I'm having to start over with the metal studs for the costume. I began with styrofoam balls and slowly and carefully cut them into halves. Then because styrofoam is melted by the solvents in sprays, I had to hand-paint Plastidip on so that the smooth styrofoam would accept actual paint. But the Plastidip didn't go on nicely the way it does when it's the spray form. I thought, "Okay that's fine, it'll even out when I paint" and after two coats of Plastidip I put on three coats of paint...and ended up with golden meatball halves as a result. They're SO lumpy... This failure represents about $30 (styrofoam balls, liquid Plastidip, two paints, pins) and 12 hours of waste.
I have ordered EVA spheres to be cut in half instead. I can use the Plastidip spray on those, so hopefully they will look nicer. But I have 5 months for these kinds of screwups. It's okay.