High density closed-cell polyethylene foams (450-950 kg/m(3)) were prepared by compression molding, and their flexural and tensile moduli were measured in order to study (1) the normalized modulus as a function of the normalized density, and (2) the effect of thin skins on flexural and tensile moduli. For the flexural data, it was found that the model of Gonzalez and the I-beam model of Hobbs predicted the data very well in the range of void volume fractions under study (0-55%). For the tensile data, it was found that a combination of the differential scheme or the square power-law model with the sandwich structure gave the best predictions. Finally, we found that thin skins have an important effect on the flexural properties of polymer foams, while they seem to have a negligible effect on the tensile properties. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.