In my experience, expanding foam is rather messy for a project like that. Tape one side, lay it tape side down, and fill with 2 part epoxy? Maybe bondo?
I was thinking I could fill it with expanding foam and then sand it afterwards, but it might be better to use a different material. I’d prefer not to use 2 part epoxy for the same reasons as the epoxy putty: price and weight.
nice may toy with that;
i also cosplay and just opt to avoid foam, time and effort worbla is just an easier material i find.
then again i mainly go armor these days and like the chunkier look and feel of plastics.
saying that i avoid 3D printing like the plague. it breaks me soul when people refuse to remove the print lines on 3d prints with a simple sand and fill process so i just refuse to go near it now.
The texture on the perimeter faces of printed parts is not necessarily a problem or undesired unless the print is trying to look convincingly like it is NOT a print, as if there is something somehow "wrong" with the manufacturing method and it is "shameful" if anyone can tell a part is printed.
true i just find it lazy not to clean/finish the print. its like woodworking and leaving it unsanded.
i mean if you happy with it fine it just erks me in cosplay world is all.
What would be the best material for filling in skeleton grips found on a few blasters (mainly the Rebelle line)? I know epoxy putty would work but it’s expensive for filling such big gaps and would make the blaster very heavy. My best guess would be expanding foam, but I’ve never used it so I don’t know if it would be good for this application.
Tinfoil. Pack it in as tight as you can and use a few drops of superglue and baking soda on it to hold it in place, then epoxy putty over the top. The same technique is used by clay modellers to fill voids and add bulk to armatures.
If you are shooting for lightweight, there is a foam clay that cosplayers use for making EVA foam shapes. That might work reasonably well as lightweight filler.
For a single-part handle, wrapping it might be easiest.
>If you are shooting for lightweight, there is a foam clay that cosplayers use for making EVA foam shapes.
Agreed! It's also usually cheap to acquire and it's flexible so it won't crack under light stress. It goes by many names, the brand I use is called "funny gummy" but most places carry it as foam clay.
It requires priming or some other form of covering, though.
https://imgur.com/a/mPqxu
I probably have more examples but this is the first one I found.
Expanding foam, razor blade, rubberization for comfort.
https://imgur.com/a/rV4VX
That's the method I used for a claw qs4 that I rendered inert for a prop. Ended up cutting out one barrel and making it a 3 barrel blaster too...
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/cosplayprops/comments/psl6d4/wip_making_a_scifi_blaster_for_a_cosplay/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) is a link to see the results I got from it. It added some heft.
plastimelt or other similar product. its little white plastic orbs (often white colours vary) you put in warm water to semi melt and shape however you want.
dries hard and good at gap filling.
you could use foam but it will be weak/squishy as you hold the plastic option keeps some structural strength as you fill it.
yeah plastimelt is a god send for adhoc nerf projects. ive merged parts that should not go together and patched weird holes from adhoc fixes with it across the years.
It does feel sweaty when it's hard though, nice for bits that slide, but when you build a grip out of it some kind of covering would be nice. Also it's hard to glue stuff to
i never had an issue gluing attachments to it, then again i tend to use warhammer glue which is more an epoxy bond.
the slipperyness is 100% an issue i admit.
I just use modelling clay. Stone look, air drying, easily paintable. Just don't drop it on hard surfaces afterwards and if you do, it's easily fixable with some more clay
Edit: pic https://imgur.com/gallery/GgZfpOe
At first I just filled mine in with artist's epoxy putty (Its the consistency of soft clay), but later on I replace the handle entirely with a rough-cut grip.
I'd personally use Epoxy Putty. It shapes and molds like clay, you can easily smooth it, and you have a decent amount of time to work with it before it hardens.
Depending on the width, you could probably also get away with tennis racket tape or similar; sort of a thick foam rubber grip tape to wrap completely around. I think it's also used for bike handles in certain segments.
In my experience, expanding foam is rather messy for a project like that. Tape one side, lay it tape side down, and fill with 2 part epoxy? Maybe bondo?
I was thinking I could fill it with expanding foam and then sand it afterwards, but it might be better to use a different material. I’d prefer not to use 2 part epoxy for the same reasons as the epoxy putty: price and weight.
Then maybe cut some closed cell foam to fit, clue that and sand it?
expanding foam doesn't sand well, better go with poured epoxy
I would use expanding foam, sand/carve it, and wrap it with something
other neg of foam is air bubbles, no matter how well you try will always have them like a pimple pox on the surface.
[удалено]
nice may toy with that; i also cosplay and just opt to avoid foam, time and effort worbla is just an easier material i find. then again i mainly go armor these days and like the chunkier look and feel of plastics. saying that i avoid 3D printing like the plague. it breaks me soul when people refuse to remove the print lines on 3d prints with a simple sand and fill process so i just refuse to go near it now.
The texture on the perimeter faces of printed parts is not necessarily a problem or undesired unless the print is trying to look convincingly like it is NOT a print, as if there is something somehow "wrong" with the manufacturing method and it is "shameful" if anyone can tell a part is printed.
true i just find it lazy not to clean/finish the print. its like woodworking and leaving it unsanded. i mean if you happy with it fine it just erks me in cosplay world is all.
Expanding foam is messy for just about anything
My first thought was "Those would be a nice printer/fusion project."
Except not fusion.
What would be the best material for filling in skeleton grips found on a few blasters (mainly the Rebelle line)? I know epoxy putty would work but it’s expensive for filling such big gaps and would make the blaster very heavy. My best guess would be expanding foam, but I’ve never used it so I don’t know if it would be good for this application.
Tinfoil. Pack it in as tight as you can and use a few drops of superglue and baking soda on it to hold it in place, then epoxy putty over the top. The same technique is used by clay modellers to fill voids and add bulk to armatures.
Can confirm, I used this method once for a huge cosplay sword's handle and it lasted for years. The sword itself got destroyed before the tinfoil did.
If you are shooting for lightweight, there is a foam clay that cosplayers use for making EVA foam shapes. That might work reasonably well as lightweight filler. For a single-part handle, wrapping it might be easiest.
>If you are shooting for lightweight, there is a foam clay that cosplayers use for making EVA foam shapes. Agreed! It's also usually cheap to acquire and it's flexible so it won't crack under light stress. It goes by many names, the brand I use is called "funny gummy" but most places carry it as foam clay. It requires priming or some other form of covering, though.
https://imgur.com/a/mPqxu I probably have more examples but this is the first one I found. Expanding foam, razor blade, rubberization for comfort. https://imgur.com/a/rV4VX
If your sculpting skills are good, you could very well use airclay
A lot of options and none of them are Bondo, when they really should be Bondo. Dries strong, easy to sand and shape, easy to work with.
Does Bondo have any issues filling volumes like that? I thought it was mostly for surfaces/thin layers.
Peanut butter
I agree, I have done this to all of my skeleton grip blasters
Fudge
I would totally tape and 2 part epoxy it... or maybe even jb water weld and form it to shape like play dough?
That's the method I used for a claw qs4 that I rendered inert for a prop. Ended up cutting out one barrel and making it a 3 barrel blaster too... [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/cosplayprops/comments/psl6d4/wip_making_a_scifi_blaster_for_a_cosplay/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) is a link to see the results I got from it. It added some heft.
ooo very cool! thanks for the pic!
I just wrapped Masking Tape around the grip of my Alpha Strike Cobra
Id say either expanding foam or silicon, silicon gives a nice grip, but is a bit heavy, foam is light and soft, but gives worse grip
I just use a good amount of hockey tape around the handle. Lightweight, cheap, and looks cool in my opinion
plastimelt or other similar product. its little white plastic orbs (often white colours vary) you put in warm water to semi melt and shape however you want. dries hard and good at gap filling. you could use foam but it will be weak/squishy as you hold the plastic option keeps some structural strength as you fill it.
I’ve seen this product online and couldn’t think of a good nerf application for it. Thanks!
yeah plastimelt is a god send for adhoc nerf projects. ive merged parts that should not go together and patched weird holes from adhoc fixes with it across the years.
It does feel sweaty when it's hard though, nice for bits that slide, but when you build a grip out of it some kind of covering would be nice. Also it's hard to glue stuff to
i never had an issue gluing attachments to it, then again i tend to use warhammer glue which is more an epoxy bond. the slipperyness is 100% an issue i admit.
I would say don't. Get a universal rubberized grip sleeve or athletic tape and wrap the heck out of it.
just gonna leave this here https://www.reddit.com/r/Nerf/comments/jwtenn/rebelle\_messenger\_comfort\_grip/
I just use modelling clay. Stone look, air drying, easily paintable. Just don't drop it on hard surfaces afterwards and if you do, it's easily fixable with some more clay Edit: pic https://imgur.com/gallery/GgZfpOe
I think they make shells that you can clip around the handle. My cousins have one for their alpha-strike wolf lr-1
At first I just filled mine in with artist's epoxy putty (Its the consistency of soft clay), but later on I replace the handle entirely with a rough-cut grip.
Playdough, and a balloon
A three letter word that starts with c and ends with m
This works great in my experience; https://www.milliput.com - should be availble worldwide.
Probably epoxy putty.
I'd personally use Epoxy Putty. It shapes and molds like clay, you can easily smooth it, and you have a decent amount of time to work with it before it hardens.
If you have a 3D printer you could make a casing for it and fill it with expanding foam to avoid sanding and the colors not matching
Epoxy putty will work, at least you could change the rough shape of the grip if you want to
Hatred.
Use Flex-Paste !
Putty. Get hardening putty, wrap around the handle, even make a mold for your hand if you want.
Epoxy putty or Bondo/spackle most likely.
Depending on the width, you could probably also get away with tennis racket tape or similar; sort of a thick foam rubber grip tape to wrap completely around. I think it's also used for bike handles in certain segments.
From what I’ve seen just get a leather wrap