Building Landforms With Foam

[nickl02]

Has anyone ever made any scenery with the insulation foam that can be sprayed onto whatever surface it is needed on? I saw this being used on a home remodeling show and though that it could be used to make unique and distinct landforms on the layout. Please respond if you know anything about the material and where it can be obtained.

[ondrek]

there was a post about this stuff a while ago on here. What i remember being said was that it was possible to use, but that if you try to cut and shape it after it has set, that you have to remember that there might be some big bubbles inside of the expanded foam. big air pockets are all over inside of it.

Kevin

[chateauricher]

I suspect you'll find that most spray foam products, while great at filling up space (like cavities in the wall you want to insulate); are not so good at holding their shape. I don't think they're firm enough to hold up anything else either (like trees, buildings, etc.). You'll just end up with a soft, maleable, shapeless mess.

On an episode of BBC-Canada's "Trading Spaces", a designer tried to use such a product to decorate some standing floor lamps to look like stone. The foam was so soft it just collapsed under its own weight and he ended up with a big mess. Needless to say, he abandoned his idea, and went with Plan B.

[selector]

There are crack filler spray foams that have various rates of expansion. They are great for that purpose, but they tend to get very hard...in my experience, and are therefore difficult to shape or carve. They are also very sticky and a bi__h to work with when just out of the can.

I'd give it a miss.

[Anonymous]

I used "Great Stuff" foam sprayed into crumpled plastic grocery bags put inside boxes. After it set, there were lots of great shapes to cut off for cliffs, rock faces and general rolling scenery. See my Scenery page at my website for examples.

http:/trainweb.org/dvwrr