The 1880s with a ginger twist

“Tooling” Foam Accessories

captaincrapster:

Okay kiddos, enough of you asked, so here’s a tutorial. This is primarily for getting an engraved look on your props/accessories/etc, though I’m throwing in basic foam craft technique tips as well. 

Let’s use this bracer as an example:

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Something to add to this!

If you have some pleather/suede/not-real-leather lookalike, you can very easily “stamp” it using a base of foam (and a few other ways, actually!) This can save on trying to paint the foam to look leather, and I assume would be stronger than just using the foam. I’ve only figured out how to do this recently and can’t say how flexible it is, but it’s worth passing on. Of note: the pleather I’ve used has always had a fabric backing, so it is easy to glue to the foam. It’s pretty important if you don’t want it to just peel off.

I’ve cut the shape out of illustration board, but you can really use anything that keeps your design to a fairly even depth. You could glue thick wire to a board and it would work the same way. You’re using it to press into the foam underneath, then setting it to the fake leather with glue.

Lay your foam on a flat surface, and put down enough PVA or white glue to saturate it pretty well (Putting some wax paper underneath might be a good idea if you’re not cutting down the shape later). Put fake leather on top so the side you want to see is facing up and then the design on top of that. Put something big and flat on top (I usually use a wooden cutting board or a piece of wood) and then pile things on so that there’s a lot of pressure on it. Make sure it’s somewhere out of the way, because you need to leave it until the glue dries (usually overnight).

You can also use two piece of wood and clamps to achieve the same pressure, but I understand a lot of people don’t have those sitting around like I do, haha.

(via necromatador)