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Posted

Okay, I have been using this shipping foam to tie flies with as an experiment. This stuff is absolutely wondereful. Tied up some great looking foam wing caddis flys and some super looking beetles. This stuff will float forever and any fly tied with it does not need gink to keep it up top. Well, I have only found it in white and apparently it is treated with some kind of chemical that sheds water (i suspect it is to protect the contents from sustaining water damage) and as a result, liquid dye rolls right off of it. After that experiment I tried a waterproof sharpie and after tying the fly realized I had rubbed all of the color off handling the materiel. Sooooo I painted that sucker, with the same result. Ink-NOPE (rubs right off). Anybody got any ideas??? Thanks in advance

Posted

Wow, if a sharpie won't cover it I'm at a loss! When you say you painted it, did you try model paint? Not sure if that would add too much weight and defeat the purpose though. Let us know how this turns out.

John

Born to Fish, Forced to Work

KSMEDIC.COM

Posted

This has been an interesting experience. Yesterday, before going to work, I hand washed a small 4x4 piece with soapy water to see if it was an industrial type of chemical (possibly scotchguard or similar product). The end result was that it did alter it appreciably to the point where a sharpie would not write on it at all-nor would an ink pen. Paint would adhere and would rub off but it took some vigorous rubbing to get it off but alas, the extra weight caused it to sink. I'm still entertaining different ideas. The paint I used was Testors model paint. I am open for any ideas-I am starting to stumble.

Posted

I know this sounds funny, but have you tried a "very" light sanding with fine grit paper to see if roughing it up a bit would help the color's to stick? I was afraid the model paint would make it to heavy.

John

Born to Fish, Forced to Work

KSMEDIC.COM

Posted

Could you expound on what the "shipping foam" you are talking about is? Where it came from?

Depending on what it is, you may be SOL (OK... that's TWICE I've used that term in five minutes... :lol: ) on getting any color to adhere in its present state. Unless the colorant is added during the processing (molten state of the plastic) it may not be dyed by any means that will keep it buoyant. Even though the foam itself may be quite porous, the compound itself might, and probably is, very NON-porous and will not accept any kind of "wet" dye.

Earl Stanek has a bit of a solution if you can get it. 3M developed tiny glass "bubbles" that are used in the SA floating line. Earl (being an old 3M guy) got some of the bubbles and mixes them with regular ol' WalMart craft paint. This makes the pait very buoyant. I saw one of his flies - a hopper pattern - with legs made of natural paint brush fibers (horse mane hair?) painted with this mixture and the legs floated on TOP of the water!

TIGHT LINES, YA'LL

 

"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." - Paul O’Neil

Posted

Sounds interesting but also sounds like I may be sol (dang that's three times). Anyway with the price of foam its no big deal. It was just a interesting problem and a lot of fun (okay, hassle too) to deal with. It still makes some darn nice wings, so I will limit its use for now to that endeavor and use my expensiver foam for the beatles lol. Thanks guys

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