Foams

Foams!

Foams are the core of the look of this project. While our expertise so far has been with LEDs and electronics, and we will utilize those to give our suit a gorgeous illumination, it would all be for naught if we didn't have the right building materials to make the suit look and feel like an actual synth.

Being cheaply available, fairly sturdy, and only requiring basic tools to start working they also make for a perfect entry-level material!

Used Materials

List of foams

For this project the main foams used have been the following:

• EVA LED foam at 5mm thickness
  • It is a very low density foam with no colouring, and provides a wonderful LED diffusor material.
• High density EVA foam at 2mm thickness
  • The higher density gives it a nice stiffness that retains shapes well, making it a good material for the outermost layer that we want to make look right.
• Low density EVA foam at 5mm
  • Being softer than the high density foam allows it to more comfortably fit against organic shapes like human bodies. Since it is the same height as the LED Foam it can be combined in a foam stack, and it will give us a core building material.
  • You could also go with only LED foam and the high density EVA, but the LED foam can be a little more expensive.

Sources:

Note: This is almost certainly an incomplete list. Send us your own foam sources so we can collect them!

For the EU I have used Cosplayshop.be, which seems to offer large plates of EVA foam meant exactly for cosplay at very good prices (personal opinion). They also have a sample box to get you started, as well as a few extra materials you should pick up, such as FlexiPaint.

I have heard that it's possible to take apart yoga mats and use their foam, but with those you will often have to fight the pre-existing patterns. They might be cheaper, but for only 10€/m² (roughly), you might as well get clean EVA plates.

List of tools

Foams aren't everything though, they don't cut themselves! As tools and other materials we used the following:

• Contact Glue, such as Pattex or similar. It is the perfect glue for foams as it seems to stick like crazy, and allows you to glue foams, electronics, fabrics and similar, provided they have a sealed surface!
• A primer and paint, FlexiPaint is recommended! You will need something to paint and prime the foams with, especially for the LED foam as it needs some special tricks to get good illumination.
  • Glue and acrylic paints don't immediately stick to the porous surfaces of foam, and we have found FlexiPaint to provide a cheap, durable primer that fills that literal gap. Get the clear version so you can mix it with your own dyes or acrylic paints, and if you feel like treating yourself, get a top coating as well for a nice surface finish.
• A good cutting tool. Box Cutters work, but they can bend the foam during cutting, ruining the surface finish. The same goes for scissors. A rotatry tool like a Proxxon or Dremel can save your life here, we have found the small circular sawblades (20mm diameter or more) to give easy to control, very clean cuts with little or no bending in the foam! A band saw should also give good results, but we have none to try it with.

Side note: We don't know how hot wire cutters work on these foams. If anyone wants to try out the surface quality with one of them, please update us!