Strengthening Foam Armor?

[xKatsu]

Hi all,

Here's the story, I'm working on making some armor out of those thin foam sheet things (Foamies? I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about). It's for a Thor costume.

I've sealed and painted all my armor, and it's strong...sort of.

But I'm worried about accidentally making dents in the armor still. I've already accidentally left a fingernail impression in it.

Any ideas on some type of coating to put on it so it's really, really hard? I'm not very careful and I'm fairly clumsy.

[Paranoia]

Have you tried adding fabric? Cheap fabric glued to the back usually gives it sufficient amount of stiffness.

[xKatsu]

Yeah, I added fabric to the back. It's the front I'm worried about.

Also, don't know if this helps anyones answers or not, but I used acrylic paints to paint the armor.

[Paranoia]

How about sealant on the front? You could get a nice spray clear gloss to go over top, apply a few coats and it should give you more protection. That should do at least a little more than just acrylics.

[xKatsu]

Great, thank you! I will look into that.

Will it make it really shiny? It doesn't matter too much, since it's supposed to be sort of shiny. It's more so that I'm prepared for it. Haha.

[Paranoia]

They sell matte sealants as well. :] You can get it at any hardware store.

[Blue Leader]

Do you need the armor to bend as you move? If not you could "paint" resin over it. Brush on a couple layers of wood glue (let it dry between each layer) and then brush on resin.
Of course, that would mean you'd need to repaint it, and that would probably be a real pain...