Shoutout to the guy who stopped me from spray painting foam swords

I was at a prop making meetup in Austin last spring and this older guy saw me getting ready to spray paint a foam broadsword. He pulled me aside and said "dude that's gonna melt into a puddle" and I thought he was joking. Turns out spray paint has solvents that eat through EVA foam like crazy, I had been doing it wrong for two years. Has anyone else had a random stranger save them from a prop disaster?

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anthony_fox904mo ago

Ran into the SAME issue at a con a few years back. Some random guy saw me about to seal my foam helmet with regular clear coat and practically tackled me before I ruined it. He pointed me toward plastidip instead and honestly it saved my whole build.

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henry_kelly544mo ago

Man that's a rough lesson to learn the hard way! I've been there myself (though with a different craft project) and it stings knowing you wasted time and materials. I remember watching a guy at a local fest about to spray his foam shield and I had to yell at him from across the lawn. He was real grateful though, said he'd ruined two other props the same way before someone told him. It's wild how something as simple as the wrong paint can just eat your work alive. Glad you caught it before it got worse.

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