This is a lot of fun. After 25 years as a prop builder, here are some of the things I can recommend. Options of techniques: 1) To hold the parts together while the glue dries and you intend to do some filling and sanding, bamboo skewers are long and can be inserted through the foam layers to secure the parts together while the glue dries. 2) Construction adhesive works well and is designed for these sorts of applications. Wood glue works, but is designed specifically for wood. Which might slow the drying process as the moisture in the glue has nowhere to go except out the sides of the join. 3) Surfacing. You can use sheetrock compound to fill and smooth the foam. It sands well and doesnt shrink much. 4) Coatings. If you'd like a tough, leather-like surface coating, a mixture of dry clay powder and Flex Glue is awesome. The downside is that the surface becomes fragile in cold temperatures. Room temp it is really sturdy. Or you can use dry clay powder mixed with latex paint if you have an old can of paint hanging around. It's all water-based, so it's easy to clean up. 5) Be sure your foam is completely coated in a brush on latex or acrylic paint (flat paint is best) as a primer barrier before you use any spray paints.
After doing some extensive XPS foam work on my lil CNC, I've skipped doing roughing cuts and go straight to finish runs. One caveat is that even when you find a glue specifically for foam, avoid the feeling of being clever by gluing multi-layers of foam to get a lil extra thickness. Ugh, it balled up on my bits and destroyed an otherwise perfectly good mold set, with the glue ball throwing off dimensions as it grew. Definitely need a single volume foam board to work from. I still use the ol painters tape and CA glue for workholding. I put down the first few strips (2" wide seems great for most projects), run the glue on that first section, then lay the tape runs upside down on said glued sections so I don't have to guess or measure to death where they will sit on the spoilboard. If you leave a few inches on the second set for overhang, it makes for a dead simple alignment point for positioning and handling.
Cheap latex/acrylilic house paint is all you need to paint. Look for a Critter spray gun. They use glass mason jars to hold the paint and are dead simple to use and clean. If you have paint left over, just screw on the lid for the jar and store your paint. If you do this a lot, this will save you a ton of money. As far as hard coating the foam, that a depends on where the item will be displayed. You don't have to do too much if it is indoors and away from curious hands. You can just use paint. If it's outdoors or accessible to curious people, there are tons of professional (read expensive) products you can use. That's the confusing part of the process. You will get tons of suggestions because everyone has a different way or product they use.
@@freakenstein1984 that doesn't sound simple but the answer is the same. Yes totally possible but you may find a few little issues you have to work to resolve, such as undercuts.
@@freakenstein1984 I’m not taking on any work like that right now. My schedule is OVERLOADED and I barely even have time for my own projects. Sorry. If I did take it on it would probably be a few thousand
I have been thinking non stop about making a statue of my wife. As I woke up this morning I thought hey maybe google for some sort of styrofoam cnc workflow (i have no CNC) but i would reach out to a company to help me make it. Thank you for the video. I am learning some tricks!
@@CalebKraftmakes yes i think i will be looking for a company in Europe that can 3d CNC on demand on some sort of a foam material. I will update if I find something here!
do you think I can sculpt a piece like this in other software? I started learning fusion 360 and it takes a lot of hours to learn a software like this, also it's another cost to pay for another software and I'm just doing it as a hobby
depends on what exactly you're referring to. I didn't use fusion at all in this project. are you asking if you can do it in fusion? you can totally do the CAM parts in fusion. The face itself will hit the polygon limit in fusion, so you'll have to reduce the complexity of the digital sculpt, but it would work in fusion.
@@CalebKraftmakes i was't enough precise, what i wanted to ask is if it was possible to create the gcode of an sculpted piece in fusion 360, and later I've found some people doing something like that in fusion, so it is possible, what I don't think it's possible is to create a model as complex as yours in fusion, it's not it's purpouse! thanks! nice channel! have a nice day!
A blended mix of yoghurt and moss brushed into her eyebrows and hair would really weather her (the model of course not your real wife). I quite like the way she's staring up at the heavens moreso than if she's just staring ahead. It's more enigmatic.
This is a lot of fun. After 25 years as a prop builder, here are some of the things I can recommend.
Options of techniques:
1) To hold the parts together while the glue dries and you intend to do some filling and sanding, bamboo skewers are long and can be inserted through the foam layers to secure the parts together while the glue dries.
2) Construction adhesive works well and is designed for these sorts of applications. Wood glue works, but is designed specifically for wood. Which might slow the drying process as the moisture in the glue has nowhere to go except out the sides of the join.
3) Surfacing. You can use sheetrock compound to fill and smooth the foam. It sands well and doesnt shrink much.
4) Coatings. If you'd like a tough, leather-like surface coating, a mixture of dry clay powder and Flex Glue is awesome. The downside is that the surface becomes fragile in cold temperatures. Room temp it is really sturdy.
Or you can use dry clay powder mixed with latex paint if you have an old can of paint hanging around. It's all water-based, so it's easy to clean up.
5) Be sure your foam is completely coated in a brush on latex or acrylic paint (flat paint is best) as a primer barrier before you use any spray paints.
great tips!
I do this dort of thing on a much smaller scale with the pink insulation foam board to make mini Flintstones BEDROCK CITY houses.
This is cool! Great trick with coating it in Elmer's glue.
thanks! it's a sloooow process but I think it really helps and is much easier/cheaper than resin of some sort.
After doing some extensive XPS foam work on my lil CNC, I've skipped doing roughing cuts and go straight to finish runs. One caveat is that even when you find a glue specifically for foam, avoid the feeling of being clever by gluing multi-layers of foam to get a lil extra thickness. Ugh, it balled up on my bits and destroyed an otherwise perfectly good mold set, with the glue ball throwing off dimensions as it grew. Definitely need a single volume foam board to work from.
I still use the ol painters tape and CA glue for workholding. I put down the first few strips (2" wide seems great for most projects), run the glue on that first section, then lay the tape runs upside down on said glued sections so I don't have to guess or measure to death where they will sit on the spoilboard. If you leave a few inches on the second set for overhang, it makes for a dead simple alignment point for positioning and handling.
I've done some pretty thick stuff right to the finishing pass but I get much better results if I do a rough first.
Oh now I’m inspired. Thank you for showing us.
thanks!
Cheap latex/acrylilic house paint is all you need to paint. Look for a Critter spray gun. They use glass mason jars to hold the paint and are dead simple to use and clean. If you have paint left over, just screw on the lid for the jar and store your paint. If you do this a lot, this will save you a ton of money. As far as hard coating the foam, that a depends on where the item will be displayed. You don't have to do too much if it is indoors and away from curious hands. You can just use paint. If it's outdoors or accessible to curious people, there are tons of professional (read expensive) products you can use. That's the confusing part of the process. You will get tons of suggestions because everyone has a different way or product they use.
oooh, thanks for the tip!
This is a wonderful piece ❤
That's great work.
thanks!
Care to share what endmill you used? Feeds/Speeds?
Hey love the video. Could you use the same Process to build a 8 foot Statue?
I don't see why not. It would be a little more work because of undercuts but yeah
@CalebKraftmakes what if it's something simple like a 8ft optimus prime?
@@freakenstein1984 that doesn't sound simple but the answer is the same. Yes totally possible but you may find a few little issues you have to work to resolve, such as undercuts.
@@CalebKraftmakes how much would you charge to make something like that
@@freakenstein1984 I’m not taking on any work like that right now. My schedule is OVERLOADED and I barely even have time for my own projects. Sorry. If I did take it on it would probably be a few thousand
I have been thinking non stop about making a statue of my wife. As I woke up this morning I thought hey maybe google for some sort of styrofoam cnc workflow (i have no CNC) but i would reach out to a company to help me make it. Thank you for the video. I am learning some tricks!
this was a while back but I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.
@@CalebKraftmakes yes i think i will be looking for a company in Europe that can 3d CNC on demand on some sort of a foam material. I will update if I find something here!
excelente obra de arte
do you think I can sculpt a piece like this in other software? I started learning fusion 360 and it takes a lot of hours to learn a software like this, also it's another cost to pay for another software and I'm just doing it as a hobby
depends on what exactly you're referring to. I didn't use fusion at all in this project. are you asking if you can do it in fusion? you can totally do the CAM parts in fusion. The face itself will hit the polygon limit in fusion, so you'll have to reduce the complexity of the digital sculpt, but it would work in fusion.
@@CalebKraftmakes i was't enough precise, what i wanted to ask is if it was possible to create the gcode of an sculpted piece in fusion 360, and later I've found some people doing something like that in fusion, so it is possible, what I don't think it's possible is to create a model as complex as yours in fusion, it's not it's purpouse! thanks! nice channel! have a nice day!
Wow!!!
you could just sand it, apply liquid rock for the gloss, and paint that
Wow you should make multiple with different facial expressions
nice one! so is this just like... hanging above your couch? ready to scare the shit out of someone in your attic?
it's in my office, over my monitors. You can catch a peek of it towards the end at about 14:15
A blended mix of yoghurt and moss brushed into her eyebrows and hair would really weather her (the model of course not your real wife). I quite like the way she's staring up at the heavens moreso than if she's just staring ahead. It's more enigmatic.
❤
So sweet... 🥰/
💔 P r o m o s m