Before I succumb to ennui

So  I've been feeling an itch lately to make some nice Halloween props. We have some, but most didn't survive my childhood, and they were of the corny, crappy kind.   I recently saw this post on how to make a Styrofoam  headstone and thought "hey, I have some heavy wight Styrofoam! Let's try this!". 

I've done two attempts so far, with varying success  

 First attempt. 

The tools 

The pattern

So, I wnated to cover the Styrofoam with something that would keep it form degrading in the sun if I put in outside. We have the resin glue we use in the shop, and for some reason that pop in my mind as a good thing to try.  

I traced my pattern on to the foam

and carved away with the soldering knife. I REALLY need different tips, I just have the one little pointed one ( have and some suggestion on homemade ones, haven't had a chance to try them yet). 

cleaned up the edges a bit with eh knife, and then mixed up the resin. 

and painted it on.  note....... I didn't mix it well enough and there were some lumps  

When it dried I did some test, and found that on some some spot the resin could be picked or chipped off 

and the wrods got filled in more then I would have liked, to I have to carve them out a bit.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

This didn't denture me, so on to round two! 

This one I took the precaution of lightly sanding the foam before putting the resin on.  I also did some test with laying paper or fabric on to keep it form cracking. 

Did a "whack it" test. 

fabric

paper

I think if I am making anything in a high traffic area, fabric look better for holding its shape and not cranking. 

They both sand up really well though, I just have to work on the air pockets under the material I use.

The sanding of the foam seem to have solved the peeling problem though, so I went ahead and painted the face. 

And that is as far as I've gotten.  I need to cover the rest of it, and then try some paint tests.  Gonna get my sister  Inkibus to help with that.  She is the queen of making wood and bondo look like metal and stone, this should be easy for her.