styrofoam sculpture coating

[tommyhank]

I have some large pieces of styrofoam that I would like to carve into sculptural shapes, and rather than use the styrofoam to make molds I would like to finish the styrofoam itself and wind up with a sculpture that would be appropriate for outdoors. I understand that there is a sealer that styrofoam can be painted with that bonds to the styrofoam,adding strength, and then a variety of materials can be bonded to the sealer. (i.e. paints, stuccos, concrete mixtures, etc.) I have heard of several examples of this over the years and know that it is done by large companies to make statue replicas, landscape companies for man made rocks, etc. My problem is I have no idea what the name of the type of sealant that is necessary or a source or a price. Anybody out there with any experience in this area, I would appreciate some help.

[EJB]

Before getting to the "oops" stage try to determine exactly what kind of foam you are working with. Different types of foam can react adversely to heat or chemicals and create ruined work or perhaps a dangerous toxic situation. For hard coatings, look up products by SMOOTH-ON or INDUSTRIAL POLYMERS. They make a wide variety of products pertaining to foam and plastics.
Be prepared to drop some cash on polymer based products. They are rarely cheap and tend to have a limited shelf life.
An inexpensive, low tech solution may be to use cementitious materials or plaster to achieve your end. I sometimes make quick, cheap prototypes of an idea using florist foam from the local craft store. To make it more permanent and durable I'll give it a few coats of gesso. If I want to keep it long term I'll follow up the gesso with resin or epoxy and paint it.
I have also seen (don't know exactly how it's done) finished pieces that have been metal sprayed over fiberglass. This produces a durable finished piece that is also lightweight. Not sure what the cost is.

[oddist]

I think this is what you are looking for.

http://www.fxsupply.com/vanillacryl/vanillacryl.html

[Araich]

Fibreglass works well if heavy enough.
Check out Adrians public sculpture http://www.studiomauriks.com/
I believe it is possible to spray aluminium over fibreglass. They start by just dusting, then slowly build up a jacket (tiny molten pellets that fuse together). It is a metallising process and would be easy enough to find locally. Aluminium wire for metallising also comes as a copper alloy called 'bronze', it is brass golden and can be patinated.

[Steven Haas]

Another source of information would be the experimental aircraft industry as they use glass/foam construction routinely as does the boat building industry.
A friend has used polyester resin directly over foam successfully, however he doesn't view it as 'perminent'.

[Mordachai]

There is a product called Steelflex that does exactly what you are looking for.

it is made by Fasco, anyone that carries fasco should have it.

http://www.fascoepoxies.com/

|M|

[GaryR52]

I know this thread's a bit old now, but another shell material for foam is Design Cast, a gypsum-based product that creates a rock-hard shell for outdoor sculpture. http://www.design-cast.com/index.php

Another thing worth mentioning on this subject is that EPS (expanded polystyrene) will have to be coated before using any kind of resin as a covering, as polyester resin dissolves the foam. Where that's concerned, the better foam to use is polyurethane, which doesn't have that limitation and can be obtained in heavier densities, as well. A good supplier of polyurethane carving foam is General Plastics: http://www.generalplastics.com/produ...il.php?pid=19&

For inspiration, check out the work of Don Frost, who works exclusively in fiberglass. I believe he carves foam and then covers it with fiberglass: http://www3.sympatico.ca/g.foy/index.html

Gary

[oddist]

I just came across this company that has a line of interesting sculpting products.

Some can be used to coat foam.

[Toxic]

Check out www.luminore.com it is cold sprayable metal that can be used over just about any substrate. They have all types of metal available; copper, stainless, bronze, aluminum, etc.

[GaryR52]

Thanks, Toxic! Do you know what Luminore costs? This looks like something I'd definitely be interested in trying if the price is right.

Gary

[Toxic]

They want you to buy in so have to buy in bulk and that is (last I checked-2003) was $3k or $4k depending on the metal you chose. After that you can buy smaller amounts. I beleive training was included in that cost.

The other option is to find a co. that already has bought in and use thier services.

I first saw this in '98 when in the commercial woodwork field, but could never get my employer to buy in. I still want to get into it though, the possibilities are pretty awesome.

[bluedogshuz]

Thanks Toxic! Glad you resurected this thread. I checked out the Luminare site. Its really a matter of cost as far as I am concerned. I have used patinafinishes for years and swear by them. Metalized coatings are the way to go if large work limited budget is concerned. I stick to $200. for an 8 foot sculpture. Thats it. I sold one the other day for $900., I don't really care. I explain my processes to a buyer and quite frankly they don't care. If it turns them on they buy. I started my process as maquettes for bronzes and then realized I could not possibly afford to make them ergo I use the materials I can afford. I know people that want me to carve marble or cypress or whatever and it has to be that material and I have to sweat, so what. If thats what they want I will do it. The wierdest request was someone that wanted a marble pieces done only with hand tools... I told them to f..k off!

[GaryR52]

I was wondering if the training is optional or not; I assume so, since I have no way of going to Carlsbad, California and wouldn't be interested, anyway. I think I can figure out how to spray the stuff myself. The main factor for me is cost and if it's going to be that much, forget about it. Maybe if I have a large scale outdoor commission, but certainly not for the small sculptures I'm working on.

I wonder if it's possible to make your own? I mean, it's obviously powdered metal suspended in some sort of liquid binder. Seems to me one could experiment with spraying powdered bronze suspended in a fluid binder (what, I'm not sure). Obviously, it isn't polyester resin if it can be used on unsealed styrofoam, and it isn't hot wax because it's a cold process, so it must be something else.

Blue, you're doing eight foot sculptures for only $900? Sounds like you're underpricing your work.

Gary

[GaryR52]

From the Luminore website:
"The secret to the cold application is the chemical reaction which occurs between the LuminOre metal and a hybrid polymer binder that actually transforms the two materials into an all-new composite metal."

In looking around to see if someone else was offering the same thing or something similar, I came across a company that does the same thing and they reveal that the binder they use is composed of carbon, tungsten and boron. No wonder this stuff is expensive. http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2002/1223/284.html

Gary

[davizm]

Stocco or Acrylic Binder as it is otherwise known is the product. It comes in 5 gallon buckets but cant tell you the pricing on it since i have a friend order it and we divide it up when needed.

[rhendriks]

Some useful acrylic application tips;
http://lascaux.ch/english/anwendung/index.html

Rob
See my foam reliefs; http://www.reliefs.nl

[Bentiron]

Way back when I was paying the bills by being a draftsman the architects were specing a product called Dry-vit to cover their Styrofoam and now 30 years later the buildings are still there and so is the foam. I guess you could use the artificial stucco for sculpture. It can't be to expensive because they still cover whole buildings in it. First a smooth coat, then a texture coat, then paint.

[davizm]

Here in Florida we use a product to coat Styrofoam that needs to be exposed to weather with Stucco and a better one Stocco. This is a concrete material coating that works wonders on several tall structures such as the one community project-a huge arch i helped construct and coat at http://www.crealde.org It stands on a concrete block base but is hollow in the upper section(the arch). see for yourself.It depends upon the application- how thick the surface quality will be obviously.

[davizm]

go to http://www.crealde.org as we are doing a styrofoam carving workshop and we will cover alot of information including finishing surfaces. this is a preliminary workshop for a second, follow-up workshop on sculpural recycling. Go GREEN!!!!

[davizm]

I personally dont like hot knives in that it destroys the beautiful nature of the styrofoam beads . i love the rough textured molecular look of unheated styrofoam. the beauty is in preserving the bubbled up natural texture. I look at the work of Alberto Giacometti and wonder what kind of wonderful pieces he couldve come up with if he had styrofoam to carve. i love his work and try to immulate it with styrofoam.I usually slice styrofoam with a regular saw blade and then take broken saw blades and tooth picks to do detail work. i did one piece with about 25 -30 figures intertwined in a circular but flat piece of styrofoam i found in the trash of someone who had just bought a glasss tabletop and discarded the foam packing crate. Somebody's trash is almost usually this sculptor's treasure. i think my workshop in styrofoam recycling was cancelled due to poor advertisement and wording so i will redesign the whole focus of this workshop to included recycling as the focal point and devote a series of miniclasses to Recycling for Green Sculpture. I do so many new things with discarded material that i think its a good time to do several small mini-classes devoted to my many new techinques that i will disclose once the dates are determined. Look for them either at Crealde.org or ArtistsRegistry.com on their messege boards later this year or wait until i announce them here. If the series catches more peoples' imagination i will be doing regular classes and demonstrations of all my unique techniques in many future workshops and classes.