First Painting Method

Paint testing time!!

I REALLY want to do some testing and get some of these pieces painted. I've researched quite a few ways on how to do it and I'm going to try a few different methods and see what I think is the best.

Now because foam is very porous, you can't apply paint directly onto it or else it will just suck it all up and look like crap. So the foam needs to be sealed. The first method I tried for sealing is using white glue mixed with water and painted it on. I used Mod Podge. It's a lot like white glue.

At first I didn't dilute the Mod Podge and just applied it directly on with a brush.


 

It shows up white then dries clear. I did about 4 coats of this then attempted to paint it. I couldn't find the color I wanted in the automotive spray paints nor could I find it in the regular spray paints meant for plastic so I picked up a bottle of some kinda engine paint which is meant to withstand extreme temperatures.

 
So you can see it looks like crap. The paint strokes are huge, there's hair stuck in it and when I tried to flex it, it cracked. Unfortunately, I don't know whether it's from the seal technique I used or the paint I used or even the fact that I didn't prime the paint.

Round 2: This time I bought Mod Podge meant for fabrics so I hoped it would be more flexible. I also watered down the Mod Podge with a 1:1 ratio of water, and I used a sponge brush instead of a regular paint brush. This helped quite a bit with the brush strokes, they were a lot smaller.

I did 5 coats of the watered down Mod Podge and then decided I wanted to use something to prime the paint. I read somewhere of Dupli-Color Vinyl and Fabric works good for this so I picked up a bottle and tested it out. I also got a different type of orange paint that said it was good for fabrics.

 

That's the calf piece. You can see it's MUCH smoother and flexes when bent. I changed so many variables from my first piece its hard to say exactly what helped but it looks good so I'll stick with what I did.

Here's the upper arm plate



The edges can be sanded some more because it looked a little bumpy. And also damn animal hair keeps gettin' in my paint! But when you have a house with 3 dogs and 2 cats I suppose it's bound to happen.

Going to keep testing my painting methods so I'll keep ya updated!