Foam is Where The Heart Is...

I'd also have used "Foam, Foam On The Range...", "Foam Is Where You Hang Your Hat..." and "There's No Place Like Foam..."

Yeah... things have been crazy these past two weeks.

First... that abdominal effort I went to?
Utter UTTER failure.  /sigh
Point of fact, but I nearly gave up the entire enchilada, but for AV suggesting in her not-so-subtle way that 'You've already put so much effort into this... finish it!'

So I was flipping through pages on the RPF (Replica Prop Forum) and a few Youtube videos popped up.
One was by a fellow from the UK named James Bruton... XRobots on YouTube... who lauded the greatness of foam.
"Foam?" I asked, "... but doesn't that limit the detail of the pieces?"

Apparently not all that much...

"What about paint... and the appearance of the pieces?" I insisted. "Won't the foam just look like a painted foam crafted thing you did in public school?"

Apparently not.

Apparently it's entirely possible to coat the foam in a poly-urethane layer that grants it a hardened plastic shell with minimal effort.
And... I might add... a FRACTION of the cost of the resin/bondo process.

As for progress... here's a few pics of what I have done in the past week and a half or so:
Yes. TEN DAYS.
Keep in mind that the standard 'working, family obligations and such' haven't changed.

The pile of stuff... some of it anyway... the hip pods and hand plates are getting the glue treatment...

Separate pile #1 - the torso - abs and side plating... 80% done... needs two more spine sections and then to be assembled... I'll be using a trick I found online to assemble them... similar to my very first idea before (elastic straps) but without all the rivets...

Separate Pile #2 - the complete (right?) arm and left forearm... and 3 out of 4 shoulder plates.
One more shoulder plate to go... and the left bicep.

Separate Pile #3 - the cod, chest and... NECK!
Later this evening, I redid the chest (as this one's too small on me)  and sealed up the neck so I can apply the glue process to it on the 'morrow...