And I even have an appropriate icon

[pez]

I've started selling Coscraft things on eBay. The liquid latex is the best seller, and so far I've been sending it to places like Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Azerbaijan. Is it hard to get liquid latex rubber in those countries? O.o

Currently trying to decide on what thicknesses/hardness of EVA foam to stock.

So! Shanoa's armour. Now looking at it in detail:



The design's inconsistent but that's nothing new. XD; I'm more concerned about making it shiny. It'd be great if I could make it look like it's lacquered or shiny like... a car, for example, but things like enamel paints would just crack as soon as the foam bends, right? So I'm thinking... wax? Car wax maybe? Floor wax? Not sure if those are actually waxes or if they're just called waxes though, need to investigate. There is something called acrylic wax as well but that seems to be US-only. It doesn't seem to give a high-gloss result anyway.

So I'm looking at things along the lines of:
- sealant sprays
- wet mirror finish gloss
- car wax
- acrylic spray
- acrylic nail polish type stuff but in large quantities
- acrylic floor wax

Going to need to visit Poundland and Wilkos to buy some cheap versions of these things to test. Not going to bother asking on CI, people usually just come back with "maybe try... (things I've already thought of and more)" anyway.

Comments

[impressioniste.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if it's relevant but there are some kinds of high-gloss or lacquer type paints or glazes that might work. Maybe there's a type of pottery glaze that would work?

What about something like this?

http://www.glazecoat.com/

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. Because the armour is being made out of foam, although the foam is quite stiff there's a chance that when I pack it or when people bump into it it might bend, and things like glazes would crack. That's why I'm looking into acrylics which can bend with the foam, and waxes as well.

Probably not - epoxy dries rock solid. Unless I apply it in enough layers so that the foam doesn't even bend (and I want to retain the softness so that I don't get hurt by my own armour, really), it'd crack as soon as the foam gets any impact. =/

[impressioniste.livejournal.com]

I wonder if there's something like a paint or a stain that wouldn't 'layer' so it wouldn't crack, or something.

Or if there's something a bit more solid you can coat it with that won't crack, even if it's not glossy itself, and then glaze that.

I saw the mention of acrylic wax being only US, if it's something that's safe to ship overseas I could potentially help you order it or something.

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

Really don't know. I'm going to the pound shop (like a dollar shop... except x1.6 of the price XD) and get a few different things to try.

Thanks! I can probably find alternatives here - likely they just call it something different in the UK. :)

[impressioniste.livejournal.com]

http://www.nielsencdg.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000090.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww.nielsencdg.co.uk%2f&WD=wax%20turtle&PN=Turtle-Wax_Professional_Liquid_Polish_Original.html%23a1_21TW_2dFG4490#a1_21TW_2dFG4490

You could try something like this? This is the UK based retailer of Turtle Wax products. They have other types, also.

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

Aha! I think I've heard of people using turtle wax on fibreglass armour before, should go and check out their results. My armour isn't fibreglass but still, yanno. XD

Thanks. ♥

[impressioniste.livejournal.com]

Sure!

I just remembered using turtle wax on my grandpa's car ages ago, so X3 If it works on fiberglass I'd think it'd work on foam too.

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

Just been out to the shops during lunch and found turtle wax! :D Will give it a test later.

[khaoskomix.livejournal.com]

Or buy some cheap vegtan leather on ebay, which you dye and will already have a shine.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/24-x-6-NATURAL-TOOLING-VEG-TAN-LEATHER-2-8mm-SHEATH-/380253168952?pt=UK_Crafts_Leathercraft_LE&hash=item5888dae538

[yuki-scorpio.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I've already started cutting the foam for it so I'll see how that goes first, if it doesn't work I'll try leather.

(Although thought about covering it with shiny vinyl but decided not to since you can see the underside of the armour sometimes...)