Elevation Changes Using Only Foam Sheathing

[Bay Area Brad]

Good morning -

I'm working on my first layout in"x" amount of years (the stuff that was packed away was wrapped in 1980s newspaper). Way back when, there really wasn't extruded foam to use as a construction material. On this layout, I have my benchwork that is plywood, and I've then used the 1" foam to cover that. On that will go the cork roadbase and the track. The first part I've done is all on the same elevation.

Next, I have designed additional track that starts / runs at that same level, but also climbs to 3+ inches above the other track. I understand the grade rules (trying to keep your climbs less than 3%, etc.) and have planned for that. Here's the question: do I build the higher level plateaus and such completely using foam as the base, allowing for sculpting and other landscape / scenery work? I can think of a couple minuses, but they are minor (needing a longer drill bit to run wire below the benchwork is the major one).

Pros and cons to this design/build approach would be appreciated. I'm at the phase where I would possibly start building my elevation pieces today.

Thanks in advance! Happy Saturday!

[Bay Area Brad]

This didn't actually get published until today (Tuesday) since I'm a newbie and still being moderated. I still am hoping for input from the group. I've had plenty of track work to keep me busy so can be patient a bit. Thanks!

Brad

[MisterBeasley]

I find that pink foam is great for building up terrain.  I use the 2-inch stuff, which lets me use fewer pieces to gain height.  On the other hand, 2-inch foam is tougher to cut.

Mostly, I make the large cuts with a knife and do the trimming later on with a hot-wire cutter.  A hot knife would probably have been a better tool for me, in retrospect, but the tools I've got get the job done.  I have used a drywall saw, but that just made a huge mess.

Some modelers use a rasp file to contour their scenery.  I generally prefer to build the foam into a rough shape and then cover it with plaster cloth.  For the next layer, I use a thin mix of Gypsolite, then paint washes and finally turf, ground foam and static grass.  Yes, it's a long process but I like the results.

This scene is a river bed beneath a bridge, so it goes down rather than up, but the principle is the same.  Here, I've made a base of 2-inch foam fitted the sub-structure of the bridge in place and started to cut the second foam layer.

Using the hot wire, I cut smaller pieces for the river bank and contoured it down.

The bridge superstructure is loosely fitted in place here, but can still be lifted off for access.

Anoter nice thing about foam is that you can easily cut into it.  Here, I've dug some channels into the base, covered the whole scene with plaster cloth and added Gypsolite.  Gypsolite is naturally gray, so I tinted mine with brown acrylic paint here.  The stones are plaster castings using a Woodland Scenics "boulders" mold and Hydrocal casting plaster.

I've added some more castings here and used acrylic paint washes to color parts of the surface.  Since there's water planned, I used darker paints to make the water appear deeper in spots.

Ground turf, clump foliage, tall grass -- there are a lot of scenic materials available.  I used a lot of them in various colors.  It helps to give a more "natural" look to the scene.  I used Envirotex Lite epoxy resin for the "water" in Squirrel Creek that flows beneath the bridge.

Static grass is one of the newer product in the scenery tool bag.  Again, multiple sizes and colors enhance the natural look.  And of course, what else would you expect at Squirrel Creek but a moose?

[mbinsewi]

Everything on my layout was done with various thicknesses of pink board.  I did grade changes using a long serrated knive and a rasp.  I layed out the "cut", and did the "earth moving, and grading" with the knive and rasp.

No plaster on anything, all exposed rock is carved and painted foam.

Mike.

EDIT:  Forgot to ad, keep a shop at your side while working, the rasp, and even the knive does create a mess.

[UNCLEBUTCH]

I don't have a lot of grades;but thire all foam [blue' cause thats what I had on hand]

As stated, just hack,cut,rasp, till you get what you need. You can make nice with drywall mud or plaster

I think Mike ment to say a shop ''vac''

[doctorwayne]

Most of my layout is open grid benchwork, with plywood subroadbed, and plaster-on-aluminum-screen terrain.  
For the partial upper level, it's also open grid, but with a flat 5/8" plywood top.  The track is mostly on either cork or directly atop the plywood.
The last town on the line, just before a staging yard, has an engine terminal, and I needed a ramp to get hoppers up to the dump house for a Tichy coaling tower...



I didn't take any photos during construction, but the elevated area is simply 1" blue extruded foam sheets, stacked and fastened together using construction adhesive meant for foam.  Once the adhesive was fully cured, I rough-cut the sloped shoulders of the ramp area using a utility knife, then used a Stanley Surform to smooth things out and create the ramp...

The foam was painted using flat interior latex house paint, the same colour used on the plaster landforms elsewhere on the layout, but here it was applied without thinning...

I'm going to add an ash hoist near the end of the elevated area, and the foam construction should make it easy to cut the terrain to accommodate whatever design I develop...

Wayne

[mbinsewi]

Thanks UNCLEBUTCH, that's what I meant.  I always seem to think faster than I type.  I catch a lot that I edit right away, but sometimes they get through.

Mike.

[Anonymous]

I used XPS to build the scenery for my smallish Swiss narrow gauge mountain railway layout.

Starting from this:

... adding layers of 1" pink foam:

... creating a terrible mess :

... and finally, after a lot of blood, sweat and tears:

(with a little help from Photoshop adding the backdrop)

[Bay Area Brad]

Thanks for the input gents! Overall it looks like at least a few people use this method. I'll probably start on my elevation work this weekend.

I should also note: I saw a YouTube video when I was poking around on this same subject that showed the user "sculpting" his foam with a small torch. The poster emphasized to do this only in well ventillated areas (obvious to most of us but still needs saying for some peeps) but the final look of the foam was pretty nice over all. I may give that a try as well, since my layout is in the garage and won't kill anyone in the apartment.

Again, thianks for the input!

Brad

[Track fiddler]

Ulrich.    I sat in almost disbelief that the last image was a transformation of the first.  You have a lot of talent and it shows.

[cowman]

I've stopped at construction sites and asked to collect the chunks of unsued foam.  I have enough to build all my mountains out of solid foam, then shape.  You can if you think you do not have enough to do a solid stack you can stack chunks and leave the center hollow for tunnels or whatever. 

I  use various Surform tools to shape the foam.  My rock formations are plaster or Sculptamold  using homemade and purchased molds, I also use crumpled tin foil to make molds.  I am working with a student on his school project and doing the carve the foam technique, so far it looks promising. 

Edit: You can use WS foam risers or fashion your own out of strips of foam,

Good luck,

Richard

[dknelson]

Bay Area Brad

I saw a YouTube video when I was poking around on this same subject that showed the user "sculpting" his foam with a small torch. The poster emphasized to do this only in well ventillated areas (obvious to most of us but still needs saying for some peeps) but the final look of the foam was pretty nice over all. I may give that a try as well
Brad

 

To me the small torch idea is too risky to even consider.  I have used various hot knives/hot wires on foam in well ventilated areas, but after a while it became evident that what I regarded as "well ventilated" was maybe not.  While it creates a mess, various "steak knife" and Stanley Surform suggestions do work (having a vacuum cleaner running nearby as you work to instantly catch the dust and stuff can be helpful, as can having clothes dryer anti-static sheets).

 

Still not sure exactly what it is you seek to do but for elevation changes using foam, don't forget that even the Woodland Scenics risers/inclines (while intended to be subroadbed for track) can also be effect shims for scenic foam placed above it:

 

Since I mentioned shims, don't ignore the wood or plastic shim you can find at a hardware store, either.

 

Dave Nelson

[bibbster]

Brad, you don't need a long drill bit to get down through the foam and plywood. Work the other direction. Drill your plywood from the underside, then use a bamboo skewer, long screw driver, or anything else rigid, and push it up through the foam.

[Bay Area Brad]

Sure...come up with this after I buy the 12" long drill bit!

Definitely a good idea though! I'll keep it in mind!

Brad

[bibbster]

Sorry. Before you go buying stuff again, message me first! lol