Cheap easy made ground foam

[Walter Clot]

Loathar,  That's a "fine" idea!

[Midnight Railroader]

I bought a food processor at the Goodwill store for about $5.

If they'd had two, I would have bought a backup!

I mix the color into the foam in a blender.

Also from the Goodwill. $8.

[Anonymous]

I'm using a food processor with REAL sharp blades. After I make a batch of clump foliage, I let it dry real good and then run it back through the food processor. I then sift it through a strainer. Half remains clump and have comes out as finer grass. You can also use that fine green florist foam. (the kind they stick fake plants in.) That makes real fine grass and dirt but it's hard to get the right color because it's already green.

I just ground up a bit of dried clump in the coffee grinder and ran it through the kitchen strainer. Seems to be just what the doc ordered! Now I just need to figure out the right color scheme. All the paints at the Michaels store seemed to be just barely the wrong shade of green or yellow for live/dead grass.  Man, do we have fun in this hobby or what!?! :)  Thanks again for your input. It is much appreciated.

 

[loathar]

That looks great! Did you grind it up fine enough to use for grass/groundcover as well?

(did you mean me?) Thanks! I use 3 different kinds of foam. One makes fine grass. One makes good tree leaves and one is good for medium/coarse clump foliage. I bought a couple different strainers with fine and coarse hole patterns to sift the stuff through.
The food processor is the ticket! I suggest finding one at a yard sale or flea market.

I went and picked up some 'regular' 1" thick foam rubber from a fabric store and got good results as far as clump ground cover. What specifically type of foam did you find worked well for grass?  I'm having great fun playing with this idea. The different colors one can create with mixing the paints will be great. The wife isn't very pleased about the foam and paint in the blender, I may have to get her a new one.  

Thanks!

I'm using a food processor with REAL sharp blades. After I make a batch of clump foliage, I let it dry real good and then run it back through the food processor. I then sift it through a strainer. Half remains clump and have comes out as finer grass. You can also use that fine green florist foam. (the kind they stick fake plants in.) That makes real fine grass and dirt but it's hard to get the right color because it's already green.

[Anonymous]

Hey, everyone has to make sacrifices.  I talked my wife out of the food processor.  Honestly, how often do you use a food processor?

I'm already in enough trouble for stealing tupperware for mixing paints and plaster in. Moving to electrical appliances would spell trouble in the paullie household.  

[secondhandmodeler]

That looks great! Did you grind it up fine enough to use for grass/groundcover as well?

(did you mean me?) Thanks! I use 3 different kinds of foam. One makes fine grass. One makes good tree leaves and one is good for medium/coarse clump foliage. I bought a couple different strainers with fine and coarse hole patterns to sift the stuff through.
The food processor is the ticket! I suggest finding one at a yard sale or flea market.

I went and picked up some 'regular' 1" thick foam rubber from a fabric store and got good results as far as clump ground cover. What specifically type of foam did you find worked well for grass?  I'm having great fun playing with this idea. The different colors one can create with mixing the paints will be great. The wife isn't very pleased about the foam and paint in the blender, I may have to get her a new one.  

Thanks!

Hey, everyone has to make sacrifices.  I talked my wife out of the food processor.  Honestly, how often do you use a food processor?

[Anonymous]

That looks great! Did you grind it up fine enough to use for grass/groundcover as well?

(did you mean me?) Thanks! I use 3 different kinds of foam. One makes fine grass. One makes good tree leaves and one is good for medium/coarse clump foliage. I bought a couple different strainers with fine and coarse hole patterns to sift the stuff through.
The food processor is the ticket! I suggest finding one at a yard sale or flea market.

I went and picked up some 'regular' 1" thick foam rubber from a fabric store and got good results as far as clump ground cover. What specifically type of foam did you find worked well for grass?  I'm having great fun playing with this idea. The different colors one can create with mixing the paints will be great. The wife isn't very pleased about the foam and paint in the blender, I may have to get her a new one.  

Thanks!

[loathar]

Hey it does come in white/green/ltgrey/charcoal grey, I have found all in mid to larger size fabric and craft stores. Fabric stores have white in different thickness. All are foam rubber. My experiences with a lot of different types of foam and there are many!  Foam rubber so far has not dryed out or turned to dust and most that is not caked with paint or glue is still plyable on a train set that is 15 + years old      ( Still not done !)                     Are they ever? 

Interesting...I checked Michaels and Hobby Lobby and all they had was green. These are the fine blocks of green foam that you stick fake plants into. Not the styrofoam balls. They said they couldn't get it in white. Hmmm...Guess I'll keep looking!

[1 R.I. nut]

Hey it does come in white/green/ltgrey/charcoal grey, I have found all in mid to larger size fabric and craft stores. Fabric stores have white in different thickness. All are foam rubber. My experiences with a lot of different types of foam and there are many!  Foam rubber so far has not dryed out or turned to dust and most that is not caked with paint or glue is still plyable on a train set that is 15 + years old      ( Still not done !)                     Are they ever? 

[loathar]

That looks great! Did you grind it up fine enough to use for grass/groundcover as well?

(did you mean me?) Thanks! I use 3 different kinds of foam. One makes fine grass. One makes good tree leaves and one is good for medium/coarse clump foliage. I bought a couple different strainers with fine and coarse hole patterns to sift the stuff through.
The food processor is the ticket! I suggest finding one at a yard sale or flea market.

[Anonymous]

That looks great! Did you grind it up fine enough to use for grass/groundcover as well?

[loathar]

I have just one other suggestion. I grind up the green foam used by florists. It grinds fine and is already green throughout. For variety in color, it can then be spray painted.

I use that stuff too. You can die that that in a blender also. But it's a little tricky over coming the stock green color. If you can get the right shade of grey or dirt it makes great gravel roads and paths. I wish it came in white, but I haven't been able to find it.

[HHPATH56]

I have just one other suggestion. I grind up the green foam used by florists. It grinds fine and is already green throughout. For variety in color, it can then be spray painted.

[HarryHotspur]

I'd REALLY like to see how you make ballast from gravel in a blender.

 

I've never tried it, but a guy on this forum (I think) said it worked great - for a while. I think he was serious.

[loathar]

I would think that you could find it in a fabric store or the fabric section in Hobby Lobby.  I might have to go and see for myself.  I must say that I've had trouble recoloring WS foam.  I end up getting hard clumps instead of fluffy chunks.

All craft stores sell it. Wal Mart has it back in the fabric section.
I use some stuff that's hard to describe. If you ever bought furniture that had those grey plastic bags of packing foam on the corners?? It's kind of like that Great Stuff insulation foam after it dries. That works great for fine grass and leaves. Call around to recycling places and see if they know of a foam recycler in your area. You can get it for next to nothing from them. They'd have a bunch of types to choose from too.

I'd REALLY like to see how you make ballast from gravel in a blender.

[HarryHotspur]

That's a good way to make ballast too. Just put in a few chunks of gravel from the driveway.

[secondhandmodeler]

I would think that you could find it in a fabric store or the fabric section in Hobby Lobby.  I might have to go and see for myself.  I must say that I've had trouble recoloring WS foam.  I end up getting hard clumps instead of fluffy chunks.

[Gandy Dancer]

Just make certain you don't choose foam that is eventually going to turn into a mucky mess or dust like so many of the foam inserts in brass locomotive boxes did.

[mearrin69]

If not carpet padding, where would one find the kind of foam Jeff Wimberly shows in his post? A seat cover dealer, or furniture place that rebuilds  and restuffs seats for couches etc.???

Well, having just replaced some carpet (padding unsalvageable) I can tell you that the stuff is pretty cheap ($3/yd2 or so) but it would actually be a pain to get the mesh backing off I think (maybe it'd be okay to leave it though? sticks and such?).

Maybe check your local shipping store to see if they have foam packing material? We just bought an HDTV and I have a 4'x3'x2" strip of nice soft foam that I was planning to use for packing miniature figures. It looks like it might work, though it's *very* synthetic and might not dye very well (maybe paint though).

I've never checked but I imagine you could get seat foam from a reupholstery shop? Barring that you could do a bit of dumpster diving. I see people around my town from time to time with furniture set out hoping the 'free' sign will entice someone to grab it so they don't have to haul it to the dump.

HTH!
Michael

[TheK4Kid]

If not carpet padding, where would one find the kind of foam Jeff Wimberly shows in his post? A seat cover dealer, or furniture place that rebuilds  and restuffs seats for couches etc.???

[mearrin69]

Funny. I was just walking my dog through a nearby housing development under construction and noticed a great deal of cast off carpet padding. Was wondering if it could be used for scenery. Guess I might go back and snag some tonight - it'd be great once you get the mesh off of it I think.

M

[jeffrey-wimberly]

How to make ground foam for pennies.

http://dansresincasting.com/Ground%20foam.htm

 

[loathar]

I use a heavy duty food processor to make all mine. I use a few different types of foam for different textures.


This is all done with home made foam.

Once it dries, you can put it back through the food processor to chop it up even finer. Some people use blenders too.

[1 R.I. nut]

In the past I helped A friend with limited funds and a large basement size layout green up the place without spending a fortune, I had a small hand held electric coffee bean grinder in wich we put small pieces of foam rubber from a sofa cushion and ground it up! Grind in short bursts only! or the grinder will melt cause of the great friction!! The more you grind the finer the foam. To color the foam we used the cheap 99 cent water based paints from the local craft store. Place the foam in a small bowl add a few drops of color a few drops of water or enough to dampen the foam depending on amount of foam,mix well, place mix and spread out on a piece of elevated window screen and alow to dry over night. If your foam was ground real fine after it has dried you can run it through a sifter to retrive and seperate grass from weed / tree material. A lot can be made in a short time for little $. A good cold wet rainy winter day job.  P.S. Do try to speed drying in the dryer! It does work, But the next few loads of clothes WILL have what ever color you used some where on them,