We need to talk about spray paint melting foam. 

Next video: salvaging molten foam as dragon breath scorched terrain

I’m just imagining the guy with chainsaw looking over and seeing this guy with a tripod recording himself spray painting an unknown pink substance.

"We need to talk." *sits down* "It's not the spray paint. It's you." Sometimes saying it isn't enough, a clear demonstration like this is great for visual learners. :) Like other commenters, I was intrigued by the potential of controlling the effect from the melting. The mild melt from the Premier brand would look good with concrete effects.

Being a Canadian expat currently in South Korea, and a former Toronto Goth, I gotta say the dance crew PiP was a great surprise insert. Love it!

"Spray Paint Doesn't Melt Foam, People Do" needs to be a t-shirt.

You need a whole video on Rocket Surgery!

"Follow the directions and you should be good." UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR

Dude... I'm quite proud of this video for a very simple reason -- you did an entertaining video that was literally about paint drying. :) You rock, brother! Keep on crafting!

I almost got scared out of spray painting my xps foam miniature building, but you restored my courage to try to do it afterall. Thank you for the informative video!

Great trial-by-fire style of testing! Makes me glad I'm already a Patron! Your intermission during the shakedown got me off my ass and I signed up for Skillshare as well. I've been putting off starting a hobby blog (YT/IG) for the longest time after always talking about it to friends and never learning much of the details behind how to actually do it. Like your own BMC videos, I hope the classes on Skillshare send me back to school and help get my long-delayed plans of starting a channel off the ground! You're always a strong inspiration in the craft, sir, thank you!

U had me at 'raw foam' The great outdoors? solvents? compressed gas??? Awww yeahhhh!

Solid example of good technique with extruded polystyrene foam (XPS). I think it's worth noting that expanded polystyrene foam (EPS, the stuff that looks like it's made up of beads and that gets used a lot for packaging, among other things), is much less dense than XPS, and as a result _much_ more susceptible to melting. And the melting is much more extreme when it happens. Also, in addition to using something like ModPodge for a barrier, latex house paint works quite well and is inexpensive, especially if you get mis-mixed cans. Also, also, the texture of EPS when broken or when you use a rasp can be a very nice base for spray on rock effects. Because those go on very thickly and take a while to dry, you _really_ want a barrier for them.

I just started watching your videos recently and I've fallen in love with the craft and the creations you can make! It's better since I get your references to Dollarama since I'm also from Canada

I haven't found on youtube more humble yet so talented craftsman like you. Also moderate distance of spray paint can make cool looking wall/concrete texture. Thank you, wiseman, for this video :)

I use krylon fusion as a primer as it does work on styrofoam without melting it. It doesn't melt foam at a range of 8inches. Barring that, a whole bunch of gesso for a shell for the paint to bond to. That's how I do it, anyway...

It may not be the most exciting video, but it's probably one of the most important ones. Spending ages working on a project, and then wanting a good way to coat it but not melt it? well I found your channel specifically because this was something I was looking for so thank you again for making this!

Great video mate! Thanks for doing the science so i can test with confidence

Great video as always, Jeremy. Now that I see it, the melting effect could be used to your advantage for some applications. It would make some interesting rock texture or even make something look like it was melted by acid.

Hey man, I've been watching your RU-vid videos for a year or two and I love what you do I've finally been Inspired to make something after I watched your cadaver collector video again and so I made the ogre howdah from the same book I'd love to see more custom miniature videos but I've loved all the content you have put out. Thank you for the inspiration

Thank you!!! This old dog learned something new. I sadly listened to the ill informed in my early years and just avoided the whole thing. Now it's time to come back and try the correct way. Again, Thank you sir!

Thank you for your videos. For foam, i'm used to the "amsterdam" water based spray paint, it's very sure for not destroying your foam works. Thank u again from france!

We don't always need a build video. Sometimes these technique and tips videos are what we NEED.

Hi I’m new and I have to say I’m loving your videos and the evolution of your arms. Lol this video was indeed helpful. I haven’t seen any like it so thanks for making it.

Great video, Jeremy! I love seeing different types of videos, whether it be a build or material/supply tests! I'm new to the BMC Fellowship but a long time viewer, just wish I could have joined sooner!

Thanks Jeremy. This makes it really clear.

Was just about to start spray painting styrofoam pieces on my first diorama. Thought I'd look for a tutorial. THANK YOU!

Woo Thursday video---def had to check the calendar to make sure what day it was

Thank you for this video. It drives me nuts seeing videos where people don't know how to use spray paint. I actually learned proper spray paint techniques in the USAF. We would have to do touch up work to outside equipment; sanding and using wire brushes to get rid of rust, then priming and painting the touch up spot. We couldn't leave runs, it had to look like it belonged or our boss would throw a fit, so I learned early on the the techniques you just taught. Great video.

FINALLY! Someone had the guts to do this subject! The Only tricky bit is for Newbies using the cheap pill type foam in a build, which wants to melt if you look at it in a corrosive manner. And yet it just takes practice, distance, and then even cheap foam can be painted in this manner.

Loved the “Black Magic” Dancers! Laughed my ass off! Excellent video on how to spray paint foam . Cheers!

Excellent video! I make feral cat shelters out of all kinds of materials I find ... especially styrofoam. I usually use acrylic porch paint, but that takes some time (to both do and to dry). This is great information in case I have to make a quick emergency shelter (which happens fairly often). Thank you!

Thank you for these tests !

glad you covered this one my friend, I used styrofoam to paint Screws for work.

Blame yourself for all your problems (mainly, basecoating terrain) and life will be much easier. That's a good way to keep improving!

Thanks for the information on Skill Share...looks good gonna try it out.

I myself have never used spray paint on foam yet, but I love the look where it makes it look like burn wood. I just don't know how to texture it now to where it's going to show. If you can or have time, do I quick video on how to texture melted foam please?

Thank you for making this!!!

Thanks for that clarification! 🙏

Really interesting video. Thank you for producing it.

This is a useful video and although I’ve literally never had this issue it’s definitely helpful

“It’s not rocket surgery” 😂😂😂😂😂

Most exciting yet for me. Well done.

I see spraying first adds a creative element/ texture to the base that we are always trying to duplicate with sculptimold, basing, etc. And it's now primed and ready for color.

So, first a little backstory; I've recently restarted playing DnD. I'm a player, not the DM, but I am the most "arts and crafty" person at the table so I've been tasked with building up our collective terrain pieces. I decided to start with a cobblestone open area that could either be roadwork, a courtyard or a dungeon or even an old castle interior depending upon what scatter terrain is thrown in. I've got 3 more projects in a similar fashion- wood flooring for tavern, docks or any other structure that would have wood planks, grasslands that can be fields, jungle, woods ect based upon scatter terrain, and rocky terrain that can either be caves or mountains. Anyways, I got done with the initial cobblestone build last night and was waiting for my glue to dry and was watching this video while having a smoke break. I didn't want to prime the whole project by hand and decided to try your method. I grabbed my can of Rust-oleum Flat Grey primer and got to work. Other than one minor area at the edge where I oversprayed slightly it came out looking great and the area I over sprayed had a neat little effect where the indentations that I made melted a little deeper and actually make it look more pock marked than it did "melted". It actually brought the texture out better. Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks and you've got yourself a new subscriber. (The terrain I'm working on, btw, is inspired by your foam plate dungeon tiles and another RU-vidr's pizza pan idea for the base).

Neat video - thinking lava lands for the black melted foam. I have some grey foam so I may give it a go.

Thanks - Great info, well presented.

I wish my backyard looked like that! It looks peaceful, thanks for the vid!

This video was undoubtedly very much exiting and entertaining. One thing came in my mind that one can use spray paint on foam in the wrong way even, just to get a particular event or look. You can try it.

Great vid. Please don’t feel the need to apologize for a video that doesn’t contain a physical project. Hobby theory is just as fun and inspiring as hobby practice to me. I think the key to good spray paint practices is stable environment. I don’t have a spray booth, so I stockpile my projects and wait for that still day to come and then prime coat lots of things all at once. That’s the only way I can get the right distance without overspraying all over my yard.

I'm glad you did this video. Agree, you can melt the foam, if you don't spray it correctly, but if you spray correctly, you don't melt the foam. I have found that your cheaper spray paints tend to be the ones that have to be used with more care or you risk melting the foam, with the more expensive ones being more forgiving, but as with any generalization, your own mileage may vary.

I was building a multi-level diorama for my super hero squad figures. Took the Styrofoam outside and began spray painting it black and to my horror it started melting... As I watched it slowly melt I became fascinated and started experimenting further. It was fun, it was cool and when finished it looked like volcanic rock. Showed pictures to my co-worker and she thought it was cool, then gave it to her. Thanks for the explanation!

You know someone has made it on RU-vid when he gets sponsored by Skillshare 😅 Good for you👍

One thing I do when making diorama is I will spray to close on purpose to give my "ground" a chotic texture. Then i go back and spray at a distance to fill in any exposed parts. Kind of like a controlled burn.

entertaining as always. thanks for that and keep on going ^^

Advance technic... Exactly what we need !! ... Along with the Tecktonik... EPIC :)

Thanks as always Jeremy. I'm coloring for over a decade. Try to jump into the free version of Davinci Resolve. It's a much more robust program than Lumetri. Although, you won't have the ease of having it right in your Premier timeline.

It’s the same with priming Reaper Bones minis. A whole bunch of people say that you can’t, because the mini will stay tacky forever. The real problem is that people don’t follow the instructions. They ignore heat and humidity, and almost always spray too close.

Amazing video as always. I always look forward to them. I was wondering what kind of mask you use? I couldn’t find it in the Essentials. Thanks 🔥

All good tips, however, I brush on primer aka black/brown/gray mod podge on ALL of my projects, big or small. Just my preferred method. I do follow these tips when I'm finished and seal it.

This is helpful, thank you

The Clip of the Rave you put at 5:20 is from my hometown (Duesseldorf - Germany) right under the Oberkasseler Bridge. Years ago they gathered there from time to time to rave but I have not seen them for at least 10 years. Just thought, you might want to know.

Could you make a video using the way the spray paint melts the foam as a texture? Just an idea. Keep up the good work

Late to the party on this one. Yes, I've heard not to use spray paint on XPS as well, but honestly I have been using a flat clear coat spray paint on my projects with no problems.... until today. I screwed up a portion of 2 or 3 different pieces that I've been working on. I thought I had thick enough layers between the mod podge and paint, but turns out not so much. Thankfully they should be fixable if I smooth them out a bit and/or just give them another coat of mod podge. It wasn't until after watching this video that I realized I was trying to rush through this step of the project and ended up spraying too closely. I'm just glad that I stopped before spraying more pieces and also found this video so I wasn't left in the dark as to why it happened. Gotta give a thanks for this one and a shout out to anyone else out there that has run into similar problems!

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Thanks for sharing. Love your videos.

Another tip on topic and very important is your area and current weather will factor into the distance greatly. I live in Southern California, so my area has a Mediterranean Step to Desert climate. Due to this most of the time it is pretty dry to very dry humidity in the air about 30% or far less and temperatures can be in the 90°s to 100°s Fahrenheit or around 32.5° to 40° Celsius for those who live outside the USA. Due to this using spray during the summer months at the instructions 12" range tends to mean that it has almost dried up before it reaches the material you're trying to prime. Then means it probably will not adhere to it nearly as well and will tend to leave a textured coat. That is why we all need to understand the processes of what is happening and how that is influenced by our own local areas when we craft, build and paint.

Great video. What type of mask did you use when painting? I’m looking for a quality mask.

I have never tried it but I am told the blue insulation foam is much more resistant to the solvents in spray paint than is the pink foam. I had trouble finding the blue foam when I was working with foam projects, so I used water based spray paints instead. Ironically, those can be hard to find yet my local stores had them. So perhaps people looking to use spray as base coats or etc. Could either try the blue foam or try water based spray on the pink foam. Recently I used water based polycrylic spray in clear as a sealer and it also worked well. Thanks for the content.

Good show. Thank you.

Thank you because I was wondering instead of buying epoxy if I could spray paint foam without it melting I shall try that because I want to do a shower panel with panels but I've seen the stone cold poxy but it's a little expensive and I'm on a tight budget

Oh thank god someone finally said it I’ve been silently thinking this for too long

Bottom line: Read the instructions on the can! The instructions give you the correct info for temperature, humidity (sometimes), spraying distance and technique, how long to shake the can, etc., etc., etc.

I'm currently making an aquarium decoration and when I heard spraypaint melts the foam I got really scared that everything I've already done would become moot. It's nice knowing that even if it does melt a little bit, it won't be so bad! I thought it would completely destroy it and the melting texture will go great with the cave IF it does happen :D

Good video, good information.

Well that explains why my foam walls melted down the first time! Ah well, live and learn. Great video as always!

I like how the melted foam has an interesting texture.

OMG! The Letter Kenney shot haha! Brilliant

Big ups to BMC for braving the Canadian wilderness to bring us this video. He could easily been charged by a moose or something coming out of that bog behind him.

I actually never thought to use spray primer because everyone said it is not working. THanks for the mythbusting. !

Hi Jeremy love the channel and the content! once i found it i have gone back and watched all your vids. now i not sure if you take viewer ideas but as someone who doesn't have the ,material, space and know-how. i was wondering if you have ever used a Pringles type can to make a giant Tree spirit (Deku tree) avatar or Wood Elf tree city? again these Vids help keep my creative side up and my sanity together, great work and can wait to see next week's video.

Thank You!

This is a great tip. Thank you for giving us this info. I've screwed up many pieces of foam!

I lost it with the tektonik dancers

My dad was building something with foam and spray painted it and it melted and in the end it made things look more realistic. My wife also did a build with foam for Halloween and it looked more realistic with the melted foam.

I'm so weirded out right now... I literally just got done spraying all my D&D adventure system minis. I hop on my phone I get a notification of a new BMC video. ITS ABOUT SPRAY PAINT! Is this coincidence or the universe going into alignment?

You can aslo try to get your hands on some acrylic spraypaint. Mtn colors are the best and it doesnt melt at all

Looking at those results I hope you saved those pieces of foam and will make them into a burned out ruin! Looked like a great fire damage texture! :D

Great video. Can't tell you how many times I've told friends to spray from a distance.... wait that doesn't sound right...

Wow it was nice to see the outdoors for once... 😂 But seriously, been meaning to do a test for this for a while now, and you've convinced me I will! Even beyond that, I learned a lot more than I expected. Honestly I'd be happy if you focused more on TPK-like videos until you can get back to a more normal schedule.

*Gasp* I have been enlightened, I can now prime and painted that foam figure of mine!

I am new to your channel, and want to ask if plastic dip would work as good as mod podge for sealing? And btw love your channel and work ❤️

Parabéns, seu conteúdo é incrível!!!!

Perhaps pointing out that using spray paint on a thicker foam, adjusting the distance can be used to create texture, such as false rock motifs. Thanks, JD

Is there any information on the back of the spray cans about solvent concentration? Maybe that could be useful, maybe some brands have less solvents than others and stuff.

I have seen a few comments on here about this but I am adding my own. That melted foam texture looks great, please make a video utilizing it, spilled acid, breath weapon damage, the fireball practice wall at the mage college, something.

When I first got into Warhammer in ‘94ish I was really only interested in making dioramas. I’d take all the foam packaging stuff I could find for building materials. I was psyched that spray paint would melt it in a controllable way to make really cool post apocalyptic nuclear waste dungeon rooms. Well, long story short, I moved back to the US the next year and dropped the hobby. Until several months ago when I started watching your videos and got back into it(I greatly appreciate what you’re doing). Just funny that one of my favorite pre teen techniques would be a “hang up” you have.

It's kinda funny how he mentions thinner, which is known for eating away at plastic. At work, we'll use it both in spraying cabinet doors and panels, and to clean paint off of the paint mixer and stuff. Of course, we wear plastic gloves but the thinner does eat away at the plastic. It also burns of you get it into cuts

some neat textures on some of those samples as a result of spray painting! gives me some ideas. Just curious, have you ever used it effectively to give one of your projects texture from the melting?

We spray painted a solar system project for school. The next morning all our planets melted to the size of Pluto. 🤨

I build model rockets too, and there have been times where I've spray painted a rocket, then sprayed a clear coat on it only to have the clear coat and the paint react with each other. Would more distance prevent that as well, or is that caused by something else?

I made some of DMCraft's 2.5d next walls. He suggested spray painting them black but treating them with modg podg or white glue. It didnt protect well. Good news I didn't do all of the pieces I made and the ones I did spray look old and run down. Thanks for the tip on spray paint.