Spray Paint on Foam

[West Penn Nscale]

Help ,,,, before I do something I will regret in 2008 ,,,,, I want to use a brown spray paint on blue foam then apply ground foam ,,, I guess this would be ok, as long as its not oil based???

Thanks for the tips in advance

 Happy New Year

 Pat

[ndbprr]

You are correct although I am not sure that all spray paints do not contain VOCs that would eat the foam.  Especially avoid  Rustoleum paints as these are definitely ones that would eat the foam.

[ndbprr]

As an alternative it would be a lot cheaper and not much harder to brush on some brown latex paint from a can.  You could buy two or three quarts of different colors and vary them under the foam. 

[West Penn Nscale]

Back to Home Depot .... I know better ,,,, I am glad I asked first ..........

thank you

[loathar]

You won't find a good brown color spray paint that WON'T eat your foam. I believe the Krylon  H2O colors are all gloss.

[West Penn Nscale]

I bought a flat brown... I dont have the can in front of me  but I believe it had the rust reduction chemical in it ....  I will just use the old brush method

[loathar]

Yep, better safe than sorry...Nothing like doing all that foam carving only to have it melt away.

[West Penn Nscale]

Plus I have been looking at this blue foam for THREE months ,,,,,, I need to start painting,,,,,

[Phoebe Vet]

I like the Rustoleum imitation stone, brown for dirt and black for roads.  It does eat foam, and takes a lot to cover the color underneath.  My soulution is to first paint black or brown latex with a brush, then a thin coat of the Rustoleum over the top.  It only takes a little because it doesn't have to cover the blue, and the latex protects the foam.

[West Penn Nscale]

I like the Rustoleum imitation stone, brown for dirt and black for roads.  It does eat foam, and takes a lot to cover the color underneath.  My soulution is to first paint black or brown latex with a brush, then a thin coat of the Rustoleum over the top.  It only takes a little because it doesn't have to cover the blue, and the latex protects the foam.

I was looking at a can of Rustoleum stone just the other day.... do you add the ground foam on top of the stone paint ,,,,

 

[Phoebe Vet]

I like the Rustoleum imitation stone, brown for dirt and black for roads.  It does eat foam, and takes a lot to cover the color underneath.  My soulution is to first paint black or brown latex with a brush, then a thin coat of the Rustoleum over the top.  It only takes a little because it doesn't have to cover the blue, and the latex protects the foam.

I was looking at a can of Rustoleum stone just the other day.... do you add the ground foam on top of the stone paint ,,,,

 

I do it in this order:

Chocolate Brown latex with a foam brush.

Rustoleum stone sprayed lightly.  Just enough to add texture.

Blended turf

assorted colors of ground cover foam bushes

Small stones (yes, real stones from outside)

Deadfall (real sticks from outside)

small trees

large trees.

[West Penn Nscale]

I like the Rustoleum imitation stone, brown for dirt and black for roads.  It does eat foam, and takes a lot to cover the color underneath.  My soulution is to first paint black or brown latex with a brush, then a thin coat of the Rustoleum over the top.  It only takes a little because it doesn't have to cover the blue, and the latex protects the foam.

I was looking at a can of Rustoleum stone just the other day.... do you add the ground foam on top of the stone paint ,,,,

 

I do it in this order:

Chocolate Brown latex with a foam brush.

Rustoleum stone sprayed lightly.  Just enough to add texture.

Blended turf

assorted colors of ground cover foam bushes

Small stones (yes, real stones from outside)

Deadfall (real sticks from outside)

small trees

large trees.

 

Ok, sounds like I great plan to start me off in the right direction in 08 .....

I had the woodland scence mat down on the foam ..... but was not happy at all with the look ,,,

thanks for the info

 

[Phoebe Vet]

Black Rustoleum stone over flat black latex.

Brown Rustoleum stone over flat black latex.

Brown Rustoleum stone over flat chocolate brown latex.

[West Penn Nscale]

Phoebe Vet,

Thanks for the pics, that looks great ...I would like to  use black around the coal mine operation I am wanting to build this winter ....

[bogp40]

I prefer to place the scenery materials on wet acrylic earth colored paint. This is a good base for the initial bonding of the scenic material. If you still want to use a spray, the American accents line is foam safe or any other acrylic base as well.

If I have an already colored base then I'll just brush on a thinned white glue or matte medium then ground foam.

[West Penn Nscale]

Bob, I think I am going to try a combo, of your process for my general areas and black spray paint for my additional detail for my coal operation ....

 Thanks for the info

 Pat

[dknelson]

Krylon now makes a line of spray paints that are water based and safe to spray on foam.

Their website has color chips.  I first learned of this paint on these forums and now I see it is in all the hardware stores.  I have tried it and find that it covers a bit differently than regular spray can paints -- a little tricky to really saturate a surface. 

 http://www.krylon.com/sprayyourway/h2oproducts/

Dave Nelson

[West Penn Nscale]

Dave, just came back from art supply big box and found it today .... Krylon H2O Latex .... I am going to use this as a base on the foam and add ground foam.....I am also going to try the black stone look for the coal operation ...... This is my first big step into scenery .... I am going to use a little piece of foam as a test area....

 Pat

 

[dknelson]

As loathar notes in a posting above, the Krylon H2O paints are not flat or matte.  They aren't exactly gloss either -- a sort of semi gloss  -- so some matte medium brushed over it might be in order.  Thus far I am having no problems since I am using it as a base color covered by ground foam, dirt, etc

Dave Nelson

[avenger]

Help ,,,, before I do something I will regret in 2008 ,,,,, I want to use a brown spray paint on blue foam then apply ground foam ,,, I guess this would be ok, as long as its not oil based???

Thanks for the tips in advance

 Happy New Year

 Pat

Ho Ho Ho, this reminded me after i sculpted a whole mountaim boad out of it. Sprayed it black base coat and boom!! i big melted(ish) table. My advise is to FIRST spray the foam with polyurathane, then the paint. it works!!

Hope this helps

[canazar]

Krylon makes a series of paint called "Make It Suede" or something.  It works quite well on foam.  Very safe and no "eating"  But, with blue foam, you will have to through alot of it to cover it up. 

[West Penn Nscale]

The spray paint ground foam project worked very well over the weekend ....One problem ..... the Brown paint was to dark and made for a odd (fake looking base) ,,,, I will try a tan this weekend and hope it works no pics yet ,,,,,,,,,

[DeadheadGreg]

I like the Rustoleum imitation stone, brown for dirt and black for roads.  It does eat foam, and takes a lot to cover the color underneath.  My soulution is to first paint black or brown latex with a brush, then a thin coat of the Rustoleum over the top.  It only takes a little because it doesn't have to cover the blue, and the latex protects the foam.

I was looking at a can of Rustoleum stone just the other day.... do you add the ground foam on top of the stone paint ,,,,

 

I do it in this order:

Chocolate Brown latex with a foam brush.

Rustoleum stone sprayed lightly.  Just enough to add texture.

Blended turf

assorted colors of ground cover foam bushes

Small stones (yes, real stones from outside)

Deadfall (real sticks from outside)

small trees

large trees.

 

 

Hey, where did you get the chocolate brown latex?  and what brand is it?  My girlfriend and I went to Michaels and Home Depot today, and didn't really find anything that appealed to us. 

So, am i to take it also that regular acrylic paints are OK for the blue extruded foam stuff? 

 

[Phoebe Vet]

I buy my paint at Lowes.  Just make sure it's flat.  The color should probably lighter than you think.

I'll get the brand I use when I get to the train room later today.

 

[Phoebe Vet]

What I have is Valspar flat latex color Milk Chocolate, and Olympic flat black.

Both work fine.  The Olympic is cheaper.

Most people think dirt is much darker than it really is.

You can take dirt into the store and have it color matched, if you like.

[West Penn Nscale]

I bought my paint at Michaels ....Krylon H2O (very brown) but it was a good paint