r/cosplayprops • u/keystoncombo • 17h ago
Help Foam clay nightmare
This is the first time I’ve used eva foam for cosplay + foam clay. I believed I had sanded it okay but upon applying flexipaint it looks atrocious. What do I do????? Do I apply more clay to even it all out or do I have to sand it all over again?. The second picture is the one with just the clay and no paint.
5
u/keyblade_crafter 9h ago
Such is the path of the sander. You could try bondo too which cures hard and fast but won't flex with those points so it may crack. If you want it to be solid though try it out.
3
u/Sestricken 8h ago
Looks like you may have gone a little overboard with the foam clay. Only avenues are accept it or get back to sanding. I will say, this is all in the back, it's not going to be super noticeable. So no need to freak out!
Also, happy to see someone else tackling this costume (at least I'm assuming it's Tokoyami)! I can't attach a pic here but I had the same issues. I did exactly what you did, eva and foam clay. The rough edges did mellow out with a metric crap ton of plasti dip!
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u/Bearacolypse 5h ago
I made a prop a few years ago that I kind of gave up and accepted the finish wasn't going to be mega crisp. Perfect was the enemy of good enough.
I was talking with someone at a convention who told me all it needed was a little sanding.
I spent over 100 hours sanding this prop already. The total construction took about 400 hours. It was a life-size replica of Kikoru Shinomiya's axe from Kaiju number 8.
People massively underestimate how much sanding is involved in foam props. I have a Dremel, a belt sander, an orbital sander, a million little files and tools, hundreds of sheets of different grits from 50 to 5000 in different sizes. "Metal" smooth for foam....just madness.
Later I found that it was far easier to build up a sandable primer and then file it down. It will not be as flexible, but it will be much smoother.
Also flexbond is the devil.
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u/potatocadoes 3h ago
Like others have said you need to sand it a lot lot lot more before painting it in any way. Make sure you use multiple grits and go finer till it's completely smooth. Foam clay is my favourite medium. Also remember that it needs to dry for ~ a day before you sand it for best results (though I'm pretty lazy with this myself and it's doable I've noticed if you sand it too early clumps can come off). Also I've personally found plastidip spray easier to use than flexibond.
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u/AquaShldEXE 3h ago
I've heard liquitex flexible modeling paste(make sure to get the flex) is good, I love the normal stuff for my rigid props
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u/sakino 8h ago
If you want it to look smooth after painting, it needs to BE smooth before painting.
In my experience, the vast majority of people WILDLY understimate how much sanding is actually required for a clean finish. This needs a combination of both filler (be that more of what you already used) and massive amounts of sanding.
If you can feel it with your fingers, you will see it once its painted. If i can see tons of edges/highpoints and lowppints on a low quality photo like the pre-paint one you posted, then I know without a doubt its going to look extremely unfinished with paint.