Hey everyone, I just have a question about foam. I've found a product that is called "extruded polystyrene" that I guess was bought to be used in making foam radio control airplanes. They said its more brittle than Depron, which I have never heard of, but that they have seen this stuff layered and cut with a hot wire cutter. It comes in 1/4" thicknesses.
anyone have any idea?
Dow and Corning are two major manufacturers of what we in the hobby calle extruded styrofoam. It comes in blue and pink sheets respectively. There are also thicknesses, with 1"-2" being the most popular in the hobby.
Yes, hot knives are preferred by some modellers, while others simply use a sharp hobby knife, serrated breadknives, sabre saws, and such. After rough shaping, wired brushes and sanding blocks are useful to generate the next order of fineness in the contouring.
The sheets are easily scored by drawing a sharp carpet cutting blade across the surface, and then snapping the two intended sections apart using a surface for leverage near and parallel to the scoring.
It's somewhat messy when you get to the carving and shaping with wire brushes or a sanding block. Have a shop-vac handy.
No i know all that; I'm using the blue Dow stuff. I was just wondering whether this other stuff I've found would be ok to use also, and would be equally carve-able.
heres the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2x4-extruded-Polystyrene-Airplane-foam-Foamys-Art_W0QQitemZ200190056329QQihZ010QQcategoryZ34056QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Call the seller and find out more about it? I would think that the name suggests it is the very same product, so I would act on that basis, Greg.
-Crandell
Greetings,
I've used my fine sanding barrels on my drumel at low speed to smooth the foam out!
No mater what it is going to be messy.
does anyone know of a retailer or distributor of the stuff in southern california?
Personally, I would avoid it. You might think you're saving a few bucks, but you'll spend more on adhesive to glue all the layers together to get a usable thickness than what you saved.
a little side note...
I have also found another type of this extruded foam, that I've not seen anyone else mention.
It is a sea-foam color, it measures 1 15/16" in thickness, and has a more solid structure with slightly larger "cells" than the Blue or Pink. Cuts very easily with Jigsaw on low speed, razor knife, and Hacksaw blade in hand. It seems to file smoother, and does not "bunch up" as much as the Blue when being cut with a dull knife.
I found it at a construction site, where they were building Poured Concrete Foundations. It seems to be used as Insulation, placed in the form, against the outside of the form and the wall is poured against it. When the forms are removed, the insulation stays on the poured wall and is backfilled against.
Since I don't have full sheets, all I can find for a label is one saying "Pactiv building products"
I did a web search and found this...
GreenGuard® CM Insulation Board (opens in new window)
You can navigate back to their home page for more information on where to purchase, or just go Dumpster Diving like I do.
Free is always better.