Cosplay Experimentation 101

Hey, there, Cats and Kittens!

The Mundane Drudgery Job released me from its icy, soul-crushing grip today (I'm off), so I thought I'd do a little experimenting.

You see, it's come to my attention that one of the greatest materials for costumes and accessories is fun foam. You can get it almost anywhere that sells craft supplies. It's easy to cut, easy to glue, easy to shape, easy to mold, etc., etc., etc.

I've decided that I need a base material for my arm harness. "I know," I told myself in a Eureka moment, "I'll use fun foam! Eureka!" See? Eureka moment.

Now the only problem with foam, that I've read, is that if you're going to paint it, you need to seal it. The foam is porous, which means it's got holes in it. If you just slapped paint on it, the paint would seep into those little holes and not leave a smooth finish, so the tiny holes have to be sealed up. It's just like working with wood or drywall. You can't just paint a piece of wood or your living room wall; the paint soaks right in. First, you have to use a sealer, a primer it's usually called. So, I'm priming the foam. But, in my researchings across the wilds of the internet, I came across mention that the foam doesn't necessarily need to be primed/sealed. These mentions mentioned that you could just go ahead and paint it. "Hmmm..." thought I. "Which is better?"

Experimentation time!

I whipped up a batch of sealant using regular old school glue, flexible fabric glue, and water. Just mix these up in a little glass in a 1:1:2 ratio. That's one part white glue to one part fabric glue to two parts water. Mix it up in small batches because it really is best to wait until the first coat is completely sealed to paint on another coat.

I took a small scrap piece of foam and put sealant on one end and paint on the other. Not too thick; you don't want to gob it on there. Just some nice thin brush strokes. You'll see some tiny bubbles pop up in the paint and the sealant. Those are okay. You can fill those in with the next coat. And don't worry if you leave some brush strokes behind. Typically, those will smooth themselves out as the paint/sealant settles during drying. If they don't, just cover them up with the next coat. No worries.

Let it dry completely before applying the next coats. This may take some time. Don't use artificial heat to speed things up. the extra heat will cause the foam to stretch and warp which will mess up your lovely little paint/sealant job. Just let it dry naturally. I set mine out on the front patio.

And while it was drying, I washed dishes.

And cleaned the kitchen. And surfed the internet. And mixed up a salad for supper tonight. And waited and waited and waited. After, like, a million days, the first coat was dry, so I slathered on a second. Then a third.

The results are finally in!

After the third layer dried, I put a wee bit of paint on the primed side. The left is the "only paint" side. The right, the "primed" side. It looks like using primer is the way to go. The paint is smoother, it went on easier, and overall, just looks better.

Covering the primed side took less paint, too. Less paint used equals paint lasting longer equals fewer bucks spent for paint. Less money spent is always a good thing.

So, the moral of the story? Prime your foam. You can mix your own primer using the above-mentioned recipe (1 part school glue + 1 part flexible fabric glue + 2 parts water) or you can take the easy route and buy Mod Podge (also available where craft supplies are sold). My next experiment will be using the homemade primer and Mod Podge, but I have a feeling the results will be pretty much identical since they are basically the same thing (watered down glue).

Until next time, Cats and Kittens,

Cheers!