Real life pokestop for school assignment

Julian Gutierrez

I plan to make a life size pokestop (pokemon go) for a school project. I'm just contemplating on what I should make it out of. I plan to have it water proof, durable, works well with paint, and relatively cheap to make. Please give me some ideas of what I could use. 

Chris Ellerby

For anything that needs to live outside you need to think about UV exposure (fades colors and breaks down many materials), Weather (heat, cold, water), and Wind, which can knock things over if not properly anchored/reinforced.

How you engineer your project also depends on how long you want it to survive.  The longer you need it to live, the more expensive it will typically get.

For example, you can make it light weight by carving it out of foam and coating it in fiberglass or other protective coatings that are rated for UV and outside conditions, but that can be a bit more expensive.

You can also build it out of plywood and heavily seal it to protect it from water damage.  The challenge there is it can be quite heavy, and requires access to various power tools.

I would go with foam (not the beaded white styrofoam, but the dense blue/pink insulation foam you get in 4x8' sheets at the hardware store), and then seal it well to protect it.  There are special foam coatings you can brush on to protect it, but they are not too cheap.  You would also want to coat it multiple times and sand it repeatedly to get even surface finish.

Hope that helps!

/Chris

Paige Defreece

What are the the special foam coatings you mention?  I want to build a foam dragon to drape on part of my art studio's roof.  I need it to be lightweight and durable.  I've wanted this for a really long time and need to have plans that I can present to the building codes guy.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Chris Ellerby

There are a number of companies that make foam coatings.  Rosco and Smooth-On are two main manufacturers that I am aware of.    You may also want to look up "Polyurea foam coating" as a keyword search.  I know that is a popular option for some applications.

Sometimes coating with fiberglass is a good option as well for added durability.   

For outdoor applications, as you mentioned, being able to handle UV radiation and weather (rain, snow, high winds, temperature change with seasons) is important.  As you are looking to incorporate your piece as part of a building you also need to look into fireproofing.

Hope that helps get you started!

/Chris