I was hoping someone here canhelp with the last item I need to complete my benchwork. It seems everyone is using some kind of insulating foam on top of the plywood. The foam is usually blue ot pink and everyone keeps saying get it at home depot. I have checked home depot and Lowe's but have only found the foam with a metal coating and only white. I got some but could not remove the coating without destroying the foam. If anyone canpoint me in the right direction online or retail would be greatly appreciated.
Can't stop working on the railroad!
Where do you live? That stuff is not much used in the South, where basements are rare and the ground temperature is close to the temperature indoors.
Bob Nelson
I know here in SC I have found the blue and the pink both up to 1 1/2" in thickness which i believe you will want as you want your screws/pins/nails to be able to hold and not go all the way to the plywood under it. I believe if you would ask them they have it your just in the wrong area
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Sorry I live in Southern California.
Thanks I have asked them and this is the only kind they have led me too. They look at me like I have lobsters craeling out of my ears if I ask them for pink or blue.
You may be able to find sound board, It's a fiber like sound absorbing board made by a company called Celotex. This is what I prefer to use.
Here's the link; http://www.blueridgefiberboard.com/pages/soundstop.php
Thanks I heard that they should have this at Lowes but it's not on their website so I will have to go there. Is this stuff shapable like foam?
Yes it is pretty easy to work with. It comes in a dark brown colour that you can use as a base for your scenery. You can also paint it and it holds track screws well.
http://www.blueridgefiberboard.com/pages/soundstop.php
I have used the pink foam (extruded insulation foam). I live in South Georgia, so our max is 3/4". It works well and is great to shape, etc. With regard to Celotex, I have not personally used it, but some folks have mentioned that cutting it can be quite messy. Keep this in mind if you will be doing any cutting indoors. Make sure you have a shop vac available.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Yea, of course you'll create some amount of dust when cutting the soundstop. Painting after your get the cut you want will help seal the edges.
In Michigan the stores and building supply companies carry 1" and 2" thick sheets of Dow Blue and Owens Corning pink expanded polystyrene foam.
If your scenery contours are going to be tall and severe, then several layers of 2" thick foam sheets would be used.
Ask for the DOW Wallmate to see about using those for scenery bases. They have lips on the edges to use them with furring strips. You can press the DOW Wallmates into carefully measured and assembled frames of furring strips.
Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
I guess there is not much of a demand for foam insulation in Southern California. Up north where the snow piles up, pretty common stuff in the home improvement stores. I started with the white foam, terrible messy stuff, switched over to pink, great stuff to work with.
Bill T.
Hi!.... NOT to start that "old" debate BUT why not Homasote instead of foam?
Not everyone uses foam. My layout is cookie-cutter benchwork, with a combination of plaster and ceiling tile scenery. My trackwork is 3-rail tubular on Johnson's rubber roadbed. I am a firm believer in having the right subroadbed, but if the track is properly secured to the platform, and your pike is fully sceniced, there should be little noise.
Foam is great for adding an instant hillside, or covering bare spots. I've always been skeptical of layouts constructed entirely of foam, as there will be an inevitable leaning of body parts across a RR, which may bring the whole house of cards down.
Unfortunately it's too late for that I have attached the foam and peeled the metal sheeting off of it. It left several craters in the foam so I am not sure what route to take. I should have went with my first instinct to just laydown grass matting over the wood. Any ideas?
Work with what you got, see how it goes. Nature is full of dips and holes and craters. You may have founded a new way to do scenery.
I agree with balidas. Turn a negative into a positive. Get a hot foam cutting tool, and work in some culverts, perhaps a pond, a mining quarry, etc. Use household latex paint to bond ground foam to your surface. Trees, lots of trees. When your family asks what they can get you for Christmas, tell them a bag of trees.
I agree Craters are cool. Go with them.
If you were trying to represent the state of Illinois then put your roads over the craters for perfect realism.
J
Kevin
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Simply cover the craters with 3" wide masking tape. Crisscross a few layers and paint both tape and foam with earth colored latex paint. This will seal the tape and provide a base "dirt" color. You can then apply your various ground cover right over this and you'll never know there was a crater.
Thanks I will do just that.
Thank you to everyone who helped me out here. I used the masking take trick and it worked out really well and I finished the ground cover over this last weekend. I will upload some photos later but I couldn't have done it without all your help here.
Thank you for the suggestion. I couldn't find 3 in wide tape but I used 2 inch tape and it really worked like charm. This was a major step in creating my first layout..
You're most welcome. I'm glad I could help. For more tips on everything from bench work to kit building you might want to check out my book: Realistic Modeling For Toy Trains- A Hi-Rail Guide. You can find it get it through Kalmbach books on this site.
http://www.kalmbachstore.com/10-8390.html
Dennis Brennan
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month