Hi,

I have carved a piece of polystyrene foam into a mountain side, and subsequently base-coated it black, a fairly large piece of foam. I would now like to paint it a dark grey/brown like GW's Stormvermin Fur. Obviously the cost will amount significantly for such a large piece. Hence I am planning on buying a can from a supply store.

Therefore my question is: does the paint need to be 100% acrylic? There are cheaper varieties which are 60% acrylic. If the latter won't have any (short or long-term) adverse effects on the foam I am leaning towards it.

Thank you for your time boys and girls

Not sure to be honest but these are my thoughts:
1> What is the 40% other made up of?
2> It might have a lower volume-solid amount (ie it basically has less paint, more other stuff, for various reasons like painting with a brush)
3> I doubt it would do damage if you have paint on there already - why would anyone make a product which doesn't do the same job? so i can't imagine it being to bad.
4> Its normally the spray which hurts the foam, not the paint side of it I believe, so make sure its totally covered before spraying.
5> Let us know if you ask the sales rep/take a piece of foam in to test it.
6> Putting all the above together, there shouldn't be a need for it to be 100%.

Hope someone knows the answer to this...

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My trade thread
http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=25957&p=325932#p325932

I personally would be surprised if the paint had anything in it that could damage the am, however it is better to be safe than sorry.

I would suggest that you try some of the paint on a small spare piece of identical foam as a test?

The answer depends on what kind of solvent is used. I think this is one of those times when products are labeled differently in the UK and the US. Interior Vs Exterior paint. Make sure the product is water based. Then buy the cheapest you can find.

For the USA
There is a safe solution. Paint the GW color you want on a white sheet of paper. Then take the paint color sample to the hardware store and have them mix latex house paint to match. Save the color number in case you need more.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Thanks for your replies thus far. So essentially the most important thing is for the paint to be water based? Therefore I assume a water based partly acrylic paint will create no adverse effects.

Yes.

From Wikipedia
" Exterior latex house paints may also be a co-polymer blend, but the best exterior water-based paints are 100% acrylic, due to elasticity and other factors, but vinyl costs half of what 100 percent acrylic resins cost, and PVA (polyvinyl acetate) is even cheaper, so paint companies make many combinations of them to match the market"

If it is PVA,white glue,blend it might even be better for terrain than 100%. Check the label.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Thank you so much Old Man Willow for your reply. Haha so potentially if the partly acrylic paint is PVA based it won't only prove cheaper, but more suitable as well . I like the sound of that.

Its a good point, and great to learn new tricks!

I painted mine with exterior house paint first, then sprayed on some floral paint for highlights, and then dry brushed them with white interior paint.

Here is how they turned out



tom

Looks good!

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Thanks! The house paint put a nice shell on it. And I forgot that it is Styrofoam for the mountains, with a little extruded foam on top for the mountain tops.

Tom

Superb, have you tried a tailored scenario to use them in/

I use mountains as a backdrop.



My travel set. I have a grass mat too. This store had textured tables.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Fantastic OMW,

They look great and I love the pastoral shire scenery!

Fantastic!!! Very nice detail!

Tom
http://tidesofwargaming.blogspot.com/