Sculpting Foam?

[Hairfarmer]

I've been thinking about building a puppet and want to sculpt the face and hands out of foam if I do it. The problem is I'm more of a 2-D artist than a 3-D. I've done some sculpting before, but only clay or styrofoam. I want to know what's the best kind of foam to use (consistancey more so than brand),? What are the best tools to do the actual sculpting? How I colour it?, Dye? Paint?, if so what kind works best. Can anybody reccomend any good websites, or books?
J~

 

[doctort13]

THe Foam Book

Look at this link for info about The Foam Book

 

[Hays]

I've always seen people use an electric knife (you know, the kind 50's Moms used to cut turkeys with ) and regular upholstery foam that you can buy in a fabric store that's as thick as the thickest part of your design. You start by drawing an outline on top of the foam, cutting it out, and then shaving it down as though you're carving wood. The good news is, if you overcut, you can always contact cement a glob of foam over your mistakes (though it does leave a small seam).

I don't remember how to color foam, except that some paints dissolve it.