Bumper Quad
5" FPV shell with molded prop guards you can bounce off a wall.
EPP
Custom foam drones · v0
Foam is the drone material everyone overlooked.
Foamcore turns your drone design into a lightweight EPP or EPS foam chassis: CNC-cut for prototypes, steam-molded at volume. It's light and crash-tolerant, can take any shape, and you can treat it as disposable.
- EPP lead
- CNC prototype
- Molded at volume
- No checkout
ConceptEPP bumper quad · not a photograph
02 — Why foam
Light, moldable, and easy to replace.
Foam stays off most drone bill-of-materials sheets. It is light, durable, and the supply chain is beads or a block, not an autoclave. Carbon still wins when a 5-inch racer has to feel locked in.
01
No heavy supply chain
You need beads, a mold, or a foam block and a CNC machine. No prepreg, autoclave, or carbon-fiber plate stack.
02
Any shape
Hot-wire, CNC-mill, or steam-mold aero skins and molded-in pockets for a battery, motors, and spars.
03
Light and durable
EPP absorbs an impact and springs back.
04
Disposable by design
It's cheap to crash, cheap to replace, and safer around people.
05
Fewer plastic downsides
No brittle shatter and nothing blocking RF the way carbon can, and it's recyclable (EPP).
06
Built for speed and iteration
Test fast airframes you expect to break, then iterate the CAD the same day.
One UAV maker moved its chassis from hot-wire cut to molded EPP and cut manufacturing and assembly time from 28 hours to 4 minutes.
03 — How it's made
Cut a prototype. Mold it when the shape sticks.
Hot-wire or a 5-axis mill makes the first chassis from a foam block. When the design is frozen, an aluminum tool steam-molds EPP or EPS. The times below are estimates, never a promise.
Scroll sideways for the full ladder.
| Stage | Process | Quantity | Typical turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype | CNC hot-wire or 5-axis foam mill | 1–20 | Days |
| Pilot | CNC plus hand finish, carbon spar inserts | 10–100 | 1–3 weeks |
| Production | Steam bead molding (EPP/EPS), aluminum tool | 100+ | Tooling ~6–8 weeks, then fast cycles |
Shown as an estimate, never a promise. The final number comes from the fabricator's quote.
04 — Foam vs carbon
Carbon still wins a stiff 5-inch racer.
Foam wins when you are crashing, iterating, training, or flying something rugged and disposable. Most serious foam frames use carbon spars too.
Scroll sideways to compare.
| Criterion | Foam (EPP/EPO) | Carbon fiber | Hard plastic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stiffness | Weak alone; wants carbon spars or plates | Best | OK for micros; flexes at 5" |
| Crash | Best, especially EPP | Brittle shatter or delam | Better than carbon, worse than EPP |
| Weight | Very light | Excellent stiffness for the weight | Heavier for the same stiffness |
| Radio | Soft structure, radio-friendly | Can block or reflect RF | Usually fine |
| Prototype cost | Low to medium | High | Medium |
| Volume cost | Low after tooling | High | Medium after tooling |
| Repair | Glue or replace a section | Replace an arm or plate | Print or replace |
| Best fit | Training, iteration, rugged and disposable airframes, fixed-wing skins | Competitive freestyle and racing 5" | Micros, ducts, guards |
Racing a 5-inch frame for a locked-in feel? Carbon still wins on stiffness. Foam wins when you're crashing, iterating, training, or running rugged and disposable airframes. Most serious foam frames use carbon spars too.
05 — Gallery
Concept chassis.
Ten studies of foam drone bodies. These are concept illustrations, not photographs of finished parts.
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptConcept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptSpar Wing
Flying wing with a channel for a carbon spar.
EPP
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptDuct Ring
Foam cinewhoop duct that stays soft on impact.
EPP
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptTarget Dart
Disposable target airframe with a high-speed foam nose.
EPS
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptField Mapper
Molded fixed-wing fuselage for a mapping airframe.
EPO
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptRod Arm
Foam arm sleeve over a carbon core rod.
EPP + carbon
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptStack Shell
Stackable micro-drone shell for a small swarm set.
EPP
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptClass Frame
Crash-tolerant training quad for a classroom set.
EPP
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptGate Shell
Full foam shell for gate practice and crash reps.
EPP
Concept illustration, not a photograph. ConceptPayload Sled
Foam pod for a battery or a small payload.
EPS
06 — Design to order
Draw it somewhere else. Price it here, by email.
01
Design
Use Onshape for parametric CAD, TinkerCAD if you want the simple editor, or any tool you already have. Foamcore does not embed a CAD editor.
02
Upload
Export STEP (preferred) and/or STL. Add quantity, foam, and what the airframe has to do. A share link works when the file is large.
03
Get a quote
A person reviews it for manufacturability and sends it to a foam fabricator: CNC for a prototype, molding for volume. You get the quote by email.
07 — Quote
Upload a design.
Send a STEP or STL, or a share link from Onshape or TinkerCAD. Pick a concept if you don't have a file yet. A person replies by email. There is no cart.
08 — FAQ
Straight answers.
Do you make the parts?
Foamcore works with established foam fabricators. We handle design review and routing. This version is not a factory.
What files can I send?
STEP is best. STL, IGES, OBJ, 3MF, DXF, and PDF are fine. If an STL has no units, say millimeters or inches in the notes.
Why EPP?
It bends on impact and springs back, it is light, and it is recyclable. EPS is the cheap first cut. EPO molds with a cleaner surface. Carbon spars are normal inside a serious foam frame.
Can foam be structural?
Yes, usually with carbon rods or plates molded in or glued in. Foam is the shell and the crash structure. It is not always the only structural member.
How does foam compare with carbon?
Carbon still wins on stiffness for a locked-in 5-inch racer. Foam wins when you are crashing, iterating, training, or flying something rugged and disposable.
What is the lead time and price?
Both are quoted per job. There is no instant price. CNC prototypes are often days to a few weeks. A production mold needs tooling first — published machine-maker notes cite about 6–8 weeks for a custom mold — and then cycles are fast. The fabricator's quote is the number that counts.
Is there checkout?
No. You send a design, a person reviews it, and you get fabrication options by email. Nothing is charged on this site.
What about humanoids?
Not in this version. v0 is drones only. Foam heads, arms, and robot shells can come later.
Who sees my file?
A person reviews it before a fabricator does. Foamcore does not design weapon payloads. Quote mail is set up for rex@verafy.ai.