Step 1: Trace Circle Pattern on Insulation Foam
The first step is pretty straightforward, I created a pattern which was just a 9in diameter circle and transferred it over to my 3/4 in pink insulation foam. I chose 9in for the size because the dinner plate these will go on is 10in and I wanted it to cover the majority of the plate. I definitely recommend using pink foam over green foam (Home Depot sells pink boards, Lowes sells the green boards). The pink foam is a different density than the green, and is much easier to carve in my experience. Step 3: Glue Pancake Stack Together
After everything is sanded it is time to assemble the stack! I like to use Modge Podge to glue insulation foam together, and then throw a heavy textbook on top while it dries overnight. Insulation foam, unlike EVA foam, will melt if you use the wrong kind of glue, so do NOT use contact cement or E6000 for this step! Step 4: Prime & Paint the Pancake Base
Now that they are assembled it is time to prime and paint your pancakes! I like to prime my props with mod podge. Since this is insulation foam you will need at minimum 5-6 layers of mod podge in order to get it relatively smooth because insulation foam just absorbs mod podge like a sponge. After you have primed the stack with your mod podge you can paint the base coat on. I know it seems weird to paint in the middle of building the prop, but I knew it would be so much harder to paint it after adding my "syrup" and I wanted the actual pancakes to loo clean under it. So here I added my base layer of paint and some highlights and shadows with acrylics, then sealed with two more layers of mod podge. Step 6: Glue Syrup & Butter to Pancakes
Once you like your syrup and butter shapes, it is time to glue them to your pancakes! I recommend using tacky glue for this step as it is much stronger than mod podge and it will actually hold the foam in place. When I made mine I personally used E6000 and melted parts of my pink foam. So definitely dont use that and learn from my mistakes and use tacky glue instead! After getting the glue on I used masking tape to hold it together while it dried overnight. When I was gluing it down it liked to flip up a little so this held it all in place properly. Step 8: Prepare Your Platter
My platter is just a round silver tray from Amazon and a 10in white Corelle plate from my personal kitchen set. I used E6000 to glue the plate to the center of the tray so it is perfect for all my photos! Optionally you could glue the pancakes to the platter as well, but I typically just attach them with some masking tape when I'm at cons so I have the option of using the platter for another costume if I wanted. Plus it is easier to pack in a suitcase when the pancakes and platter are separate. That's it, that's how I made my pancake platter prop! I made the majority of it over a long weekend and it was so much fun to take a break from sewing to craft something. As always if you have any questions on the build steps or how to apply them to a different project you are working on let me know! I'd love to help clarify the process for you or provide pointers. |
Step 2: Cut Out & Sand Foam Circles
For this step I used a jig saw, but you could also use a craft knife if you do not have access to a one. I personally will recommend a jig saw if you can though, because it is much faster and you can get some very clean cuts this way. Plus it will also be easier to sand! Now that your circles are cut out it is time to transform them into pancakes! To do this I used a sanding sponge on the top and bottom of each of my circles to round off the edges. I maybe spent a minute or two on each one, they were really quick and easy to sand into shape! Step 5: Cut Out Syrup & Butter
My "syrup" is made of 4mm craft foam which I basically played around with until I liked the shape. I looked at a lot of references of fake pancake cakes when figuring out my syrup design so those might be good inspirations for you as well of you want a sort of cartoony look for your prop like I did. My "butter" is made of 6mm craft foam scraps that I cut into a square and rounded the edges of the top and bottom. I wanted it to be a little thicker than the syrup which is why I went with a larger foam. I then glued this butter square to a slightly larger blob shape made from 4mm foam to make it look like the butter had melted a little. Step 7: Prime, Paint, & Seal
This is just like Step 5, just now we have the syrup, butter, and any spots that got pulled by the masking tape. Maybe it's a little silly to prime and paint twice, but I found I found the syrup hard to paint around/under so this method was much easier for me to get a clean finish. Again its priming with mod podge, painting with acrylics, then sealing with more mod podge and you are done! |