Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 00:13:47 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Styro Foam Uses


Hi Mathieu,

I use Blue Foam too for a lot of things. When we need to add  
dimension to set pieces and props I use foam and then cover with  
Paper mache. For our "Beauty and the Beast" ninety percent of the set  
pieces are made out of foam and paper. We usually cut a profile piece  
out of thin luan, attach the foam sheet with spray adhesive, carve,  
cover with paper and then lacquer the surface of the paper for added  
strength. I also made a stone well out of Luan discs and screening  
for the basic form, foam "rocks" attached with spray adhesive and  
then paper mache.

Foam also turns beautifully. I made a jig for my drill press out of a  
three-foot piece of threaded rod, two discs of plywood with holes  
drilled into the center of them to allow the discs to be fastened to  
the threaded rod with wing nuts and washers, and a stop block for the  
bottom of the threaded rod that can be clamped to the table of my  
drill press. Just cut out discs of foam, drill holes into the center  
of each disc, stack them between the two discs of plywood on the  
threaded rod and tighten the wing nuts to pinch the whole thing into  
place. Put one end of the rod into the chuck and tighten it into  
place and then fit the bottom end of the threaded rod into the stop  
block clamped to the drill press table.

Turn on the drill press at high speed and you have a vertical lathe.  
I shape with rasps and sandpaper and have made everything from table  
legs to teapots this way.

BTW, do you know where I can find Cellulose wallpaper paste flakes  
for paper mache? All I can find in my local hardware store now is  
vinyl and wheat-based paste.


On Jan 6, 2009, at 9:57 PM, Mathieu René wrote:

>
> 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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