Extruded foam board and instant water????

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello all,

I’m thinking of ripping out the river with the trusty jig saw,raising the elevation,with foam board. My question is this…will instant water eat the foam board ?

Patrick

2

I know that some of those water compounds do interesting things with foam. A friend made his canal and covered it with plaster, but a few cracks in the plaster allowed the water mix to get at the foam board. So be quite thorough.
Test a bit on a scrap of foam.

3

[#ditto] Do the rough work, and then line the channel with wood putty or plaster. I used the powdered wood putty (made into putty, of course), and let it dry after I had spread it thin and made a little lip up the sides of the “banks”. It painted very well, after which I used a two-part epoxy.

4

WS Realistic Water is foam safe. Enviro-Tex epoxy is suppose to be foam safe, but best to test it first.

Nick

5

Thank you guys…I quess that would make sense,test the water before you jump in…so to speak.Thank’s again for your input.

Patrick

6

Enviro-Tex is foam safe in the sense that it didn’t eat away at my foam… But I wasn’t happy with the bond. I’d consider lining any watercourse with plaster, etc. first before pouring your “water” - similar to priming a wall before painting. Just my 2c worth…

7

Thanks kchronister for the bit about the bond between foam and Envirotex. Lurking in the forums, I have read that the Woodland Scenics water doesn’t seem to consistently produce results as good as Envirotex, so I am getting Envirotex. But I was about to just paint and pour on the foam. Now I’ll fully build out the water “bed” before pouring. Thanks again.

yours in pouring water
Fred Wright