# Repairing styrofoam head tutorial



## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*More pics*

Here are a few more before pics.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*Getting to work*

I started out with 60 grit sandpaper but hand but that was taking way too long. I switched to my 10,000 RPM dremel tool with a fine wire wheel, also a shaped stone and some various shaped diamond carbide tips for the tight areas, especially the teeth, wrinkles and ears. Make sure to wear eye protection and a particle mask. When you use the dremel remember to keep moving. It won't take long to punch an extra hole you'll need to fill or lose some on the fine details that are engraved into the surface.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*Her's a couple more shots*

Some more details of the cleaning process.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*Fixing the damage*

After removing as much of the old paint as possible. Use some wall spackle and a sharpened popsicle stick. Fill in the dents and smooth the sharp stick. Use an X-acto knife to remove the wet spackle from the fine character lines and grooves. I use a spackle that goes on purple and dries white. Try to keep the coats thin to reduce the amount of drying time and decrease the amount of sanding.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

Helpful hint when it comes time to paint. Was talking with my boss, he made some styrofoam tombstones for Halloween. Make sure you paint with a latex based paint, anything else will melt your styrofoam.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

New pics, coming soon. Got it in paint.


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## LadyAlthea (Sep 11, 2008)

looking good!


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*Here's some finish sanding pics*

Now that the spackle has dried overnight it's time to sand. 80 grit works great. Remember to sand just enough to where you can see the shape of the hole you filled but don't go beyond that. Use an x-acto knive blade or other fine pointed tool and gently remove spackle from that character lines.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*More cleanup pics*

Here's some more pics of the cleanup process.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*First coat of paint.*

After you have completed the sanding. Wipe down the head and blow out all the crevices with compressed air. Now it's time for the first coat of paint. Make sure you use a latex based paint intended for styrofoam. Anything else may melt the foam. Because the foam is black i decided to go with a light yellow base coat to block out the color of the foam. The latex paint dries relatively quickly, dries to the touch in 15 mins and completely dry in 1 hour. Make sure to shake the can well as it is pretty thick and will spit if not shaken well.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*Final coat of paint.*

After the yellow base coat has completely dried, it's time to move on to the final coat. I decide to go with a bright red to make this monster a demon and to really stand out. Same technique as the yellow. Make sure you get paint into all the creases, under the chin and behind the ears. Leave the paint at least 24hrs to completely cure before moving on to details.


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## LadyAlthea (Sep 11, 2008)

he is coming along great! I cant wait to see him completed!


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## whichypoo (Jul 29, 2009)

can't wait want to see him done  He looks soooooo good red.. will be a great demon thanks for the info on the how to also


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*Detail painting start*

Here's the start of the detail painting process. Because of the irregular surface shape I'm going to hand paint it and just add details with the airbrush. Starting out with the eyes and teeth in a bright yellow. You'll notice some dark purple in the corner of the eyes and lid.


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## jrmullens (Jul 6, 2010)

*Just about finished*

Allow the yellow paint to dry 24 hrs and apply a second coat. Allow to dry another 24 hours then using opaque black and a fine paintbrush, Paint the pupil, I decided to go with a snake-like slit. Next, working in small areas brush dark purple over the character lines in the face. Allow a few minutes to tack up then wipe with a damp paper towel. This removes the paint from the surface but stays in the character lines. The wiping of the purple also seemed to knock down the shine of the red which turned out not to be a bad thing. Next using opaque black paint the nostrils and deep corners of the mouth. Follow that with a coat of purple on the gums. Next using light and dark brown, paint the edges of the teeth. We'll allow this to dry another 24 hrs, followed by a coat of glow in the dark clear, then 24 hours later another coat of straight clear. I decided I wanted to put the hair back on the monster. After spending some time picking twigs and leaves out of it, I anchored it just behind the ears with some 2 inch drywall screws and hot glued the edges. I also went to the costume shop and picked up a set of black latex horn that I hot glued to the forehead. I'll comeback later with some red on the edges to finish those up. Hope you liked my tutorial.


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## LadyAlthea (Sep 11, 2008)

what a difference!


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## 4ToUov (Jul 20, 2010)

It's looking pretty Hellish to me,but very time consuming.

impressive job!


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## Crunch (Oct 23, 2008)

Whoa, nice transformation. Very AC/DC-ish. I like it


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