Is there anything wrong with using molded packing styrofoam for molding hills and mountain sub-structures?
Are you talking the stuff made of beads? It does get messy if you cut or shape it. It's also not generally as structurally stout as the pink or blue extruded styrofoam, depending on what it's molded into. So if you can stand the messiness, it can be used if properly supported.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Beads? Yeah, probably. It does get messy. Itʻs just that I have a ton of this stuff. And I want to keep my "messiness" down on my new layout. Where do I find the pink or blue extruded styrofoam?
I will be using Sculpamold. And who sells that?
THX
kenben ... Where do I find the pink or blue extruded styrofoam?
... Where do I find the pink or blue extruded styrofoam?
Home Depot sells it in 4' x 8' sheets at least up to 2" thickness. They also sell 2' x 2' project sheets but I've only seen them in 1" thickness.
kenbenI will be using Sculpamold. And who sells that?
Walthers stocks it; you can order it from any Walthers conected hobby shop.
https://www.walthers.com/search/mode/list?q=sculptamold
MB Klein / Model Train Stuff also has it
https://www.modeltrainstuff.com/search?search_query_adv=sculptamold
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Thanks for the sources. Iʻll check my local Home Depot since thats where Iʻll be getting all my lumber for the benchwork.
My Home Depot has plenty of R-7.7 Rigid Foam Insulation boards.
Question #2: 1/2" or 3/4" 4x8 plywood for my sub-roadbed? Scale is HO.
An alternative to using foam, which requires you fill the volume of the mountain, is cardboard strips connected with hot glue and a basic frame work to hold it up.
I went a little dense on the cardboard - you don't have to.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I used the pink foam for my mountains -- easy and fast. I bought a 4' X 8' X 1" sheet at Menards for $18 on sale.
I don't live near any hobby stores, so I ordered Sculptamold from Walmart. It took two days, but shipping was free if I picked it up from the store.
I'm fairly new to railroading, but I'm sold on Sculptamold. It's easy, dries quickly, dries hard, can be sanded and shaped, and dries very lightweight.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
Nice thing about cardboard strips is they are basically free since you can cut up boxes. The hot glue is a few bucks for a bag full of them. Very little mess that you would have carving away the foam that cost $18 a sheet on sale.
riogrande5761 An alternative to using foam, which requires you fill the volume of the mountain, is cardboard strips connected with hot glue and a basic frame work to hold it up. I went a little dense on the cardboard - you don't have to.
I see that. I tried similar once. I have tried using paper mache over it but as that dries it lifts up and snags the trains. You should keep your mountains well back from the trains. Let us assume that there is a service road next ro the tracks on the mountain side.
Yes, paper mache cracks, but you are going to be putting ground cover over that so the point is moot.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLionI see that. I tried similar once. I have tried using paper mache over it but as that dries it lifts up and snags the trains. You should keep your mountains well back from the trains. Let us assume that there is a service road next ro the tracks on the mountain side.
Whether you use foam (more expensive) to create the landscape morphology or cardboard strips, you still need to cover it with something.
I used plaster cloth and if you by it on Amazon, you can get it a lot cheaper than what the model train scenery companies charge. It doesn't curl up. An easy way to apply it is to use a paint pan, like you use with paint rollers, and fill it half full with water. Then you can dip the plaster cloth in and lift it, momentarily let it drip and then apply.
Minimal mess and it doesn't curl.
I use the blue or pink styrene foam as many have stated is less messy. Another advantage is you can glue layers together. However, if you have a tunnel going through the mountain I leave the first layers at top of tunnel unglued so the entire mountain top can be temporarily removed to access track work and derailment should they occur.
In one of the old Kalmbach books (I can't remember which one, I would need to go through my stack), I kinda remember one author using bead foam as a support for rolling hills. He covered it with plastered towels/cloth, if I remember correctly. But I agree with the others, if you want to create mountains (vs. hills), you are better off using cardboard strips or blue foam. Plastic or wire mesh covered with plaster or plastered towels is another option.
Simon
riogrande5761Whether you use foam (more expensive) to create the landscape morphology or cardboard strips, you still need to cover it with something.
Say's who? I didn't cover my foam I just carved and painted.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Gordon Odegard used white styrofoam bead-board when he built the legendary CLINCHFIELD railroad in N scale.
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The results were excellent. If you review old issues of Model Railroader that containednthis series, you can find the best instructions I have ever seen that were written for this material.
I believe he used a Stanley Surform rasp to shape the hills and mountains. It must have made an amazing mess, but it cleaned up I am sure.
If you have plenty, you sure could use it.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
You might consider this approach..........
Cut the styrofoam (try a bread or other serrated knife) into the general forms of the hill/mountain/whatever you are wanting. Then, get a large bowl and make a plaster soup in it. Regular plaster will work great. You may want to add a little color (brown/grey/?) to it so chips won't show up as bright white later on.
Have a roll of good quality paper towels and submerge them one at a time in the "soup", and then drape them over the styrofoam base. Let it set up, and then apply another coat of plaster impregnated towels over it.
When that sets up, then you can add regular plaster or "whatever" and build in the rock formations and details.
I've used this method on two sizeable layouts with (IMO) success.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Cardboard is old school but it has worked since the beginning of time. I want to keep the overall weight as low as possible as this will be moved a few times.
BATMANSay's who? I didn't cover my foam I just carved and painted.
Sez me because MOST photos of foam carved and painted look like foam carved and painted. Probably because most do a rough job if carving and use other materials to cover the foam.
Plenty of ways to make mountains. I use extra 2" foam stacked on top of each other.
Another idea is stackng 2x4' long rectangular celing panels:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/USG-Ceilings-Radar-2-ft-x-4-ft-Lay-in-Ceiling-Tile-64-sq-ft-case-R2310/203628901
kenben I will be using Sculpamold. And who sells that? THX
When I was still building lots of mountains, I just got Sculptamold in the 50 lb bag. I found the best price was generally through Dick Blick, which is an art supply outfit with stores across the country as well as a good online ordering system. They're quick, also, generally it arrived within a couple of days in a big burlap bag.
One big advantage I found with using pink or blue extruded styrofoam is that you can make most of your scenery removable. That's what I did on my Cascade Branch. This makes wiring and setting up turnout controls, etc very easy. For more on that, see my Cascade Branch thread.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/219241.aspx?page=1
Michaels craft store is one place I found it locally - you can get coupons as well.
Around here Jo-Anne Fabrics ETC. is the most reliable supplier for Sculptamold.
Sculptamold is made by AMACO, which stands for American Art Clay Company. The product is usually found in art supply stores.
Pink insulation foam and a Sculptamold cap has worked well for me. Just carve the foam, plop the Sculptamold plaster on top; let it dry a little bit so its workable then just go at it with a hobby knife. To paraphrase a quote from a Disney theme park book I read a while back "to carve a rock, think like a rock" and the results come out pretty good. Study some geology of the area and do some field trips to visit some rocks to get a grasp of what the shapes should be like.In my opinion some older methods like paper-mache just don't look good. It makes the rock wall look less like a chunk of rock that has been eroded and broken over the years and more like a pile of wrinkly gooey slop just poured onto a mountain and left to dry. Plaster in its various forms has that hard look to it, and it chips apart very similar to real rock giving it a nice form.
xboxtravis7992 Pink insulation foam and a Sculptamold cap has worked well for me. Just carve the foam, plop the Sculptamold plaster on top; let it dry a little bit so its workable then just go at it with a hobby knife.SNIP ...Plaster in its various forms has that hard look to it, and it chips apart very similar to real rock giving it a nice form.
Pink insulation foam and a Sculptamold cap has worked well for me. Just carve the foam, plop the Sculptamold plaster on top; let it dry a little bit so its workable then just go at it with a hobby knife.SNIP
...Plaster in its various forms has that hard look to it, and it chips apart very similar to real rock giving it a nice form.
The longer I work with Sculptamold, the better in terms of making it looks like rocks as well as other landforms. It's just so easy.
However, I still use plaster when I want something detailed like real rock. I cast the "rock" separately in WS, or other custom molds. Then I cast plaster in them. Once dry, you just need to wet the backs, slap some Sculptamopld on them and embed them in the overall scene. There's some of that in my Cascade Branch thread.
If you leave a spot for them, you can do this over dry Sculptamold, but be sure and wet the surface of the dry to help the wet adhere. I like to blend the molded rocks in while the Sculptamold is still wet. Be aware if you're staining your rocks tha Sculptamold takes up stain differently than plaster, so don't get smudges of it on your castings. If you use paint, not such a big deal, but neatness pays off IMO regardless.
Finally, you can also cast rocks from Sculptamold in the same molds used for plaster rocks. It takes up fine detail and is much lighter, which can be a big factor on portable layouts.