All my previous layouts have been hardshell plaster over homasote or plywood. But I'm currently building a very small S-scale layout in a corner of the basement. Just to have something to run trains on. This time I've used blue foam, a material I am unfamiliar with. I understand the concept of building it up in layers, and then sculpting away the edges to create the underlying landscape.
But, when it comes time to apply the scenery, do you cover the foam with something? Or do you just slap a coat of paint on it? If you cover it with something, what do you recommend? I was thinking a diluted coat of drywall joint compound. Probably with a brown base color mixed in. Suggestions?
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
Compound will work. I'm not a fan of "flat," so I use scraps of foam to build up micro-hills, and smooth things out with plaster cloth. I don't care for flat at that level, either, so I like to use a slurry of Gypsolite, a gritty plaster material, to give me a rough surface.
As long as you remove the thin plastic coating that comes with some foam, though, scenic materials will adhere pretty well to plain, flat foam. For something like a yard, it's perfect the way it is.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Like Mr. B said, you can just paint on the foam and apply scenicking materials.
(Just make sure to use latex / water-based paints, as solvent-based paints eat the foam!)
The issue with multiple layers is the line between:
I like to use lightweight spackle to cover the seems and to create variation over the carved foam:
That's before painting.Sometimes you need to go back and add some more later:
The trick is to add the spackle, which has a slightly different texture than the foam and takes paint a little differently, at various places.If you only fill in the seams you'll have lines of spackle instead!
But after the spackle, sanding and painting, everything should come out alrighty:
And after you apply basic ground cover it all blends together:
The benefit of lightweight spackle is that it's lightweight, and you can shape it when it's 1/2 dry, and carve it into rocks or smooth it flat when it's totally dry.
Hope this helps.
M.C. Fujiwara
My YouTube Channel (How-to's, Layout progress videos)
Silicon Valley Free-moN
This video explains how to do it very well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1D4KBB_GC4
Here's my first ever attempt.
Good luck.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
As it has been stated, be very careful that you only use latex paints.
One very good product on the market right now is Krylon's Stone spray, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was foam compatable. Be careful though a lot of spray paints are not compativle with foarm
http://www.krylon.com/products/make_it_stone_textured_paints/
Great for use in your yard areas or other gravel areas.
You can texture, carve and paint the extruded foam without using anything over it. But that tends to not hold up well if it's in a place where stuff can hit it, etc.
I use Sculptamold to cover most of my foam. It's sort of like a combination of paper mache and plaster, but better than either in my book. The amount of water isn't as critical as plaster, plus you can make it wetter or drier as needed. It has a working time that is longer than plaster, then can be rewetted if you need to in the future. It forms a solid shell so you can easily mount trees, poles, etc. You can easily stain or paint it, embed plaster rock moldings, carve or texture it, wet or dry.
The 10 lb bag goes a long way, although I tended to favor the 50 lb bag for the steep discount over the smaller sizes.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I'm with Mike. I like to use a thin layer of Sculptamold (1/8" to 1/4") over my foam. I lay it on with a palette knife (a kind of thin putty knife) and shape it to the final landform desired. After letting it set up for about 20 minutes, I take my finger, dip it in water, and smooth out any parts that are too rough.
Like Mike, I buy the stuff by the ton. Well, ok, 50# bag.
For rock faces, you can either embed castings while the Sculptamold is wet, or use a thin layer on the bottom of the casting to "cement" it on. You can also simply lay a thicker layer of Sculptamold (about 1/2") and use the edge of a palette knife or a clay sculpting tool to add horizontal and vertical lines and get good looking rock faces too (just make sure they're not all parallel, perpendicular, or straight vertical or horizontal).
Afterwords, I use Glidden interior latex in nutmeg brown to paint everything. This slightly reddish brown is a good match for the earth tone around here. You could also paint this directly on the foam, if you wanted.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Thanks for the input everyone. As it turned out this became an opportunity to clean off my basement building materials storage shelf. I found half a quart of joint tape, which I thinned out (too much as it turned out.) When I ran out of that I pulled out half a carton of lightweight hydrocal, which I didn't realize I still had, and mixed that up a little runny. And after that ran out I found a part of a bucket of sanded premixed tile grout. So I used that up as well.
Of all the solutions I actually think the grout worked best. It stuck best to the crevices and joints, and it set up the fastest, even faster than the hydrocal it seemed. So I now have a coat of brown latex paint on it, and after that dries I will see if there are any areas I want to go back and re-work. I have already found at least one area I'm not happy with.
stebbycentral Thanks for the input everyone. As it turned out this became an opportunity to clean off my basement building materials storage shelf. I found half a quart of joint tape, which I thinned out (too much as it turned out.) When I ran out of that I pulled out half a carton of lightweight hydrocal, which I didn't realize I still had, and mixed that up a little runny. And after that ran out I found a part of a bucket of sanded premixed tile grout. So I used that up as well. Of all the solutions I actually think the grout worked best. It stuck best to the crevices and joints, and it set up the fastest, even faster than the hydrocal it seemed. So I now have a coat of brown latex paint on it, and after that dries I will see if there are any areas I want to go back and re-work. I have already found at least one area I'm not happy with.
Congratulations! You have discovered the essential truth of this hobby: there are always multiple ways to do things, and you have to find the one that works best for you. And that you have to be willing to go back and re-do if you don't like the way it turns out.
Thats exactly what I did where I built up the foam to form hills or mountains. It worked great and looks great. The same applies where I put in depressions or valleys. The areas that I used paster cloth, ( actually I made my own plaster cloth by using used dryer fabric softener sheets, it was very easy. You can also make a slurry of plaster of paris and brush that on.
how to make a foam mountain (one way, anyway). I used throwaway white packing styrofoam for this demo. The Blue insulation foam is much better.
I used toothpicks to hold piece together while white glue sets. I thjink I nused sculptmold but it may have been Celluclay, a material made of paper mache bits with a little some kind of clay mixed in. Filled crcks between the chunks of foam.
Cover surface with thin layer of celluclay or sculptamond, to give a little texture that looks more like ground texture than "beaded styrofoam" texture. When celluclay is dry, paint with ground colored latex paint.
Then ground foam, turf, ballast, etc...
Finished scene:
A mountain made w foam... A bit too much contrast between mountain and tabletop for me.
another scene w foam scenery. I like this one better.
This is how it finally came out. It's not done yet, but I am please with it so far. I did extensive work on the far corner with the overpass while the platform was setting on the basement floor. I realized that it would be a difficult place to get to, once the layout was set in place. The rest of the scenery I will work on as the winter progresses.
There is an access port hidden in the corner behind the overpass. The backdrop is simply wallpaper. The white platform on extension glides is where the I am going to place the transformer and switch control. Eventually there will be some sort of facia along the sides that are visible.
Looks great!
Samuel A. Kelly
I can draw pictures with my keyboard!
-------- ( It's a worm)