the lack of same), i actually worked pretty well.