Foam board info

[Anonymous]

Hi I am building the turtle creek layout ,I bought the foam boards today at my local home depot,they only had 2 ft by 8 ft boards.I am guessing I can fill the seam with the adhesive, but the edges seem to slope down towards the seam.There is quite a dip where the two boards meet.What can iI fill this with what sticks to this stuff ? Also the boards seem to be kind of wavy ,do I have to level the boards with spackle of some sort? I dont know what sticks to this stuff Thanks Dan[:D]

[selector]

I've not encountered the board that you describe, hodan. Are the boards wavy through-and-through, or is just one side wavy? If they are like a lightly rippled potato chip, you have some difficult work ahead of you. I would return it and get something more useful.

Would they even out if you glued them heavily to, say, 1/2" plywood, laying the plywood on a flat floor and placing stacks of books and magazines all over the foam to press it evenly onto the plywood?

If you are absolutely stuck, and have to fill shallow valleys between edges, I would use cheap old plaster of paris. Use a masking or dry-wall tape over the gaps, and then pour on the plaster once you have the foam as level as you can make it. When it dries, it will sand flat quite easily (come to think of it, you may only need to sand where your track will run..senicking will cover anything else). Will add weight to your layout, but not hugely once it is dry.

Does this put you at ease...even a bit?

[Anonymous]

The top 2 inch piece is real wavy I will probably have to fill and sand the whole top piece. Dan

[Anonymous]

Hey guys. I bought a couple of 4x8 sheets of that 2" foam form Home Depot, too... I noticed that the edges do in fact taper down...

I haven't had to address the issue yet, but I was thinking about putting joint compound in there and using a taping knife to get it somewhat smooth/flat and then sand it later a little bit... Just like doing actual drywall, but trying not to sand the pink stuff.

[orsonroy]

The pink board foam does have a slight downward taper to it's outside edges.

It's no big deal. Either cut off the ends and use them for scenery, sand and fill the area level witht he rest of the foam sheet, or sand the area smooth and lay roadbed right over it. You'll end up with a "cosmetic dip", which is completely realistic and won't ruin train operations so long as you don't add switches in the dip. My entire 200+ long mainline is laid on 2" foam, and I've found the dips to actually help the overall look of the layout.

[selector]

So, either way, orient and affix the track to deal with the unleveled rises and falls, or fill the ones you MUST fill with some compound that can be leveled and sanded later as desired.

aAbit of work, but what layout worth doing was ever easy?

[Anonymous]

Anyone tried Gator Foam? It's an extremely strong yet lightweight foam with a wood/plastic veneer and it is very flat. It is kind of expensive but you can get away with a lot thinner piece for the base of the layout. Gator Foam can also be cut/shaped with most wood working tools.

[Bikerdad]

Rather than sanding and leveling the foam, why not just do what the real railroads would do when faced with gently undulating terrain?

Cut and fill just your roadbed.