Engraving XPS Foam

[Brotron]

Well It works!! … and it doesn’t.
This is a Z-brush alpha map of cracked mud brought in as a jpg. Cut speed 1000 variable power set for a max of 20.

Fine line etching into the surface works pretty great but the nature of the foam means a fairly uneven melt depth, and large areas of engrave will turn into a gooey mess of unpredictability.

Here is a macro shot of what the variable power setting does to XPS at 90 lines

So even with the melt limitations, for etching brick, stone and cracks for terrain models this is awesome

[laird]

This is awesome!

[cynd11]

Wow!

[Dunfee]

I wonder if a quick blast from a heat gun from a bit of a distance would knock down some of those stringy bits!

[rebecca]

That looks fantastic! I really like the looks it creates for brick, stone, and cracks.

[Brotron]

I wonder if a quick blast from a heat gun from a bit of a distance would knock down some of those stringy bits!

Heat can be a bit unpredictable but it’s worth a shot. Brushing it vigorously with a black base coat seemed to take care of anything visible.

[Dunfee]

very true! You might end up with tiles that look corroded… but then you can just throw some green paint on there to simulate acid and have your players fight some sort of acid spewing dragon