foam types

[Anonymous]

well at lleast ive decided i want to use foam on the pending N scale layout thats running around in my brain .

i know of 3 types of foam . the pink the blue and the good old white styro
i once heard there are even 2 types of white . one breaks with little roundish edges and he other will fracture more cleanly straight. come to think of it there is also a browni***an they pack electronics in. it will make some very good looking rocks as i have done it years back. might not even still be available as when it burns it makes cyanide gas. may be banned nowadays
i dont know


i dont know the properties of the other two- the pink and blue either or prices

i also know all foams share two things they dont do well with any petro or solvents. and with a hot knife they are easy to cut.

what do you folks run foam wise and what would you suggest for N scale trains. thanks much , john

[2021]

For your base, use either pink or blue foam of a thickness suitable to your needs. White foam is only good for mountains or hills that will be covered (tends to crumble and can't be carved as well as the pink and blue). As far as carving goes, I use a long bread knife (buy them at the Dollar Store) for most cuts. Fine carving is best done with a variety of sureform tools. For glues there are several choices ranging from white glue, carpenter glue, latex adhesive in a tube, and liquid nails for projects. I'm sure you will get a lot of advice on this topic.
Ron K.

[Anonymous]

im making an N scale layout also. I am using the blue foam and it is very easy to work with. Also, ive started doing some carving into the sides for rock or brick walls and its working great. Ive heard to stay away from the white styrofoam becuase of the way it just crumbles. also it would make a huge mess when trying to cut it and you cant really get a strait cut. hope this helps a bit :)

[Anonymous]

yes it helps a lot . and i thank you . blue board it is for my base then :)

what point are you at on your N layout? can you tell me what plan you decided on or freelanced? id love to hear about it.

best regards, john

[Anonymous]

Please let me know where can I buy blue/pink foam and any brand name will also help me.

[Anonymous]

HI ,
I use the white one for my baseboards ,sometimes I glue a straight piece of metalsheat on both sides( 45mm * 1150 mm ) 1mm thick.
never had any problem with warping some times i bolt them down in the benchwork I use ,Benches 1meter high by 60 cm wide mostly.
very rough benches as my layout is in my garage,but I build the parts at home ,so Im going to make some better benchwork .its mostly like David Barrows ideas .as Im reluctant to go out to the garage ,I rather sit in my livingroom and run some trains :) .

Tomas anderson
Gothenburg
Sweden
Santa Fe N scale

[orsonroy]

I use the pink foam almost exclusively (it's most readily available in northern Illinois, but all of the other foams are also available). I've built two home HO layouts for myself, two N home layouts for friends, and several dozen basic Ntrak modules and module "blanks" using foam. It's great stuff. I never bother cutting with a hot knife or hot wire cutter; sharp hand tools are faster, cheaper, don't emit cyanide fumes, and are more precise to work with.

[jxtrrx]

There is a nice "foam clinic" put together by the Boulder, CO model railroad club at http://bcn.boulder.co.us/recreation/bmrc/bmrcfoamlayoutclinic.htm Everything you ever wantd to know about constucting benchwork, rocks, scenery, etc. with foam.

[Anonymous]

thanks Jack , you guys always got a great link to exactly the info im needing :) best regards,John

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kenneth19usa

Please let me know where can I buy blue/pink foam and any brand name will also help me.

In most parts of the country these are available at Lowe's or Home Depot or large local construction supply places. Some places, like California, it may be difficult or impossible to find due to some environmental restrictions. "Pink" foam, made by Owens-Corning, and "Blue" foam, made by Dow, are the same. Just the color is different. It's 'residential foam sheathing insulation'. They are extruded foams, unlike normal styrofoam (white), and provide a finer grain and greater tensile strength.

Regards

Ed

[Anonymous]

well the locals here in dead oak i mean live oak florida want more for foam than they do for
1/2" bc plywood . ridiculous!

i guess they know that lowes is building a distribution center and store here and they are trying to make it all before the giant takes away their highwayman status.

my gal has pre-op tomarrow so ill get foam from the depot over there. hope they have something thicker than 1"

[Anonymous]

I got lucky, I recently moved to a new town here, and there happens to be a little hardware store that is somthing like 'GoodWill'. Basicly contractors, remodelers, and anyone else with construction materials donate to the place (like goodwill) and they resell the new/used stuff at a fair price.

I found 3 sheets worth (4'x8') of 3" pink foam. It has a few nicks and dings, but hey, Im gonna be cutting, carving and filling annyways ;)

total price, 5$ [8D]

[tstage]

John,

Since you live in Jax, you will probably only be able to find the 1/2" thick extruded foam insulation (EFI). Up north here, we can get it 1/2", 1", 1-1/2", and 2" thick. You can always stack the thinner foam pieces and glue them together to make thicker stock.

Tom

[Anonymous]

i will have to layer the foam to make it to 1.5 or2" home depot totally pissed me off yesterday . i had called them and went thru the customer service phone loop from hades and finally got to their building materails drone to verify they had any foam in stock.

its 77 miles from me to them but my gal had preop over there. so i got up at daylight and removed her wheelchair lift crane so i could fit the sheets into mazda truck bed.

we go to doc and then hospital for total of 10 hours and then off to depot and what do i find no pink no blue only white in 2" grrrrr double grrr i had asked this idiot if they had foams other than white twice and was told yes. even though im about blind and in reality a well sighted cub scout could mop the floor with me i had the cadre of drones spooked. . manager
offered me a discount and a rain check. unhuh right. grrrr!

so no foam for john

also i find my throttle pack is also no good according to LHS only the ac side is . i will double check to verify as i dont think he had his meter set right as he kept fumbling with it and switching. i mean 20 volt dc is the scale we want meter set at for the the dc side of a old golden throttle .

i did decide to start ordering from the net when i find a resonable priced supplier. the LHS wanted 3 bucks for one pack of metal rail joiners and 2 bucks for one pair with leads. at them prices i need a lotto win to make a big loop

ill double check before i say my pack is cooked. so it was a bad day on Possum Central RR

[selector]

That bites, John. I hate it when careless people do things like that to me. I hope you have an occasion to use that discount, at least.

A setback, but not a show-stopper....yes? [:)]

[Anonymous]

right you are Selector. seems customer service is in the toilet nowadays. and it especially irratates me do to the fact im differently abled and most things take much much extra effort
to even try much less get accomplished. that coupled with i have always always went the extra mile for customer even on my own time to make rhem happy. several awards for
customer service here form bizs that never were recognized by the rotary before i showed up. so i do get pissed when folks just want a paycheck and could care less about anything else.

a setback but not stop me. even with no foam i worked on RR . sanded benchwork and painted and fixed woodstove so ill be warm out there. not having any funds makes things very hard but not final. there is always something that can be done without funds.
if you look at it in different ways. even if i had funds there is no MRR supplies within a 100 miles of me. so ill use what i got.. the possum method :)

you know something? seeing the work the newer guys try and do and of course what the vets doalways inspires me every time i come in here. even just seeing acomplismnets
makes johns day guys.

[pushnshove]

Rather than Home Depot or some other big box store, like Lowe's, check with a Contractor's Supply place...like a lumber yard that also sells tools, hardware, etc.. Their customer service is generally better than the minimum wage types you get a Home Depot.