foam board

[cheese3]

what are the advantages of using foam board

[SpaceMouse]

If you are talking about using it as a base for your layout, it can be shaped to fit your layout . You can poke bushes and trees in where you need them and they stay put like you want them. That's a start. Next.

[DigitalGriffin]

Man spacemouse, you must have a LOT of time on your hands. 384 poast in 31 days = ~12.8 post/day. And I thought I had a good bit of downtime!

[eng22]

It is light weight, and can be cut to shape, you can dig into it and make ditches, swales, drainage areas, lakes, pools, etc...

You can build it up in wedding cake fashion and the shave it down with a rasp or wire brush into a hill, mountain, and so on.

It is easy to glue road bed and track to it.

It is easy to poke holes through it for wires.

It is not effected by temperature changes or humidity.

Its good stuff!

[orsonroy]

Used as your ONLY primary layout construction medium, it's a whole lot cheaper than traditional layout construction. Wood, screws, screen wire, cardboard, paper, plaster and rock molds have a tendency of adding up!

[MisterBeasley]

It's also cheaper than plywood, right?

OK, so what are the disadvantages?

[jhoff310]

OK, so what are the disadvantages?

[cheese3]

maybe i will use foam instead of plywood for my next layout (coming soon)

[Petesec6]

It dents if you lean on it while working on something else.

The crumbs are messing to clean up and stick to everything as the have static electricity in them.

The good out weighs the bad

[dano99a]

NEGATIVES:
- It creates a rather large mess when carving it
- if you cut it with a hot wire it lets off a gas (kinda toxic too)
- You can't use spray paint on it (it will melt the foam, and release a toxic gas)
- Dents easily

POSITIVES
- CHEAP!!! ($15 for a 4ft. x 8 ft. sheet at Home Depot)
- sand it, carve it, paint it, glue it,
- eliminates the plywood base as long as you have supporting beams under it.
- Some folks will say it's quieter however I don't believe that
- planting trees is easy
- laying track is easy

happy building!! [:)]

[Bob Hayes]

Dano,
Are you talking about the pink or blue stuff or the white bead board? My local HD wants the equivalent of $25 for a 4x8 sheet of the pink stuff, as they only carry 2x8 sheets @ $12.95.
Bob Hayes

[canazar]

I have found that if you use Krylon brand "Make it Seud", and "Make it Stone", )a texture paint which can add texture to your base color ina hurry) wil not eat the foam. it has ZERO effect on it. And comes in very earthy colors. Browns, tans and greens. Can make short of painting abse colors. Great stuff.

Best of luck
John k

[Anonymous]

Woudnt nails wobble around in the foam?

thanks

pavariangoo

[Anonymous]

I have 2" foam (blue) I plan to use glue with straight pins to hold until the glue drys. I am not sure what type of glue to use yet. Maybe someone can answer that one for me.
ennout

[cheese3]

i have haerd use liquid nails for projects. it will not eat the foam.

[Anonymous]

OK y'all help me with this....
first you built your bench.
then you cover it with plywood.
then you put down the homosote...

can you use the foam board in place of the homosote and how well does it work compared to the homosote?

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Petesec6

It dents if you lean on it while working on something else.

So does plaster if you lean on it. Worse yet, plaster will break if you lean too hard. Foam generally won't. And a few random dents in the foam surface just makes for better scenery!

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bob Hayes

Dano,
Are you talking about the pink or blue stuff or the white bead board? My local HD wants the equivalent of $25 for a 4x8 sheet of the pink stuff, as they only carry 2x8 sheets @ $12.95.
Bob Hayes

He's probably talking about the 1" sheets, but I have seen the 2" sheets for as little as $14 here in northern Illinois. Generally, they go for about $20-$25. But that's still a whole lot cheaper than 3/4" plywood, which is at about $35 a sheet these days (and climbing)

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by pavariangoo

Woudnt nails wobble around in the foam?

thanks

pavariangoo

Yes. That's why you don't use nails or screws on foam; you glue everything, including track (which is foam layout construction's biggest negative, IF salvageing track is important to you)

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ennout

I have 2" foam (blue) I plan to use glue with straight pins to hold until the glue drys. I am not sure what type of glue to use yet. Maybe someone can answer that one for me.
ennout

I've successfully used white glue, wood glue, Liquid Nails and clear latex caulk. I prefer the caulk. One tube will glue down over 100 feet of track, it provides a nice sound absorbing barrier between the track and foam base, and is cheap and readily available.

You only need a 3/8" bead of caulk along the centerline of your track. Smear it down with a small trowel and add your track. You've got about 20 minutes' working time before the caulk surface dries, and fully dries in about an hour. I hold the track down with pushpins, and don't glue switches down at all (just in case they fail, or in case I want to move track. Flextrack is discardable, switches aren't!)

I've had HORRIBLE results with double sided carpet tape, double sided foam tape, and spray adhesive (3M 77, 3M 90 and DOW). Avoid these products for tracklaying!

[cheese3]

i have decided to use foam on my next layout istead of ply wood. thanks for the help everyone!

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Blue Duck

OK y'all help me with this....
first you built your bench.
then you cover it with plywood.
then you put down the homosote...

can you use the foam board in place of the homosote and how well does it work compared to the homosote?

It's a whole lot simpler than that, Duck:

First you build a support for the foam. "Benchwork" doesn't have to be fancy, and really doesn't describe MY layout's support, which for most of three levels is nothing more than 10"x12" shelf brackets screwed to the studwall. Benchwork it ain't...

Second, I prefer a layer of plywood attached to the layout support. It only has to be 1/4" plywood, but some people feel more secure with 1/2". Whatever; some modelers don't use any! The plywood helps deaden the drum effect foam has, and gives you someplace to hang wires, lights, switch machines, fascia supports, etc. Using it or not is up to you.

Third, I add a layer of foam. I prefer 2" foam as a base for everything, so I have plenty of material under the track level to add scenic contours. Since I'm modelling central Illinois, most of the track is above "ground level" by around 5-30 feet. Having 2" of foam to play with allows me to model this realistically.

Finally, add your track, roadbed optional. I consider roadbed (cork, WS foam, Homabed, etc) to be a scenic feature, not a mandatory model RR item. I've used cork on top of foam successfully, and many people have used the new WS foam roadbed. Personally, I've been using 1/2" pink foam, cut into 1.5" wide strips (the width of a 1x2). I leave the backing plastic on both sides, cut the strips, lay them just like cork (two per track), strip off the top layer of backing plastic, sand the surface smooth, and lay the track. Once the track glue is dry and the track has been tested, I bevel the sides with a snap blade knife. So far, I've got over 250 feet of track laid on my current layout using my homemade foam roadbed, and it works great. Oh, and I'm getting over 225 linear feet of roadbed for $9. Try THAT with cork!

The only time you need to use Homasote with foam layout construction is when you're planning on handlaying track, or if you're REALLY against glueing down track. Even then, I'd suggest using 1/4" Lauan plywood in lieu of Homasote or Homabed. It's cheaper, easier to get ahold of, and will allow you to nail into a foam surface. It's also thinner than homasote. I've also heard of modelers who handlay directly onto foam, using superglue instead of nails. One of the largest layouts in the country uses this technique, and it works great.

[dano99a]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bob Hayes

Dano,
Are you talking about the pink or blue stuff or the white bead board? My local HD wants the equivalent of $25 for a 4x8 sheet of the pink stuff, as they only carry 2x8 sheets @ $12.95.
Bob Hayes

Pink and Blue extruded Foam used for insulating a house, here in Ohio it's $15 for a 1-1/2 inch thick 4x8 sheet, if HD doesn't have it go to Lowes.

[rrinker]

I use caulk for my track and roadbed. I had my first OOPS and had to remove a section and redo it (put a terminal joiner in, I shoulda used insulated joiners at that spot) and I had no trouble peeling the track up without destroying the track, roadbed (WS foam roadbed), or foam benchwork. Tomorrow I have more to pull up and swap, as one of the sidings I planned is coming out because that will eventually be the site of the connection for the rest of the railroad around the basement. I'm not goign t waste a Tortoise switch motor and leave it buried under a piece of straight track, so I will be pulling up the turnout AND roadbed to get the Tortoise out, and replacing it with a straight section of flex track.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy

QUOTE: Originally posted by ennout

I have 2" foam (blue) I plan to use glue with straight pins to hold until the glue drys. I am not sure what type of glue to use yet. Maybe someone can answer that one for me.
ennout

I've successfully used white glue, wood glue, Liquid Nails and clear latex caulk. I prefer the caulk. One tube will glue down over 100 feet of track, it provides a nice sound absorbing barrier between the track and foam base, and is cheap and readily available.

You only need a 3/8" bead of caulk along the centerline of your track. Smear it down with a small trowel and add your track. You've got about 20 minutes' working time before the caulk surface dries, and fully dries in about an hour. I hold the track down with pushpins, and don't glue switches down at all (just in case they fail, or in case I want to move track. Flextrack is discardable, switches aren't!)

I've had HORRIBLE results with double sided carpet tape, double sided foam tape, and spray adhesive (3M 77, 3M 90 and DOW). Avoid these products for tracklaying!

Clear latex caulk it is for me then, latex is water clean up right? Thanks again for answering my question on the type of glue to use.
[:D] ennout

[rrinker]

Yup, latex is water clean-up, and low odor. The stuff I use, I got from Home Depot and is a brand calls Polyseamseal or something like that. It dries clear but comes out of the tube white. A little goes a long way - everything that is complete so far on my layout, roadbed and track, has so far used less than 1 complete tube.
My 'clean up' involves wiping any excess off the putty knife and then waiting for it to dry - what's left then peels off the putty knife, sort of like rubber cement.
You'll want to have plenty of roadbed and track at hand when working this way - it goes VERY quickly.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

orsonroy- I appreciate the reply. that sheds a little light on this whole thing.

duck

[Anonymous]

Great decision! I used foam on a large layout I had to tear down a few years ago. I didn't even glue the track. Just used HO spikes. They never worked loose to damage trains. The track didn't buckle or change in any way in about a year. I glued Atlas cork under the track, and when it was time to tear up the layout, the cork scraped up easily with a dry wall spatula. Track laying was easy. The spikes pushed into the foam and held solidly with very little effort. What a neat and quick system!