Insulation Foam Walls

I'm trying to make "stone" walls out of insulation foam, similar to what BlondeActionMan has created for his Dinosaur Valley stories.


More later....

Nice work Dave! Those walls and floors are coming along a treat! the deeper you go in with the pencil, the more pronounced the detailing will become, however, I am liking the clean lines you have achieved here Looking forward to seeing more!

A great start....I love a tutorial

Rogue-Trooper wrote:

A great start....I love a tutorial.

Thanks! More "tutorial type" photos later. Pressed for time at the moment, these were just a few quick shots.

That looks quite an impressive wall you have planned there Dave!

Beautiful work there, Dave!!!

Thanks for sharing all the tips and pics!

Blondeactionman wrote:

Those walls and floors are coming along a treat! the deeper you go in with the pencil, the more pronounced the detailing will become, however, I am liking the clean lines you have achieved here.

My lines are not nearly as clean as are yours, which initially had me frustrated. Then I decided that, oh well, the roughness looks kind of like broken mortar. Or so I'm telling myself, anyway.

I also discovered through trial and error... meaning error... the fairly obvious fact that if you carve too deeply or press too firmly the insulation board cracks. It's only 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick to being with.

I don't think this is exactly the same material that you use. The material I found is still not quite as dense as your foam, nor is the yellow colour as pronounced.

SCU_HQ wrote:

Blondeactionman wrote:

Those walls and floors are coming along a treat! the deeper you go in with the pencil, the more pronounced the detailing will become, however, I am liking the clean lines you have achieved here.

My lines are not nearly as clean as are yours, which initially had me frustrated. Then I decided that, oh well, the roughness looks kind of like broken mortar. Or so I'm telling myself, anyway.

I also discovered through trial and error... meaning error... the fairly obvious fact that if you carve too deeply or press too firmly the insulation board cracks. It's only 1/2 inch (1/25 cm) thick to being with.

I don't think this is exactly the same material that you use. The material I found is still not quite as dense as your foam, nor is the yellow colour as pronounced.

You could be right Dave, the board I use is about an inch and half thick, but I do agree, the unevenness of the lines does make for better realism, mine are not exactly perfect and I think its is that, that adds to the charm of them. I mean if you look at old castle walls, they don't exactly follow conventional building codes do they! lol! Keep at it Dave, you will surprised at how good they look once in a dio

Next comes the painting.....which is gonna be fun I assume it will need some sort of primer first ??

Nice drafting there!
If your insulation board is the same composition as ours here I'm pretty sure you cannot use any paint that's turpentine/oil based as it will dissolve the board.
It has to be acrylic/plastic.
I like to put a lighter coat on first and when it's fully dry, mix up a quite watery dark brown or black and let it flow into all the cracks/grooves for an aged look.
This brings out the detail.
Just some thoughts.

Blondeactionman wrote:

You could be right Dave, the board I use is about an inch and half thick...

I was thinking your walls were not that thick. I believe they had a thicker version of the panels at the hardware store. I shall look again the next time I am there. I could also glue two layers together to achieve additional strength and rigidity.

I carved patterns on both sides of the sheet, which further weakened it.

Rogue-Trooper wrote:

Next comes the painting.....I assume it will need some sort of primer first ??

I have used spray paint on styrofoam before. The paint usually dissolves the foam, so the initial coats must be sprayed on very lightly. In this case, I am trying something different. I have coated the foam boards with a product marketed here as Mod Podge, which is basically a heavy white glue used for decoupage craft projects. The glue dries mostly clear. I am hoping that it will add strength to the board and provide a paint-resistant base coat if I decide to paint these walls.

BAM leaves his carved foam walls unpainted and they look good.

LeStryge wrote:

Nice drafting there!
If your insulation board is the same composition as ours here I'm pretty sure you cannot use any paint that's turpentine/oil based as it will dissolve the board.
It has to be acrylic/plastic.
I like to put a lighter coat on first and when it's fully dry, mix up a quite watery dark brown or black and let it flow into all the cracks/grooves for an aged look.
This brings out the detail.
Just some thoughts.

Thanks for the tips. Your approach for accentuating the cracks and grooves sounds effective, practical, and not overly time-consuming. I'm never sure whether the cracks should be lighter or darker in color. Usually, mortar is lighter than the stones or bricks. But in aged structures, the mortar lines become dark with years of soot, grime, and moss.

You are correct, the "easy" paints to use (ie spray paint) quickly dissolve styrofoam and insulation foam materials. I have found they can be used if the initial coats are very light, but even then, some surface damage occurs. If the finish is meant to appear old and weathered, this is often not a problem. But even going a little bit too heavy with the spray creates "melt holes."

As I mentioned above, I am brushing on a thin white glue primer coat before painting. I don't know if it will work, but it will be interesting to find out.

I still have not decided whether to paint this scene or not. And if I chose to paint, should I go with browns and tans to work with the existing color of the board, or with greys and darker colors to appear more "stone like?" I am leaning toward unpainted or browns and tans to more closely emulate (meaning: blatantly and unapologetically copy) BAM's Dinosaur Valley structures.

Thank you for all the input, gents! Much appreciated!

I always "weather" just about anything I make so that it doesn't look too new or like a freshly built film set.

Comes from years of putting together and painting small HO scale buildings for a dear friend's railway layout. Often they were the same kit but had to be made to look different.
I also weathered all his rolling stock and locomotives.
(This involved a lot of research to learn where steam jets, oil nipples, hand rails etc. where to add the appropriate ageing effect. I was not initially a railway buff.)
After a while it becomes a habit and anything that hasn't been done looks odd.

Were I to lash out and buy one of those wonderful jeeps you have, I don't think I could walk past it on the shelf without itching to dirty it up convincingly.

LeStryge wrote:

I always "weather" just about anything I make so that it doesn't look too new or like a freshly built film set.
. . .
Were I to lash out and buy one of those wonderful jeeps you have, I don't think I could walk past it on the shelf without itching to dirty it up convincingly.

I weather things because I don't have the necessary skills to construct projects that look new!

I don't know if I can say this enthusiastically when shipping costs to Australia are factored in, but overall, I think the 21st Century Ultimate Soldier Jeep is worth the inflated secondary market price. The photos I posted do not even include the machine-gun with ammo box, the radio, and the side doors, nor do the photos offer a good view of the folding canvas top. There's also a side mirror that is broken off, which I have not yet glued back in place.

I happened to glance at the Jeep just yesterday, and what caught my eye was how good it looks with mud on the tires. I did not clean it after my photo-shoot out in the mud and snow. And I'm not going to.

I have read that the reason noted action figure photographer of Marwencol fame, Mark Hogancamp, pulled his miniature Jeep around behind him on a string (one of the iconic images of Hogancamp) is not that he was an eccentric, but rather, he wanted realistic wear and tear on the tires. He actually figured out, through experimentation, how far he needed to pull the Jeep along asphalt and gravel roads to achieve the amount of believable wear to the tire treads that he wanted.

I probably would have used sandpaper and paint, but you can't argue with his results!

I do think I will eventually buy one of those jeeps because they do look so good!

1/6 is a LARGE scale, thus vehicles and the like tend to be expensive....well the good ones are anyway.
As I think I've mentioned before I do own a genuine MAM-issue jeep, (local eBay find) and while it's a sturdy model well able to stand up to kid's play, a very realistic representation it is not, specially when compared to the 21st Century Ultimate Soldier version.

I still own a whole set of weathering paints that come in colours like "rust", "oil-stain", "dust" etc. and they are really great for working on models.
They do tend to be permanent though so you need to experiment on something cheap if you are new to the process.
A small air-brush can also be useful, though not essential.

Besides, when did anyone ever see a jeep that was pristine-clean?

Working on insulfoam "stonework" as you are, you can really let yourself go.
As long as you don't dissolve the board, any effect you don't like can easily be painted over.

I also like applying the first coat with two fairly close colours at the same time using either a brush or a small natural sponge, sort of blending them together, but not too much.
Then when that's completely dry, choose a darker colour to paint the whole thing over and while it's still wet, wipe off the excess with a damp rag or sponge. This will remove it from all the high points but leave it in the cracks, thereby bringing out the detail.
You can choose to wipe as much off or as little as you like to get the effect you want.
Dry brush on a little dark green for moss in parts and voila!
Old castle wall!!!
Get really arty and add a few darker drips where water would naturally run down from any projecting architectural features and you're an expert!

LeStryge wrote:

Then when that's completely dry, choose a darker colour to paint the whole thing over and while it's still wet, wipe off the excess with a damp rag or sponge. This will remove it from all the high points but leave it in the cracks, thereby bringing out the detail.
You can choose to wipe as much off or as little as you like to get the effect you want.
Dry brush on a little dark green for moss in parts and voila!
Old castle wall!!!
Get really arty and add a few darker drips where water would naturally run down from any projecting architectural features and you're an expert!

Excellent ideas, all! Thank you!

When I painted my walls before, i used a grey primer paint from a tin, as aerosol paints will eat through them! . Having used the grey pot primer, I was then able to spray the walls without incident. In the past I have sealed the walls using pva glue (wood glue) mixed with poster paint. I used a bright colour for this as it shows what areas you have done . Then again, once dry I sprayed them. Hope it helps Dave

Blondeactionman wrote:

When I painted my walls before, i used a grey primer paint from a tin, as aerosol paints will eat through them! . Having used the grey pot primer, I was then able to spray the walls without incident. In the past I have sealed the walls using pva glue (wood glue) mixed with poster paint. I used a bright colour for this as it shows what areas you have done . Then again, once dry I sprayed them. Hope it helps Dave

More excellent painting ideas! Thank you!

SCU_HQ wrote:

Blondeactionman wrote:

When I painted my walls before, i used a grey primer paint from a tin, as aerosol paints will eat through them! . Having used the grey pot primer, I was then able to spray the walls without incident. In the past I have sealed the walls using pva glue (wood glue) mixed with poster paint. I used a bright colour for this as it shows what areas you have done . Then again, once dry I sprayed them. Hope it helps Dave

More excellent painting ideas! Thank you!

Happy to help Dave!

Blondeactionman wrote:

SCU_HQ wrote:

Blondeactionman wrote:

When I painted my walls before, i used a grey primer paint from a tin, as aerosol paints will eat through them! . Having used the grey pot primer, I was then able to spray the walls without incident. In the past I have sealed the walls using pva glue (wood glue) mixed with poster paint. I used a bright colour for this as it shows what areas you have done . Then again, once dry I sprayed them. Hope it helps Dave

More excellent painting ideas! Thank you!

 Happy to help Dave!

I am very curious to know what new sets you are planning and constructing for the next Dinosaur Valley installment. Any chance you could share a work-in-progress sneak peek?

SCU_HQ wrote:

Blondeactionman wrote:

SCU_HQ wrote:

Blondeactionman wrote:

When I painted my walls before, i used a grey primer paint from a tin, as aerosol paints will eat through them! . Having used the grey pot primer, I was then able to spray the walls without incident. In the past I have sealed the walls using pva glue (wood glue) mixed with poster paint. I used a bright colour for this as it shows what areas you have done . Then again, once dry I sprayed them. Hope it helps Dave

More excellent painting ideas! Thank you!

 Happy to help Dave!

I am very curious to know what new sets you are planning and constructing for the next Dinosaur Valley installment. Any chance you could share a work-in-progress sneak peek?

Funny you should say that Dave, I have just finished carving some new pieces, I will do some pics for tomorrow

As promised Dave, a few pics of the set pieces I have been working on for the story I am working on.

Behind the scenes 001 by Blonde Actionman, on Flickr
Behind the scenes 002 by Blonde Actionman, on Flickr
Behind the scenes 003 by Blonde Actionman, on Flickr
behind the scenes 004 by Blonde Actionman, on Flickr

These are all wall-tastic Dal.

Outstanding work Dal

What spectacular "ruins." I have been hoping that you would share some of your "foam-carving" work in this topic!

I particularly like the columns with the runes and hieroglyphs - very cool!

I am also intrigued by the close-up pic of the stairs. I've been thinking that carved stone steps would look good. Now I see that they do, indeed, and in this photo I can get a better idea of how you constructed and shaped them.

The various broken bits will definitely enhance the eerie and mysterious mood of your Lost World.

I've been making a couple of gates out of metal wire to go with my carved foam wall project:


Sure, you could use nice, clean wire and then paint on a rusted finish afterward; or, you can start out with rusty, dirty metal wire. The tetanus danger adds to the excitement of what is a tedious project.