To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2009 21:57:33 -0500
Subject: [Puptcrit] Styro Foam Uses



Since Hobey asked:

I make many things out of hard foam. I could say 'styrofoam, but that would 
be naming abrand, and I refuse to do that....
Oops.
LoL
My favorite is the blue kind, it's much stiffer and easier to carve details 
than the pink , which breaks and bruises more easily. I'll still use the 
pink if not gibven a choice. It is half the weight, after all.

I can carve it to make puppet parts, but I always add a strong protective 
paper mache skin on top, so I take that into consideration when I carve 
(thickness of skin material, smoothing of some details and edges).

It's the ideal material to work both in additive and substractive methods, 
since it's easy to carve, and just as easy to glue a piece back on, with a 
drop of hot glue, when the gun is just hot enough for the glue to stick, but 
not enough for the foam to melt. The strenght of the final piece comes from 
the paper mache itself, not
the glue inside.

I once made a very strong pair of glove puppet hands, from carved foam and 
paper mache strips. They totally looked like they were carved in wood and 
then sanded, but were lightweight, and very strong.

I sometimes use the foam as a carved form which will be removed when the 
paper mache shell is dry. I cut the paper shell and pull it off the form, 
which I try to keep as undamaged as possible.
Especially useful when making duplicates of parts that have simple forms, 
such as horns, beaks, claws, skull shapes...

Although I had tried to carve foam before, I was really encouraged to work 
at it in more detail, and add paper mache, by Fred Thompson (Angusson), whom 
I met here on Puptcrit, years ago. He took the time to send me pics of his 
beautifully refined marionettes, and explained the methods to me.
He showed me how important it was to make sure any stress should be on the 
armature, not on the foam itself, Fir this, he adds pieces of wood or 
inserts dowels in the foam.

Without the paper mache strips, the foam is overly fragile: easy to scratch, 
pieces fall off.
With the paper mache skin, the foam acts as a stable base: the paper won't 
ever shrink or warp, and will absorb shock.

I now use at least 3 layers of paper on the foam, but preferably around 6, 
although it's probably overkill.

I built three mouth and rod puppets for film work, with the skulls and 
bodies carved in hard foam.
The skull shape, which included the beak at first, was in hard foam.
Then the beak was cut out, and replaced with one made of clay, which was 
easier to build in two separate pieces that  fit together. EAch was covered 
in plastic and then in paper mache.
Upper beak was attached to the skull which was also covered in paper mache 
strips.
Lower beak was attached to upper beak via a hinge made of backpack strap 
(nylon webbing).

The carved bodies were cut in half to ease the hollowing out of a channel 
for the puppeteer's arms to fit in.
The channel was made slightly larger than necessary, to allow for multiple 
puppeteers to use it, and to allow for the fabric neck sleeve to fit. This 
ensured comfort, and ease of "wearing". Oh, and before covereing in fabric 
and inserting the sleeve, I made sure I covered the whole body with the 
paper mache strips, leaving no foam exposed. I was affraid of eventual 
separation of the paper from the foam, overtime. Now, I'd probbaly just let 
the paper edges dry, peel them up a bit, and re-glue with hot glue 
underneath, and add a strip of fabric on top.  I liked the fact that those 
bodies were hard, it helped with posture, no sagging.


I don't use the hot wire because of the fumes, but I might if I worked 
outside.
I sometimes use files when necessary (the one time when you notice that foam 
has a grain), but the Shop Vac (industrial-strenght vaccuum cleaner) is kept 
very close by, and used quite often, to prevent an invasion of foam 
particules everywhere! Those are very static, they cling to everything.
I use a good filter bag in my Shop Vac, the one recommended for use with 
palster dusts and such. It noticably helps keep my studio air cleaner. The 
higher price is well worth it.
The other filters just release a lot of the dusts back in the air.


I intend to carve large masks in foam someday, and cover them in paper 
mache. I like the massiveness, but not the weight that wood would force me 
to live with.



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