A metallic foam body containing an alloy skin which is up to 50 μm thick can be obtained by a process including (a) providing a metallic foam body comprising a first metallic material; (b) applying a second metallic material which contains a first metallic compound that is leachable as such and/or that can be transformed by alloying into a second metallic compound that is leachable and different from the first metallic compound on a surface of the foam body (a), by coating the metallic foam body with an organic binder and a powder of the second metallic material; (c) forming a skin on foam body (b) by alloying the first and the second metallic material; and (d) leaching out with a leaching agent at least a part of the first and/or the second metallic compound.