Has anyone used the cheap type of foam as the support for mountains and hills? I’m talking about the type used a packing material and in cheap picnic coolers. This stuff wold be easier to cut and shape than extruded foam insulation. I’m thinking of covering it with plaster.
Yes, it has been used. However, cutting and shaping it is very messy — you’ll have little white balls all over the place and they are very difficult to clean up since they stick to everything (with static electricity).
Timothy,
Good point. Thanks again.
…Jeff
Dave Frary recommended this type of scenery construction - along with a can of “Great Stuff” expanding foam to glue everything together and fill in the gaps.
The trick to shaping the “beadboard” white styrofoam is to use either a really, really (really!) sharp knife, minimizing tear-out, or use a hot wire cutter. If you use the hot-wire be sure to have adequate ventilation.
I have heard that misting the foam with water and/or spraying your arms with static guard also help keep the mess down, although I have not tried either. Keep your shop-vac nearby too, and run it often!
Andrew
I used beadboard many moons ago. It worked great for scenery, but it was messy to carve. I tried Static Guard and the like, but the beads still clung to everything. I just kept the shop vac running most of the time. However it is more fragile then the extruded foam.
Nick
Hi jl464
This is pretty much the cheapest form of scenery.
cut your shapes so you end up with a stepped hill like the war gamers
use glue an tack the first one down use PVA wood glue glue your next layers
on holding it all together with cocktail sticks then place a house brick or two
on top while it drys you now have a white stepped hill.
For cutting the foam as has been stated a razor sharp knife or hot wire.
when using a hot wire do it out side and don’t breath in the fumes they are not good for you and the effect is cumulative your body cannot get rid of the poisons in the fumes.
For the plaster coating do it in layers mixing cheap plaster as per instruction and put a squirt or two of PVA in it this helps stop it cracking and makes sure it will stick.
The other thing that will happen is the drying time increases so it can be worked a little longer.
On the last coat put a squirt or two of PVA glue and cheap primary school paint in
the plaster in a green or earth tone add the glue and primary school paint before adding water.
It will end up too runny if you do not do it in that order.
Also you will need more primary school paint than you think for the colour this top coat will take even longer to dry and as it drys the colour will lighten before letting it dry finish it off with an old paint bru***o get as smooth a finish as possible as this is the last coat of plaster before the scenic treatments.
The idea of the paint is so if it chips it doesn’t show the white of plaster.
Once you think the last coat is dry leave it a further 24 hours just to be sure
other wise you could end up with a green soil patch in the hill instead of a soil coloured one in the middle of all that grass and wild flowers.
It also looks pretty good while waiting for the scenery to be vegetated much better
than white plaster.
It is best used on rolling hills and soft contours rugged hills need some thought
to get the p