That’s it, I’ve had it, I’m done dealing with the mess. No more foam on this layout, no cutting, no carving, no slicing or dicing.
Never again will I pause, exiting the workshop, to dust microscopic styro-grommets from my pants and sleeves, Satan’s lair will freeze over solid before knife meets foam inside or outside of this house. As a matter of fact…
I’m so tired of blue and green and pink and white specks, clinging to the underside of every table, chair, and cabinet, subverting my tools, adhering to cats, infesting the very food I eat, I plan to commence, forthwith, covering every last piece of it up, never to be seen again except in some long forgotten nightmare.
With plaster cloth.
That’s right, the last piece that foul substance is carved and ready for the next step. Some of it is already hidden with plaster and paint.
Dow Chemical, this gravy train has left the station.
That water tank’s history, I just bought it for the spout. The locos will get glossed first, so I can mount the right decals before dullcoating them. In fact all the buildings are only temporary, even the ones you can’t see made out of cigarette packages, they’re just sitting there as markers. For me the fun doesn’t really start till the scenery’s all done and we can get busy scrachbuilding an 1890’s gen-u-wine wild west boomtown.
Ballast…yeah, I better wait on that, still some plaster cloth yet to go, and I’ve been known to drip paint off the brushes too. Getting close though…really looking forward to having at least part of it “completed”.
Foam?? I LOVE the stuff!!![:D] No plaster drippings on the carpet, no lugging around a bag of Hydrocal thats heavier than the Ex anything I want to carry. [;)] I good hot wire tool and some adhesive and I can build any landform I need!! Cover it with dirt paint and ground foam and “presto!” I don’t have a problem with tiny snibbles of foam clinging to anything. Must be lucky I guess!!
See, my layout is modular, and subject to frequent moving. Plaster doesn’t travel well in the trailer…foam bounces!!![:p]
Try cutting foam with one of those inexpensive snap-off-as-you-go razor/utility knives instead of a serrated knife. This way the foam comes off in macroscopic chunks without all the “fuzz”. Just extend the blade out as far as it will go and use a slicing instead of a sawing motion. Try not to put too much side force on the knife, but if you do snap off a blade, just replace it. They’re cheap.
Also hold the nozzle of your shop vac up close when you use a surform tool to catch the worst of the fuzz. Just like everything else, all you have to do is use the right techniques and tools for the job.
The trick with foam is to minimize the use of saws, use the disposable razor knives or hot hot wire tools. When you do have to make a mess with a surform or something , then keep the vacum handy.
I liked planning, benchwork, tracklaying, wiring, foam and plastering, when I started each one. By the time a phase is finished though, I’m usually more than ready to move on. Being an impatient sort, each phase just seems to take so long! A couple months from now, I’ll undoubtedly be tired of building buildings, wishing I could carve some more foam for a change. It’s one of the dangers of leaving Attention Deficit Disorder untreated for so long.
sorry to be boring but… PROTECT YOUR EYES PLEASE! If those blades snap… You can also get work gloves with kevlar in them these days… could be worth it if you are doing a lot of cutting like this… even working a computer is awkward with a gashed hand.
Vacuuming should help but it sounds more like a problem with static electricity. I’ve never known foam bits go that far.
Your loss. Enjoy the wasted money you’ll spend on wood, screws, plaster, screen wire, cardboard, and paper towels.
And enjoy all the time you’ll waste actually working that wood, when you could be laying track and playing trains!
Amd enjoy the time you’ll be wasting mixing plaster, working the plaster, and then cleaning up after the plaster (over a handy utility sink). I’ll run my vacuum for five minutes and be done after all that added carving time.
But to each his own, I suppose. I’m assuming that you’re not building a linear shelf layout, which is where foam REALLY excels.
