Hello everyone! I am wondering how many of us in this fascinating hobby use foam as part of their layout. I use foam as a base because I want this layout (N-16) to be light and easy to move if the day ever comes that I have to move to a bigger house. Another reason, I find it easy to work with! Please share your opinions as to why or why not to use it, thickness and why. I am also looking for ideas on what to model with foam…if you have pics, please show them here or add the link. Does anyone have any tips on how to cut a 2% incline from a 2x2x8 sheet of foam? What tools do you use? All I have is the hot wire foam cutting tool, but I want the foam incline to be as straight as the pieces from WS. I need to add an incline (about 3-3.5 ft long) and I have extra foam that I can put to work-do not tell me about WS products pls, I am already using this in another section. This is my first layout and I am using this as a learning “platform.” Thanks for your help! Robert
We have a layout made of foam and it has given us no problems. You can not tell the hills and mountains are made out of foam. Most people are suprised to find out it is foam (non-modeling types).
Check out woodland scenics foam risers (the subterrain system.) I would think it would be difficult to cut an grade with hot wire - with the risers you know you will get an exact grade. great photos at their web site http://www.woodlandscenics.com/
I've tried using a bandsaw to cut and incline but the blade "walks" a bit and its not perfect. If you are using the 2"x2'x8' extruded foam, the following should give you accurate inclines. Lay out/draw the cutting line to create your incline. Mark both sides of the foam. Clamp wood (1x4) on both sides of 2" foam, aligning them at the cut line. With a 3-4" long hot wire, cut the foam with the wood acting as a cutting guide for the top and bottom of the wire. Good luck
I am using foamboard on my layout for it's light weight and ease of working with. I am doing a VERY long climb to a second level and have considered and experimented with ways to use foam on the climb. I ended up using metal studs-the same thing i use for my framework- as a subroadbed. It is light and i use supports every 4 feet as there are no sag problems. I lay it using the 4" flat side up and this is wide enough for my two track mainline. I use 1" blue foamboard on top of the metal for sound deadening. I use 1" foamboard as a base for all my flat areas-yards, industries, etc. I use the 1/2" foam for elevating my mainline with cut sheet cork over that for laying track on. I love it in all applications including mountains. Curt
My main layout is a hollow-core door with blue foam on top. When I build the extensions, I'll use the framework from my old HO layout and place foam on top of that. The door/foam combination is lightweight- I was able to carry it upstairs to our bedroom with no problems. Back in my modular days, I built hills by stacking foam up, then filing it down to get the slope. Where I wanted a road to go, I carved, filed & sanded out a pathway, then laid plaster down. For scenery, PermaScene and ground foam worked wonders.
Thanks for the help guys! FRISCOBOB! I came up with the same idea as far as sanding goes...I took my pneumatic sander and fired up the compressor! WOW! What an approach and so easy! Be cool and stay in school! Robert from the Rockies!
To cut an incline in foam, here's an idea you might borrow from the R/C airplane guys. They make their wings with a foam core, then put some sort of harder surface on them. To make the foam core, they laminate several sheets together to get the thickness they need. They then make two matching templates (of aluminum?), of the cross-section of the wing and fasten them on either side of the foam blank. Then they use the hot wire cutter, running it so the wire follows the two templates. It seems that a similar method could be used to make an incline -- you could maybe get by with a single template, and depending on how wide you have to make the incline, only one sheet of foam. Also the template wouldn't have to be cut out of aluminum, thin plywood or masonite should work. Here's another tip when using foam to make scenery - a wire brush is a good tool for forming it. I got a couple of brushes used for cleaning out pipe threads, compared to your normal wire brush the bristle are not quite so stiff, one has brass bristles and the other stainless, and they're not as big, about like a 2-3X toothbrush. After forming it I've tried coating it with a very thin mix of Durhams Rock Hard Water Putty with a little paint mixed in. This put a hard, colored thru-and-thru layer of the foam and I've been pretty happy with the result. Bill K
