Foam Staining Test Results, Thx Uncle D

General Discussion
1

Thanks Uncle D for keeping this idea going. I blew a foam stain job a while back and I just can’t let it go. Your ideas and the advice given me about liquitex pinlines a few weeks ago got me thinking of how to color a board.

Who says Sways is turning into a CompSand forum? (Oneula?) (Of course, I have my vac bag going right now on my first compsand.)

So here is what I did. Grabbed an old piece of foam and some tape and set up a little experiment. I taped several test strips over a spackled surface (sorry, Doug. it just crept up on me). Then applied several types of color.:

  1. Tempera paint
  2. epoxy with pigment
  3. epoxy with pigment and micro balloons
  4. acrylic paint from Michaels Art store
Here is the way I did it. The left hand strip was tempera and you can see the droplet pattern I used.

here is the tempera spread with a squeegee and some acrylic drops ready to be spread. I like the droplet idea for the splash effect. I used a squeegee and pulled lightly across the tape.

Acrylic spread, and so on. The tempera didn’t behave like the acrylic and kind of smeared. Maybe my pressure was not consistent. Nice clean lines with the acrylic, good color separation.

OK, here are some labeled results. Hope you can read the labels. The tempera is on the upper left. Kinda smugey, but ok. Next down on the left is the acrylic. Very nice definition of colors. Sharpe lines between the colors.

Next down is the epoxy. Two colors, no micro balloons, just pigment. Not bad. The yellow, as everyone predicts, is better, but I could live with the darker blue, too.

Next is a pin line with tempera on the right and acrylic on the left. Just testing for future pin line use. I thought the acrylic was better.

Next down is the color with micro balloons. Much better. The pastey consistency seemed to help make a more even color. I wish I had down a two color droplet pattern with epoxy.

Here are two close ups

Bottom line for me is the acrylic seems best for a simple color job. Maybe even a cool color splash. The resin with micro balloons also worked well for me and when coloring a whole board, would probably be best. But be aware that darker colors will show scratches and rough areas as a darker color even with a spackeled surface. Acrylic seemed not to show scratches.

I should have also tried an epoxy pinline on foam. Next time.

2

Wow… Thanks for the test results. Good job!

D

3

wow, thanks for the work and results Greg.

and thank you too UncleD for starting it all.

4

i love the way the blue and red acrylic looks, i might do that on my current board.

5

Greg,

Thanks for the results! My problem is that I cannot do a very clear lamination on top of colored foam with epoxy. Does anyone have any tips on how to get a clear lam, especially the laps?

JSS

6

thanks for the results!

one question though…somewhat of a stupid one I guess but…

I’m a little confused about the spackle. did you apply it to the foam before you dropped and squeegeed the paint on?..where does the spackle come in? if that’s the case, wouldn’t the spackle add some extra unwanted weight to the foam?

thanks!

I’m digging the acrylic!

-jeremy

7

Jeremey, I spackled first, allowed to dry, lightly sanded. No measurable wt added. Unless you are count hundredths of oz. Read the achieves for the lastest on spackle. Lots of good stuff. I used it here to provide a smooth surface to stain on. Do not believe what Dough Stuch says about the creeping evil of spackle. He fell in a vat of spackle as a child and never got over it. (Just ribbin’ ya Doug, your points are well taken.)

8

Great post,

I like them all.The paints should get some hair drier-heatgun

treatment before glassing,especially on the stringer.Try to keep the paint thin.

I have one in the bag right now too.

It should be done by 10pm I hope.

Ian

9

Aloha JDM:

The main reason why I started foam staining with an epoxy/pigment/Q-Cel mixture was to avoid using spackle, create (what I think is) a good bond, color the board and allow me to glass clear. I found that this method saved a few steps by sealing and coloring in one step, provided even coloring and saved time. Check out my old postings on foam staining with epoxy.

Try it!

Mahalo,

D

10

Greg, I’m a little lost on your comments regarding me and spackle. Maybe someone hijacked my name or something. I’ve never used spackle on EPS so I don’t have any expertise at all, and I can’t remember posting any comments about it.

However, your experiments have been very enlightening. Thanks.

Coincidentally, I just ordered an EPS blank from Segway and look forward to shaping it. I will read your post again before I color it. Doug

11

Doug, sorry, I thought you had posted about the creeping evils of Spackle. My mistake. It’s hell getting old. OK, not hell, but something bad, the name of which I can’t remember.

Looking forward to seeing your EPS.

12

A little late with this… DougIrwin13. Trying to catch up on some spackle technique when I stumbled across this thread.