I am in the process of planning my first real model railroad. I am looking for opinions on the Woodland Scenics lightweight foam subterrain products such as foam risers, inclines, etc. versus the traditional methods of wood risers, cleats, and such.
I am leaning towards Woodland Scenics because it appears to be an easier and less time consuming, however I want a good looking and functional layout.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
I prefer wood, much more durable, much more flexible, much more recycleable (I am rebuilding my current layout and the grids and some risers have been in at least 3 layouts). Since my layout isn't intended to be portable, weight isn't an issue.
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
When I got back into HO 3 years ago, I had the same questions. WhaI have learned is this:
If you are starting with a 4x8 sheet the risers are wonderful.
If you want mountains and canyons and bridges, the old L girder with T risers and plywood sub bed is still the best.
I love their foam road bed.
Their senic materials are wonderful, though the trees are expensive and not as good as you can make yourself.
Plaster cloth has its use, it is better than screen and paper towles dipped in plaster, but Styrofoam is way better than either.
Low Temp Hot glue gun is great.
Their T pins are useful.
I use the risers and inclines, but I use the blue stuff from Lowes (pink if you do Home Depot) for everything else. Plywood base with blue stuff on top of it. Plaster cloth for uneven terrain. For my soil base I first paint with latex chocolate brown with a brush, then cover it lightly with Rustoleum American Accents Brown stone from a spray can. It has 3 or 4 colors in it. When you put ground cover like grass or bushes over that it makes prety good looking soil.
I'm sure others in here will have different suggestions.
Get some scrap, try everyone's suggestions then decide which ones work best for you.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Hiram23 wrote: I am in the process of planning my first real model railroad. I am looking for opinions on the Woodland Scenics lightweight foam subterrain products such as foam risers, inclines, etc. versus the traditional methods of wood risers, cleats, and such.I am leaning towards Woodland Scenics because it appears to be an easier and less time consuming, however I want a good looking and functional layout.Any thoughts?Thanks.
I am building my layout using Woodland Scenic's Mod-U-Rail system. It's light and it does the job. It also doesn't require me to cut any wood or manhandle it into place. But if you aren't sure, you can try one of their learning kits to see how it works for you.
Irv
My Yuba River Sub is built of WS risers on a 2" pink-foam base. I used open-grid wood construction with cross-braces every 18" to better support the foam base. The elevation changes on my MR encompass about 18" from 0" elevation to the highest point on the layout, and it's all done with the WS foam risers and stacked foam base. Frankly, I don't think there's a 'VS' in construction techniques--I had an older layout with a ply-base, and I liked it. The only reason I changed was that the older layout was not planned very well, and after I tore it out I read an article in MR about using foam base for the layout to keep it relatively lightweight.
Tried it, liked it. One thing about the WS risers and inclines, it takes a lot of the guesswork out of figuring out grade percentages (I'm no Mathematician) and keeps the grades very even. I have a maximum 2% (with a very short section of 2.4%) grade, and it's very 'kind' to my motive power.
I like the WS foam route, but if you're good at woodworking and construction (which I'm really not), perhaps the L-girder route is for you. It's kind of YOUR decision. If you want to see what I've done elevation wise with the WS, you can click on my website below.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I use a combination of Woodland Scenics materials and other materials. The reason is expense. For grading, you can't beat Woodland Scenics inclines. They are inexpensive and will save you a TON of work. But I prefer to cover my board with a rigid foam and sculpt it rather than use small Woodland scenics risers under the plaster cloth in just some areas and fill in the rest with newspaper wads. And covering the entire board with Woodland Scenics foam is a bit more expensive.
Someone mentioned pink foam. There are two brands, and the other is blue. Either is good. But don't use the yellowish brown. It's a different think altogether.
When using pink or blue foam, someone recently posted that they got into some difficulty with fire inspectors, as this type of insulation board needs to be covered with something more than just paint to be fire-safe. While I haven't checked, I think that plaster cloth would be sufficient covering. Woodland Scenics makes a plaster cloth, but there are other brands.
As for the person who said he prefers wood, if he builds those intricate ramps to creat a 3D landcape, my hat is off to him. That is a huge amount of work. If he just glues track down on flat plywood, well... some people enjoy a flat layout I guess.
By the way, the Woodland Scenics inclines are wide enough for O scale track. If you're working in a scale smaller than HO you can actually cut them in half. Tape the bottoms and slice them down the middle. Brush a 50/50ish mixture of glue and water on the cut sides and lay them face down on poster board to dry. When they're dry, cut the board around them and take the tape off the bottom of the incline. You'll have a flexible incline wide enough for TT, N, or Z scale.
Best!
if you do a good job , and follow the instructions in the WS books and/or videos you will end up with a good looking and functional layout that will last many years .
WS has to be congratulated on making an excellent scenery system , it's possible to build an entire layout (minus track of course) with their products , but it can be expensive
ernie
p.s. i don't work for WS or for anyone associated in any way with WS or their dealers . however , if they want to send me a couple of boxes of HO foam roadbed , i certainly wouldn't object !