Using Polyurea Coating to Protect Foam Creations
You created a dimensional foam logo sign, a beautiful foam sculpture, or a magnificent EPS prop. Now, how do you protect it so that it will not break or be ruined after all your hard work? Easy answered – you coat it.
You can spray the coating or hand brush it using different types of materials, such as epoxy, resin, polyurethane or Polyurea. Which one you will end up using depends on many factors, such as – Is it for indoor or outdoor use, will people touch it? Do you need to move it from one place to another? Is this a one time project or is it for multiple uses? Do you need it to last a life time?
I want to go over some details here pertaining to a hard-shell coat called Polyurea, a coating that we like to use on our foam creations.
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| 1937 Renault Truck Prop before coating |
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| The Truck all coated and painted |
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| TED Sign coated and painted |
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| Graco-100 Coating Spray System |
The Polyurea coating combines high flexibility and durability with high hardness and is fast drying. It can be sanded to a smooth finish and can then be painted with any type of paint – water-base paint, including latex or any oil-based paint, as well as automotive paint. It dries in minutes, providing a tough chemical and abrasion resistant coating.
Polyurea will not provoke blistering and blistering will not occur even at extreme temperatures or in humid environment.
It will also resist yellowing from ultra violet light exposure. Since the Polyurea dries very fast, it requires fast and efficient mixing and spraying techniques, thus, spraying a large foam piece with a spray gun is the smartest application method.
Since the Polyurea dries very fast, it requires fast and efficient mixing and spraying techniques, thus, spraying a large foam piece with a spray gun is the smartest application method.
Without coating, any foam is exposed to dangers of being damaged by sun, wind, humidity and corrosion or being broken
A foam sign, for example, can break anywhere between the packaging, the shipping, the handling and the installation
phase. However, with Polyurea coating, the sign thrown to the ground or tossed from one place to another will not break.
The Polyurea coating is non-toxic and is completely safe for use. Any type of foam can be sprayed, from rigid foam to soft polyurethane foam. When spraying the foam with this coating, a smooth or a textured finish can be applied – according to the customer needs.
The Polyurea coating has many advantages, some of them include:
High curing speed, protection from conditions of humidity, heat, cold and sun, extreme abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, good adhesion to the material it is sprayed on and unlimited application thickness. The Polyurea coating has many advantages, some of them include:
The Polyurea can be coated on any foam project; from signs, letters, logos and props, to prototypes, crown moldings, concrete molds and more. For smaller foam shapes you can hand-brush it or use a small spray gun with cartridges.
For large projects it is recommended to use a large spray system, such as Graco-100.It is the same spray gun you would use to spray insulation in roofs. It is a heavy-duty gun which you will have to clean right after you finish using it, or else the material will be clogged inside preventing you from using it again.
This spray system is also very useful for coating garage floors and even hangar floors for airplanes.
There are other types of coatings that can be sprayed or coated on foam, such as adhesive
glue, epoxy coating and polystyrene;
However, the Polyurea spray coating is about 100 times stronger.
After applying the Polyurea coating, the coated foam can then be sanded to any desirable finish, painted and even bonded to a surface, such as plywood.
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| Painting Dragon Prop over Polyurea |
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| Sun Prop coated with Polyurea then painted |
