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Large Shoes Foam Props Fabrication for Yaamava' Resort & Casino

  • Jun 17, 2024
  • 2 min read

Updated: Jun 9, 2025

Yaamava' Resort & Casino in Highland, CA reached out to us to create two large oversized shoe props for a charitable shoe drive event hosted at the hotel. The purpose of the event is for guests to contribute new shoes to underprivileged families, receiving complimentary casino play in return.

We started out with a 3D CAD file of the shoes sanding the rendering CAD proof to the customer for confirmation. The project included large foam props: 2 shoes at 5ft tall x 3ft high - A green Nike Sneaker style and a high top Converse shoe to be placed on the casino floor with people walking by it.

The customer intended for the props to serve as a visual advertisment for about 4 weeks for the duration of the shoe drive.


  • Rendering mockup of a 5ft long 3ft tall large foam shoe prop
    large foam props rendering
  • Rendering mockup 3D CAD file of a large foam shoe prop
    Large shoe prop rendering
  • Rendering mockup 3D CAD of a large shoe foam prop
    Large foam props rendering

We used was 3lbs EPS material (Styrofoam, also known as Expended Polystyrene), which is commonly used for props, sculptures, signs and letters.

The project was commenced by machining the shoes on our CNC router. Both were machined in two halves then glued together using a 5min epoxy, patched and sanded to minimize the seam as much as possible.

Machining large styrofoam shoe prop on a cnc router
CNC machining large foam prop on a router

  • CNC machined 5ft long and 3ft tall large shoes foam props for a shoe charity drive
    CNC machined shoes foam props
  • CNC machined large foam shoes props made in 2 glued halves ready for epoxy coating
    CNC machined foam shoes props
  • CNC machined large shoes foam props made in 2 halves ready for hard coating and painting
    CNC machined shoes foam props

Then, the work of sanding and more sanding began.


  • sanded machined large shoe foam prop at 5ft long for a charity drive
    sanded machined shoe foam prop
  • 5ft long and 3ft tall cnc machined and sanded large machined props
    sanded large machined props
  • CNC raw foam machined and sanded large foam props for a charity drive
    sanded large foam props
  • CNC raw styrofoam machined and sanded large props for a charity drive
    ded machined large props

Following sanding, we placed DryDex Joint Compound Spackling material. It is a pink material meant to fill out gaps, sims and crack and further smooth out the surface. Then more sanding happened.

Dry Dex compound material placed on a shoe foam prop
Dry Dex Joint Compound on a foam prop

We used exacto knife and other carving tools to remove excess material and to carve fine details such as the heel, eyelets and laces.


  • detailing cnc raw machined large foam prop for a shoe charity drive
    detailing large foam prop
  • detailing large shoe prop machined on a CNC router for show charity drive
    detailing large shoe prop

More sanded detailed Nike prop shoe photos... to get to asmoother more accurate finish


  • epoxy hard coating on a 5ft long large foam props for show charity drive
    epoxy coating on foam props
  • Epoxy hard coating on 5ft long large foam props for a charity drive
    Epoxy coating on foam props
  • Epoxy hard coating over a large shoe prop at 5ft long and 3ft tall for a charity drive
    Hard coating over a shoe prop

As the customer's required a detailed surface finish (as people will see it from up close), 3 coats of of epoxy hard coating were applied, giving the shoes a smoother, glosier and aesthetically nicer finish.


  • epoxy hard coating over large shoes foam props
    epoxy coating over foam props
  • Epoxy hard coating over large shoe foam prop
    Epoxy coating over a foam prop
  • Epoxy hard coating over large shoe styrofoam shoe props
    hard coating over large props
  • Epoxy hard coating on a large shoe foam prop
    Epoxy coating on a large prop
  • Epoxy hard coating over a large shoe foam prop
    Hard coating on large props
  • Epoxy hard coating over a large shoe foam prop
    Coated large foam prop


Next step was to paint the shoes. We started out with white paint all over, then added the green and gold paint details. We used tape to cover the white parts to paint the green and gold. We use brush and spray painting as well as manual gentle brush for the small and hard to reach areas.


  • Painting a 5ft long large Nike shoe foam prop for a Casino hotel charity drive
    Large shoe foam prop
  • Painting large styrofoam shoe prop machined from EPS for a chrity drive
    Painting large shoe prop
  • CNC machined EPS matwerial ainted large foam prop for a charity shoe drive
    Painted large foam prop
  • CNC machined and painted large foam prop for a charity drive
    Painted large foam prop
  • CNC machined and Painted large foam prop for a charity drive
    Painted large foam prop
  • Painted large foam prop machined from EPS on a CNC router for a shoe charity drive
    Painted large foam prop


These images showcase the painted shoes prepared for the final stage -

Replacing the Nike and Converse logos on the shoes with the Yaamava hotel logo. To achieve this, we designed a template stencil and are now applying the logo onto the shoes.

The black shoe in the photos is a real size 13 one, showing the proportions and scale of these props.


  • EPS machined hard coated and painted large Converse foam prop for a charity drive
    Painted large foam prop
  • CNC machined ard coated and painted large Nike shoe prop for a charity drive
    Painted large shoe prop
  • CNC machined hard coated and painted large Converse shoe prop for a charity drive
    Painted large shoe prop
  • NC machined, hard coated and painted Nike shoe foam prop for a chyarity drive
    Painted shoe foam prop

We used a stencil template to apply the logo onto the painted shoes, then cleaned it nicely using an exacto knife

Here are the final shoe props, all painted with logo applied, to be displayed at the Casino. Can you tell it is Styrofoam, not a real shoe?


  • CNC machined styrofoam Nike shoe prop, painted and logo applied for a charity drive
    Foam shoe prop with logo
  • Painted foam shoe prop
  • Logo over a foam shoe prop
  • Painted foam shoe prop
  • Logo stencil over foam props
  • Painted foam shoe prop
  • CNC styrofoam machined prop
  • CNC machined Nike prop
  • CNC machined shoe prop




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