Foam or Hardshell

The right answer depends on how you work and think best. Either method can produce decent results, and neither is “better” for a particular type of scenery.

I HATE foam. Absolutley hate working with it. I have a hard time picturing what I’m doing with it and don’t like messing around with visualizing how to stack the sheets and fighting all the staticky little foam chunks that are a by-product of cutting foam. It’s much easier for me to visualize when building up the landforms with cardboard strips in preparation for hardshell. Until you build some scenery of your own you won’t know what you’ll like.

I LOVE foam, and though I used plaster for almost 50 years, I will not use it again. Being a rock collector, I have a lot of real rocks on my layout, and just digging a little hole and hot glueing them in is a breeze. I have 100 foot white pinetrees and they planted great in the foam. Where I have some in the old plaster it is a constant problem. Learn foam from the beginning and you may well love it as much as I. Also if you make a mistake, just hot glue a piece in the hole and start over. I also like painting the foam better than painting plaster.

I love foam!

Now to finish the statement (problems with IE9). I use beaded foam carved to rough shape with a WS foam cutter and covered it in plaster cloth. In fact I have built a canyon with rock casting walls (they don’t weigh much if thin cast).

I agree with Rob. I have a hard time visualizing ahead of time with foam but my “mind’s eye” sees hardshell’s finished look ahead of time as I’m working. In hardshell one is adding to the “big picture” while foam “reveals” it’s “big picture look” as material is removed-much like stone sculpture. Different folks visualize this process in different and opposite manners. Maybe that will determine which method appeals to you best. Heck, I have a hard enough time imagining ahead of time what the rock mold’s rock will look like when looking (backwards) into a mold! I would consider foam only if I had a movable or modular layout for the weight savings.