Thread: need help with foam

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Hello everybody, i would like to make some foam torsos this year. I have bought a mannequin form and would like to fill it with some kind of foam to make the torso. not sure what i should use. any ideas would be great help. thanks Joe

Hey Joe.
This thread may be useful.

Expanding foam - not so good .

Sounds like the product being discussed (Touch and Foam) may have the kind of properties that would suit your needs.

Is it wire or hollow foam?

it is a hollow form, its like a half shell. will make a back for it so when i fill it with foam it doesn't leak all over. finished product will have a flat back

can i ask why you want to fill it with foam?

i would like yo use it as a mold to make a bunch of torsos.

having made some foam "heads" last year using expanding foam and balloons, i would give the following advice-

it does expand (obvious i know), so don't fill the whole torso up.

having a few "air holes" where air could get to the foam instead of just one side, helped it expand more.

Drying time is a lot more than it says on the tin.

and in case you don't know.....expanding foam has a unique trick that it tends to go EVERYWHERE, mostly where you don't want it. wear gloves and some old clothes - just trust me on this!!!

yea when i used it i had it on my hands and it refused to come off. it collected all the dust that was flying around the room too so i looked as if i didnt know how to wash myself correctly. lol

I'm thinking you want to use the inside as the mold form? I would grease up the inside liberally with petroleum jelly. Start the foam with spots and lines and wait for those to expand and set. I would then take various dowels (a bundle at Hobby Lobby in various sizes pretty cheap) and lay them in for support and hit it again over the dowels and in the nooks and crannies. When it's released you may have to hit small voids here and there on the surface, but you would probably want to do some fine tuning with reshaping anyway and do this using a flat wood rasp.

Hadn't done anything quite like what your attempting but that is how I would approach it. Good luck!

Originally Posted by dazgill

having made some foam "heads" last year using expanding foam and balloons, i would give the following advice-

it does expand (obvious i know), so don't fill the whole torso up.

having a few "air holes" where air could get to the foam instead of just one side, helped it expand more.

Drying time is a lot more than it says on the tin.

and in case you don't know.....expanding foam has a unique trick that it tends to go EVERYWHERE, mostly where you don't want it. wear gloves and some old clothes - just trust me on this!!!

Sorry a little of topic, but how did you use Great stuff/expanding foam to make heads? I would think just fill the balloon with the great stuff and boom!! There is a head...??