How To Carve Rock Textures In Foam

[@brokenphokus]

Sculpting plaster with plain corn flakes makes some interesting layered textures. It chips away easily so know that's part of the interesting characteristics. Put down a layer, let it dry, chip off the corn flakes, then put another layer and repeat. Just gotta dig through the box and pick the best flakes.

[@JoshForeman]

Interesting. Sounds like a good way to make a rad cliff!

[@brokenphokus]

@@JoshForeman I haven't perfected yet, I am working on trying to make medium boulders as the base for rock walls and buildings. Real rocks seem to actually be the best. Air dry clay and some gravel arent a half bad way to get it... Work in progress...

[@RPRsChannel]

This is the kinda thing you always tell yourself you should make for future references and just never do it. I also have some tips: • I see some tools you have are rusty, that will suck if you cut or get nick from one of them. Solution: spray them down or let them soak for 20-30mins in vinegar and then remove the rust with a brillopad. Don't breathe in. Oh, and some brillopads give great texture. • I don't use acetone anymore, no aversion or reason, I just haven't in years. But I seem to recall it works wonders on white, beady styrofoam, creating not only great rock texture, but it sort of pulls the less or unaffected styrofoam down a bit, making a great overhang. • About 22:43, this is a great effect, but you need to seal it quickly with a superglue. • A heat gun can, carefully, kill off any small buggers on the foam • Of the XPS(I think they all are XPS?) the order of covet is: Pink>Blue>Green. Pink is excellent as it is, but Green seems to give the most detail and retains impressions best. Green is for some reason not available in NA and in Europe it's mostly from Germany. • Lava rocks/volcanic rocks as they are make great rocks for terrain, dioramas, and some leave great impressions in foam. • Casting real rocks and gluing to foam is more labor, but give s a great texture. It also adds weight. • Breaking foam, with your hands can give a nice effect, but not that easy with the smaller bricks. • Had I written down all the tips and tricks I have used over the years or made a reference board like yours, these suggestion would have been much better.

[@JoshForeman]

Great tips, thanks!

[@vociferonheraldofthewinter2284]

Kitchen gadgets would help, too. I'm definitely digging out my meat tenderizer and cheese graters for this.

[@idontwanttopickone]

Great video! Full of useful references on how to make foam into it rocks! I'm surprised you don't have any home made brickwork rollers. If you need a huge expanse of brickwork or stone walls, that's the way to go. A nice big cheap wooden rolling pin, Das Clay, PVA. Roll out the clay to around 0.5-1cm thick, cut it to size to cover the whole rolling pin. Cover the rolling pin in PVA. Lay the clay over the whole rolling pin. Gently ease out the air and get it to stick. Prop it upright Start carving out your bricks. Leave overnight to dry. Cover with more PVA or a varnish to seal the clay. You'll have an super quick brickwork texture and you can make it look however you like by making the clay thicker and carving in at different depths. You can also buy brick/stone rollers, but they are so cheap to make yourself and you get more control over the end results. You can also make them out of two part epoxy putty and wrap them around a bigger tube, like a thick plastic pipe - just make sure it won't flex when you push down on it. The bigger your roller, the bigger your bricks can be and the more texture and variety you can carve in - but you will need to press harder when rolling. The thinner the remaining clay, the thinner the gaps between the bricks will be. These rollers also work well on clay or two part epoxy putty. Certainly worth adding to your box of tricks. Great video!

[@JoshForeman]

Thanks for the tips! I'm actually working on a way to make large scale textures for a product range I want to sell. Still in the R&D phase on that, but stay tuned.

[@bradcraig6676]

Stupendously useful video, thanks a million.

[@kay7538]

You have the best videos on KZbin. By far the most informative. Now I feel a lot more confident helping my kid build a model volcano for school and it shall be the most bad ass volcano there ever was thanks to you.

[@stevemc6861]

Alright - about four minutes in... your tool categories made me laugh out loud...I know it's LOL...those abbreviations happened while I wasn't looking. Seriously, you make me laugh with your descriptions. When it comes to faux rock construction, you are my new guru. Thanks man. I appreciate your time and effort. Oh yeah....I really enjoy your book. Started reading this afternoon. How about book three? No pressure - you live your life of inspiring others. Truly amazing work, man. Thanks!

[@JoshForeman]

Currently trying to clear my backlog of decade-long projects so I can focus on the books for the rest of my life. Book 3 is written and edited. I just need to do the maps/illustrations. (Plus 9 more books set on Talifar are queued up!)

[@fraxz88]

Im doing a mountain in 1:160 scale for a tiny train. This is great as it gives me different textures to represent different types of stone around the layout. Like quartz veins in granite next to deep red clay stone.

[@JoshForeman]

Sounds amazing! If you're on discord please drop some pictures here! www.discord.gg/UjNApes

[@aceonyoutube]

Thank you so much for this video, I've been making diorama's for 6 inch action figures for doing toy photography on but could never learn how to texture them.

[@JoshForeman]

Cool, I love that application. Do you have pictures somewhere? Also, feel free to share them on my Discord! www.discord.gg/UjNApes

[@bigtone4690]

Late to the party for this video and content. I have been building for only a few months and by far this is one of the best block tutorial videos i have ever seen. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@nandamari]

Descent. Whoa! I remember when that first came out! Many hours spent diving down tunnels and soaring in 360 space. Groundbreaking.

[@NatesMiniatures]

You truly do some of the best videos for hints and tips mate, thanks for this one.

[@zazzenfuk]

You are such an inspiration. The amount of time you dedicate to your craft and being an artist, thank you for sharing. I struggle spending more then a few hours on any project; the idea of spending 4 years on one is utterly mind-blowing. I cannot wait to see this massive diorama!

[@Finthefish-hr8ky]

mate I love textures too. I'm working on a diorama this tutorial was so needed. thanks

[@042181]

Not all heros wear capes, thank you so much for this. Was looking to make my snake enclosure more realistic.

[@edhorst7212]

By using sandpaper to remove the skin on the foam, you’ll be able to “ carve” cracks easier, impress tool as a dentist bit for carving lines onto foam for those various stone lines. Wire brush for scraping wooden coffee stirrers removes burrs as well as wood lines found on surface of wood craft houses built for HO buildings, houses, barns, etc..

[@Ignatiusofantioch87]

Just started working with HDF and this is really helpful because I am struggling. As for your struggles with spackling, I have found that mixing it with differing ratios of PVA can make it much easier to work with.

[@chickenchad9814]

Wow. This is in depth and legit,thank you for sharing.

[@adriannabcustomfurniture]

So that edge on the foam looks like what you got when you used the sanding sponge. Just use the sandpaper or sanding block making a huge circle on a big piece of foam and you'd get that look on individual bricks. I hope I'm explaining this well enough 😂 well to me on my screen it looks similar, not the way they did it, but looks like it 🤷‍♀️ just an idea.

[@chuck-n-debtaylor7553]

Very interesting and helpful - thanks 🙏🏻👍🏻

[@Nat1videos]

Great video! This is a fantastic resource I will revisit many times I am sure. Thanks for sharing :)

[@adriannabcustomfurniture]

Your talent is top notch and absolutely amazing and your humor in this video made me do a "snorting" laugh for the first time in the last couple days 😂 thank you for that.

[@idontwanttopickone]

37:24 - Looks like you have far too much paint on your brush there. I suggest getting a nice big piece of corrugated card as your dry brush pallet (Amazon will provide you with some this Christmas, I bet.) and you can use that to brush off your paint on and get a good sense of how much paint is going to be layed down because the ridges in the card will show up as you brush over them as you remove the paint from your brush. You really don't want streaks when dry brushing. Another tip I see a lot of people using is to use a large makeup brush. Keep up the great work! Very helpful video! You should do some more like this! I have already shared it with friends! Very helpful!

[@greysky1252]

This video came out at a perfect. Im just now starting to try to make some textures including "ashler" and i need all the help I can get.

[@TheDreamSyndicateArts]

This is definitely awesome! I'll have to bookmark this one whenever I want to get up to some foam texturing!

[@dottieburke3444]

I really enjoyed this video!!. Thanks for sharing your talent and artful wisdom with us.

[@hervebuteau169]

Great video, there's also just using a hand saw to cut your foam"bricks" that makes an interesting texture. (Seen it on Bard's Craft)

[@creatingmike9164]

Thanks for sharing the process of trial and error. There are so many more ways than the standard to get cool looks!

[@blakelycreative3171]

I like the texture in that hair. its so Ashler!

[@JoshForeman]

Seems more like rubble to me! ;)

[@Dazsak]

Excellent Josh, extremely useful for me at the moment as I’m also at the experiment stage and exploring results of methods just like you - great timing. Your style makes great viewing, you’re to be applauded. Thanks for the effort. Daz Sak

[@RealTerrainHobbies]

This was a great and very comprehensive tutorial Josh. Great info in this one with all the testing and variations you've managed to get. I was just hoping though you could go into more detail here, between 6:17 and 6:27 , that was way over my head and I wasn't quite able to exactly follow what was going on... 🤔🤔🤔

[@JoshForeman]

It is a VERY advanced technique. I'd need an hour long video dedicated to this to really do it justice!

[@rach_just_rach]

It's staby time 😂😂😂😂. This is a great board, I have not seen a texture style guide. Great videos, glad I stumbled upon your channel. I am Holloween and Christmas Villager. Thanks.

[@bonster101]

Really cool resource.

[@GordonCurrie]

I really enjoyed this video Josh. I love your patreon and the videos. I have started building terrain, buildings and collect Warhammer Orgres. Greetings from Dawson Creek, BC, Canada. As I recover (Blood clot / stroke) hope to add more to my patreon each month. Really enjoy following you.

[@JoshForeman]

Thank you so much for the kind words! I wish you the best in your recovery. :)

[@argusfleibeit1165]

Neat ideas-- so many things to keep in mind when trying to make creations full of interest.

[@Phoenixknight79]

I build dioramas to do photo shoots with my HO scale locomotives.... most of mine right now have been flat scenes cause I have been scared to try and do rocks cause i don't feel I can do it right and make it look right. I have used real rocks from different areas in my town but it makes the diorama pretty heavy at the end. But I want to try and make start making real looking rocks from foam...

[@JoshForeman]

That's great! You're going to love it.

[@elpaso5812]

Thanks for this! Can't wait to try some of these methods out!

[@snowball_from_earth]

I'm not sure if it'd work, but the saw texture you were talking about I've seen a lot in wood. Maybe that could be used as some kind of stamp? Not sure if the texture is enough to carry over

[@barbeejoll7139]

Wow, thanks so much, I just learned a ton, and your sense of humour cracked me up! Not sure you will read this but if anyone knows how to make painted foam much harder, like MUCH harder (for a restaurant - foam rock wall ) - please let me know. It's that last step I need to do and am unsure what to use to give it that durability. Thanks again for sharing this great info.

[@JoshForeman]

I've never tried this stuff, but they make products for that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKHFgK2go6aom6s

[@doug8171]

do you have a photo/still image of the grid of techniques with the stones on the white board that you could post?

[@JoshForeman]

Sure. I put it in my discord. You can see/download it there. discord.com/channels/551907594487201793/573624899839721496/1289110392748118079

[@sirhamalot8651]

Just an awesome video. Thank you!

[@Karlmakesstuff]

Great video, and excellent advice, thank you for sharing this. Going to be using them hammers for sure!

[@Eseldasar]

Maaaan, you are the best, really! Great job, great job

[@simonraworth2237]

Sub'd just for the work you did on D3. Loved that series.

[@sandrox46]

I also love trying to imitate real-life textures in my Halloween landscapes. It can be challenging to find the right look and even when you do, it's sometimes hard to recreate it! I appreciate your videos and your commentary, ie the hospital reference :-)

[@jasontrinque]

Great video! And very helpful!

[@moose66642]

Really useful video! Where did you find those stone reference image sheets?

[@JoshForeman]

Just google searching

[@heto78]

Great Video!!! Thanks

[@nickjamesb2051]

Yes king! Yes!

[@GReadyPrints]

This is amazing 👏

[@annb859]

What great videos, thank you so much! Q: where can you buy that foam, do you have to go directly they Owens Corning and can you buy a smallish/medium amount? Thanks in advance!

[@DrRemorse]

Great content

[@AlldayisKrisday]

You have my dream job 😍

[@rc-trassa]

Спасибо большое за ваши труды!

[@David-Field.Stuff01]

Very interesting

[@andersdenkend]

Pretty awesome stone pillars in the end. I bought some XPS foam, is that the same? Because I am having a little bit of a hard time getting these realistic results you are getting.

[@JoshForeman]

Yes, this is all done with XPS foam. If it falls apart into little balls that's not the right kind.

[@idontwanttopickone]

15:00 - wear a respirator for that. That gives off loads of horrible fumes that are almost certainly not good for your lungs.

[@CreatingShane]

the one dislike is just jelly of his beard

[@stevemc6861]

Thirty four minutes in - like attending a Master Class....

[@christinas5691]

What kind of foam is being used?

[@JoshForeman]

XPS foam

[@larrynorris2451]

Cool...

[@theecleopatraa]

Fireball..?

[@louloudessentiers3076]

Comb your hair first