Has anyone tried spray paint on foam sheets?

[Buck-Beaver]

There are a lot of different kinds of paints available and acrylic airbrush paint is pretty common. You can even use tube-based fine art acrylic if you thin it with a liquid medium and strain/sieve it before putting it in the airbrush so that it doesn't clog the brush.

Almost all Tempra paints sold today are made with low quality pigment and, because they are water-based, they are not permanent unlike acrylic. I would really not recommend using them unless they are needed for a specific effect.

I don't do much airbrush work myself, but I've found that Createx paints are quite good, especially for fabric painting. I've also used Liqutex acrylic paints. If you do a little Googling there are lots of discussion forums online where the pros and cons of different types of paint are discussed.

 

[TML]

You can use floral spray paint. It stays flexible and won't damage the foam at all. Works on styrofoam too.

 

[cjspiteri]

You can use floral spray paint. It stays flexible and won't damage the foam at all. Works on styrofoam too.

Thanks for the tip. I have never used floral spray paint before. I am working on a set right now and the walls are all carved foam that needs painting (Victorian brick). In the past we have used grey exterior paint, dry wall compound and tempra to tint the mix. I will see if we can get some floral paint to test. Things cost significantly less than back home but they are very difficult to locate.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

If you can buy cheap PVA (white) glue in a large enough quantity and use 2-3 coats of that as a primer/seal (you can water it down a bit) then you should be able to use any kind of paint you like on top of it.

If you are trying to get a realistic brick-like finish, spray paint is probably not the cheapest or most effective paint to use. I would paint the grout between the bricks with a brush, then use a roller for the brick. It can also be aged/distressed to make it look more real.

You can find lots of good tutorials explaining how to make faux brick on YouTube.

 

[cjspiteri]

If you can buy cheap PVA (white) glue in a large enough quantity and use 2-3 coats of that as a primer/seal (you can water it down a bit) then you should be able to use any kind of paint you like on top of it.

If you are trying to get a realistic brick-like finish, spray paint is probably not the cheapest or most effective paint to use. I would paint the grout between the bricks with a brush, then use a roller for the brick. It can also be aged/distressed to make it look more real.

You can find lots of good tutorials explaining how to make faux brick on YouTube.

Thanks for the tip. I have done faux brick before (2 flats for an improv mock up) but I am working by myself this time around and between classes. 10 flats on one stage and an undetermined number on the other (probably 6). I will use a roller it will definitely save me some time.