1. Hey guyz. Welcome to the All New Phlatforum!



    Sign Up and take a look around. There are so many awesome new features.

    The Phlatforum is a place we can all hang out and

    have fun sharing our RC adventures!

  2. Dismiss Notice

Providing a hard waterproof coating for polystyrene foam

Discussion in 'Foam Talk' started by frankmcneilll, May 25, 2009.

  1. frankmcneilll

    frankmcneilll New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    53
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Hi All,
    Some forum members might be interested in a relatively new product that has been developed by Industrial Polymers Incorporated. Go to http://tinyurl.com/q7du4k for information about StyroSpray 1000 which can be sprayed or brushed on to provide hard waterproof coatings for models made of EPS foam.

    Best wishes, Frank
     
  2. Flashsolutions

    Flashsolutions Active Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,123
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Leesburg, Florida
    Interesting! I could not find any price or information on purchasing. I wonder how much weight it adds....
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,280
    Trophy Points:
    0
    In the video at that link, the guy says that 1000 coats of spray onto the Absolut bottle would add 1000 pounds. Guessing it at 4' diameter and 14' tall (estimated at 12 feet of equivalent cylinder) using pi X D x H X.6 (he said it's a 60% cylinder) that equals about 90 square feet. So, 90 square feet covered with 16 ounces of material gives us .178 ounces per square foot, or just a freckle over 5 grams per square foot. That's the weight of a US 5¢ piece (a nickel), per coat, per square foot.
    Anybody care to check my math? :geek:

    I wonder if it would work as well on EPP?
     
  4. frankmcneilll

    frankmcneilll New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    53
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I just filled in the reply thing with mailing address, phone and email addresses to request more information and will post any replies. I suggested that Industrial Polymers should consider selling some of their stuff through hobbies and crafts outlets, packaging in aerosol spray cans, etc. That might be too fiddly for them to consider, but I will post any reply or results. They have some info about a primer for StyroSpray that can be used to repair older coatings. Maybe it would work on EPP too. ttfn, Frank
     
  5. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    637
    Trophy Points:
    0
    neat stuff, I'd like to learn a bit more too
     
  6. frankmcneilll

    frankmcneilll New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    53
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I have received an email reply to the message I posted on the Industrial Polymers website.

    Dear Frank,

    We greatly appreciate your comments and suggestions.
    We recently discovered that our product is being independently repackaged and sold on web sites for EPS foam airplanes. One of the sites and their videos can be viewed at http://www.wowplanes.com. The owner of the web site has also developed a water based sanding sealer for the foam made by mixing water putty, plaster of paris and our Styroprime sealer. He has several videos on the web site.

    Pricing for the StyroSpray 1000 is $52. 38 per gallon. It is sold in 2 gallon kits, $104.76 for the 2 gallons. This product does not contain water or solvent, so your coverage will be much greater than other coatings you are using. A gallon of water based paint is usually about 40% water. A gallon of house paint which costs $35.00 actually costs $49.00 when you factor in the lost water which evaporates away. With StyroSpray nothing evaporates away. We do recommend a heavy coverage of 50 to 60 square feet per gallon for outdoor applications.

    The weight of this product is 9.21 pounds per gallon. If you apply 1 gallon per 50 square feet of surface area as we recommend for high durability applications, you will cover 50 square feet, 32/1000 of an inch thick. If I divide 9.21 by 50, each square foot will have an additional coating weight of .1842 pounds. I think it is possible you will apply our coating thinner than this, so I will say this is likely the max amount of weight you will add. .1842 pounds is equal to 2.947 ounces of added weight, per square foot of surface area.
    I do not know how many square feet of surface area one of your air planes has.

    Thank you for inquiring about our products. Please let me know if you have more questions.

    Best regards,

    David Boddie
    IPC USA 800-766-3832
    david@industrialpolymers.com
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,280
    Trophy Points:
    0
    well, it certainly looks like my swag was off - by a factor of 18 or 19! :eek:

    "We don't need no steeenking ballast, 'cause we got paint! :lol:
     
  8. foamlvr

    foamlvr Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    234
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    northwest Ohio
    Would it be useful for foam plug reinforcement for vacuum forming plastic ? How about gel coat in mold making. To me this stuff looks like a really fast build up sandable primer that works on bare foam. Would it make a good base coat for fiberglass over foam ?

    Jeff
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,280
    Trophy Points:
    0
    frankmcneilll, I got nearly the same reply from David Boddie, but I also said, "I'd like to get your StyroSpray information package."
    He said, "I will mail you a coated sample of EPS foam for your evaluation", so I'll post photos or whatever info I can gather from a actual sample after it arrives. :)
     
  10. Flashsolutions

    Flashsolutions Active Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,123
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Leesburg, Florida
    At the price Wowplanes is charging vs the cost of material from the manufacturer, I think I understand where the Wow in planes comes from!

    I sure if one of us were to buy this stuff and repackage it, we could come up with a more reasonably priced product and still make money at it but I am concerned about the weight issue.
     
  11. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    637
    Trophy Points:
    0
    (Btw Flash that seaplane (SeaBB) flys really nice!)
    I think I'm going to take the plunge on this stuff, Larry do you think this stuff is a substitute for fiberglass when it comes to tensile strength? I typically do not use a spar in my foam wings as a single layer of glass provides all the strength I need to a solid core wing. I know fiberglass holds up very well to hanger rash and rougher landings.

    Also Wowplanes claims 0.1 Oz / square foot per thin coat, that's VERY light. My corsair measured ~12 Sq Ft per SU, so I'd add 1.2 Oz per coat on the whole plane, and that is NOTHING next to glass... Not to mention the finish difference.
     
  12. Flashsolutions

    Flashsolutions Active Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,123
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Leesburg, Florida
    The jury is still out on tensile strength. One coat is surely not enough, which is all I have put on my planes so far. I suspect that if you put 4 or 5 coats to build up the strength, it might very well be quite strong, but I doubt it can be as strong as fiberglass simply because the fiber itself gives a great deal of added strength. You might want to experiment with layering some fiberglass and using the liquid sheeting in place of the fiberglass resins and maybe come up with a super strong finish.

    Also, this stuff cures and gets harder over time. I am quite happy with my experience with it thus far which is why I have ordered a larger quantity of it.

    As I delve into more boat building, I think this is definitely going to be an excellent coating material.

    The only downside, if you want to call it that, is the waiting between applications of sealer and the final coat of the stryofoam coating. 30 minutes between coats is not too big deal, however if you want to get a really hard surface, you might have to put 4 or 5 coats 30 minutes apart so you will have to allow time to stay with it.

    Keep plenty of foam brushes on hand too!

    You will also need some latex gloves. This stuff gets on your hands and it is not easy to get it off.

    I really like the fact that this stuff is so lightweight! Fiberglass cannot compete here.



     
  13. RJMarino

    RJMarino New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Interesting topic. I have been using a dual cardtridge system from www.epshardcoats.com

    I have gotten to the point of thinking of going full plural component machine. The cartridge system is idiot proof but was wondering if anyone has experiance with the bigger equipment.

    Thanks,
    RJ
     

Share This Page