My layout uses much of a medium sized bedroom. In order to get at an outside window, a closet and my workbench, I had to build the whole layout on rollers so it is movable.
A planned yard, measuring 2 ft. X 6.5 ft., is on 3/4 in. plywood over a frame of 1 in. X 4 in. lumber, with crossmembers on 16 in. centers, more or less.
Right now, the baseboard is 3/4 in. plywood, and that has made the layout significantly heavier to move.
I’d like to know if you think using 1/4-inch plywood with 1/2 in." foam would be structurally strong enough to not warp? In HO scale, the trains, track and structures are not the concern.
If you use a quality 1/4" birch ply and bond the 1/2" foam and weight until dry, you should have no problems at all. Try to find the ply at a lumber yard not HD crap. Not sure if HD or Lowes even has 1/4 in birch.
1\4 in. ply is a bit thin…even if you have a super dry area for your layout, it will warp,especially if you put a lot of glue on it to hold down the foam. If it were me, I’d use at least 1\2 in. ply and make sure it was screwed down really well.
[#ditto] I used 1/4" ply with 1/2" foam overtop for my N scale layout. While it is pretty lightweight, it did warp a lot. If I were to do it over again I’d use at least 1/2" plywood.
Why would not 3/4 in foam work without any ply underneith. It is way more stable than ply. unless you plan to crawl on top of it, in which case you will need 3/4 inch ply. I have some small 2 x 8 areas supported by just 1/2 foam laying on the stringers, but I don’t recomend that.
My last layout was 1/4" plywood with 1/4" foam on top on 1x3’s on 12" centers boxed with 1x4’s. It held up great even after many years, but my layout room is climate controlled. My new layout is the same. I model N scale and my layout is not perminant. Your milage may vary.
Where did you buy the ply and what type. 1/4" AC in pine or fir or even 1/4 luan can warp. A “quality” birch should not warp unless exposed to very severe moisture.
1/2". At the very least, 3/8". I work with 1/4" birch plywood 5 days a week and I’ve seen it do some pretty strange things. Of course, I’m in Louisiana, it may act differently whereever you are. Here, it’s very humid and wet. That, with the heat, can make some very interesting warps, and that’s with the wood being indoors.
I aint that far from you here in Arkansas. You wont believe what wood will do when left unattended this time of the year.
I see Birch 1/2 inch and am attracted to it. But is there a specific grade I need to ask for? I used to supply Lowes and Home Depots years ago with a variety of wood products off a flatbed and cannot remember all of the codes to seperate the intended use of the wood.
What will be the code I need to look for with wood that is intended for Interior “Cabinet grade” high quality finish and resistance to warp etc.
I use 2-inch foam. Period. No warping, no laminating needed, very lightweight. Using WS foam roadbed, I find it no noisier than cork on ply, etc. YMMV.
Reducing weight is good, but also use big wheels for rolling the layout. I have found that using 4" wheels makes things easy to roll. If the layout is really heavy you might want 6" or 8" wheels. The smaller wheels especially if you have carpet don’t work well.
I used 2X4 ceiling tiles laid on 4X1’s that were widthwise on my 2 foot wide shelf layout. The yard is about 15’ long and is 5 years in operation without any problems. It is a basement layout with climate control in the great lakes areas, very humid summers! The only probelm was during scenicking as it soaked up a lot of water and took longer to dry, still with no warping. Next time I would seal it first. Good luck.