This is probably been discussed 1,000 times.
I've heard and read, "Hydocal", regular Plaster, Foam and others miscellaneous materials.
Foam or styrofoam seems it would be weak & cheap in holding it's color or having much structual strength.
Any type of foam is fine as long as you cover it in plaster cloth which you can buy for $1.00 a roll.
Model RR is GoodThis is probably been discussed 1,000 times. I've heard and read, "Hydocal", regular Plaster, Foam and others miscellaneous materials. Foam or styrofoam seems it would be weak & cheap in holding it's color or having much structual strength.
All of the above or what ever floats your boat. You can also use several methods on the same layout if you're into experimenting. Here is a link to a video on foam. I think you tube must have tutorials on most methods. Have a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1D4KBB_GC4
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Model RR is Good I've heard and read, "Hydocal", regular Plaster, Foam and others miscellaneous materials.
Well, foam is generally used as an interior structural material, while plaster and Hydrocal are exterior coatings.
Model RR is GoodFoam or styrofoam seems it would be weak & cheap in holding it's color or having much structual strength.
The foam most of us use is the pink or blue "extruded styrofoam" used in home construction. It's very light and stiff. Since it comes in pink and blue, I really don't care if it "holds its color," since I cover it anyway. Foam can be carved and painted very nicely, and if you do it well it makes very nice cliff faces. I have a number of molds which I use for these, so I cast my rock faces in Hydrocal and apply them to the sides of the hills.
I use scrap pieces of foam to form the basic shape of hills. Then I smooth out the gaps and square edges with plaster cloth. Next, I coat the whole thing with a skim coat of Gypsolite, a "gritty" plaster which adds a rough texture. After that, paint and ground foam complete the surface. Add trees and the occasional moose and you're done.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
So you cover the foam with some type of plaster, now that makes sense.
Using your explanation of the white and pink colors of the foam,I was concerned about the "pink or white" natural color of the foam showing through after a while, like I've seen on some model scenery, OR, little white or pink "crumbs" of foam coming off and getting in the trackwork, or around the layout.
Also, "Batman", thanks for the link to youtube which seems to be quite a good source of model RR construction information, but might put the model RR videos sold in hobby shops out of business.
My train room also serves as a laundry room, office and guestroom, so I just can´t mess it up the way I would like to
For this very reason, any "messy" or "dusty" material is out of question. Working with plaster is a messy and watery affair, so I had to turn to using foam. It can easily be shaped and carved and joints can be covered or filled with a non-solvent based putty. Nice and light-weight also - my layout needs to be portable.
If you use foam, stick to the pink or blue extruded foam, don't use the white expanded foam. The white foam is electrically charged and goes everywhere and sticks to everything, the pink and blue act more like saw dust.
Using plaster on top of foam seems to me to defeat the whole purpose of using foam in the first place. You can carve just about any texture into the foam you want. I use spray foam in a can (Great Stuff) to fill cracks and gaps. I even use spray foam along the edge to glue 2 layers together that are to be carved into rock faces/cliffs, this eliminates the "seams" between layers of foam.(no plaster needed). After carving is completed, everything is sealed up with a coat or two of latex paint. for areas requiring texture, such as rocks and cliffs, I add texture (the same stuff you use for painting textured walls - it comes in different grades) to the paint. This gives you a good base for the rest of the scenic materials.If you need to make changes, you don't have to chop or saw through layers of plaster and/or plaster cloth with the ensueing plaster dust and mess contaminating adjacent finished areas.
Latex paint sticks to the foam very well and when you bump into the foam, it's more likely to just bounce back with no visible damage as opposed to plaster, which when bumped often chips and leaves the visible white plaster behind. I also use matte medium or Aleenes Tacky Glue, both of which stay fleixible (and won't crack) to glue down ground foam etc.If I have to use some "plaster" for any final shaping or blending in special rock castings, I use lightweight vinyl spackling, which makes a stronger bond to the foam and won't crack or separate. I'm still on my second quart of spackling on layout that is 12x23.
These techniques were devoloped building custom layouts at Dunham Studios.
My point is that just like switching from solvent paints to acrylic paints requires some new techniques and methods, the same is true for working with foam. If you're going to use plaster, you may as well use cardboard webbing or screen to shape the scenery and save the expense of the foam.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
Trouble out here is that sometimes the blue or pink is not available and for mountains the white stuff is free. I use WS hot wire to cut it to rough shape and plaster cloth as a finish, for realy rough cuts you can cut it with a saw and you won't get much clingy white beads. I don't know about the spackling as I haven't tried that but the other works great and you can add more or carve away if you get too much. You will notice that WS uses white stuff!
Mountains can be cardboard and screen. Hills can be foam or wadded up newspaper. I cover mine with used dryer softener sheets dipped in cheap plaster O paris. They don't tear like paper towels do.You can also use something like Claycrete for texture.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/amaco-claycrete-instant-papier-mache/
Re: Best Mountain / Hill Material for Permanent Scenery?
Modellers have used many materials over the years, including foam, plaster, and heavy paper. However, the word "permanent" is a relative term here: the great John Allen used concrete to form some of his mountains (which also supported part of his house) and neither even exist today.
Wayne
doctorwayne Re: Best Mountain / Hill Material for Permanent Scenery? Modellers have used many materials over the years, including foam, plaster, and heavy paper. However, the word "permanent" is a relative term here: the great John Allen used concrete to form some of his mountains (which also supported part of his house) and neither even exist today. Wayne