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First Try at Sculpting Urethane Foam

My intention in writing this article is to illustrate the experience of a first-time, completely-novice user of urethane foam. I was determined to use only tools and materials I already had, waiting to buy anything special until after the first attempt. I also wanted my first project to be simple, both because I was unsure of how easy it would be and because I did not want an overly ambitious design to get in the way of my sculpting attempt.

The foam block is something relatively new being offered by Monroe Perdu Studios.

First and foremost, pay attention to what the instructions say about wearing a filter mask and only work on the foam in an area where the mess doesn’t matter. The dust REALLY does get everywhere. I worked outside and carefully cleaned myself off to come inside. This worked well for me but I did not think of the dust when I was photographing and nearly ruined my camera before I realized what was happening. Read the directions.

I selected the Italieri kit of the Italian Sahariana which I had built months ago as the model for my sculpted base. I wanted to try sculpting a simple desert scene with a slight wave-like dune and, as I never had a base for the finished kit, that became my centerpiece. I wish now I had built the kit with wheels turned a bit and had included a driver at the least, but I can look for a crew now that the base is done. I cut a piece of the foam block using a T-square as a guide and made my first mistake. I did not have a cutting blade long enough to pass through the block entirely and now matter how careful I thought I was, I could not match up the top cut with the bottom cut. The first photo shows the kit on the block and the mismatched cuts.