Coral made from spray foam

[Fifi Tigg]

I'm making a mermaid float for our local festival and want to make seats that look like coral. I have seen on the net that you can use spray foam to make fake coral and then just embellish and paint. Has anyone ever made coral using this method and do you have any pointers?

[PearlieMae]

I use spray foam for lots of effects! You can "draw" with it on a plastic drop cloth or shower curtain and peel it off when cured. Paint it with regular acrylic craft paint - spray paint can eat the foam! The foam is really sticky while wet, and don't try and smooth it while it's wet, it collapses the bubbles in the foam and makes a mess.

I can't wait to see it!

[Fifi Tigg]

Thanks Pearlie Mae, they are some great tips! I can't wait to start :yay:

[Fifi Tigg]

http://mernetwork.com/index/album.php?albumid=902 here is the first test coral piece :)

[Dee Tal]

That looks pretty good! Does this stuff dry fast enough to be structural, having vertical "branches" built up?

[PearlieMae]

If you "draw" with it on something flat (plastic sheet covered floor), once it's cured, you can stand it up. It won't support anything, though. Maybe a couple of plastic toy fish, but nothing with any weight.

[Fifi Tigg]

I put an advert on our local fb page asking to borrow someones trailer or ute to use for the float and I was overwhelmed by the generousity now I'm off to look at a couple of trailers :cool:

[Fifi Tigg]

The Mermaid float is coming along nicely and here is a link to view the progress https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152719848254119.1073741842.752184118&type=3