Oh no, not ANOTHER tombstone thread!

[Doc Doom]

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I've done my diligence in searching but have not found much specific information regarding my question. I live the the California Central Oven, er, I mean Valley, and can only find the white beaded styrofoam to make tombstones from. I've tried both a new Xacto blade and a Demel to carve the names and dates but am not pleased with the results. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get a smooth cut since the little beads of white foam come loose. I tried a pencil tip wood burner but also had control issues.

I've seen a few threads where haunters cut a full stencil and then spray oil-pased paint onto the foam, letting it "eat" the foam. Does this work on white beaded styrofoam?

[Herman Secret]

I have used this technique on most of my tombstones and have put together an how to on this.

You can check out the how to on my website and also view pics of my tombstones on both my website and my albums here.

I have had varying results from the technique but overall I have been happy with the tombstones made, and all of my stones are made from white beaded styrofoam

[Jmurdock]

Hope it's OK to post another question about spraying foam with spray paint on your thread. I've noticed that my props that I used spray paint to eat away at the foam to be very brittle. Is there something to coat it with to fix the problem? ( I used watered down Elmer's glue, it helped somewhat, but it's not water proof)