is anyone out there using foam underlay? can you tell me if foam underlay can be ballasted? i like foam underlay, but it just looks too unrealistic for me. can it be improved?
Yes
Yes
Yes
I cover it in two ways.
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I put a coat of regular house paint or artist acrylic colors on it. This is very basic but with a few colors of ground foam sprinkled on while still wet and a few trees and bushes it looks ok quickly.
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For better work I use ground goop with ground foam, grasses, bushes, trees and what ever else looks right. It usually takes several coats of grass and bushes and I hold it all on with hairspray. There are several versions of ground goop. Sassi’s is the best but I use, 1/3 premixed lite weight dryway seam compound, 1/3 latex paint of the color I want and a few drops of liquid lysol, 1/3 saw dust of a courseness that suits what I am modeling. When I use saw dust from a rip saw, I strain it some to get the big pieces out. I did leave them in for the plowed field. For a lawn I use sanding dust for a finer look. It takes a lot of mixing. This will keep in a closed container for weeks. I brush that one with an old paint brush. I use a putty knife to fill larger holes. It takes about 24 hours to dry and I can come back and texture it the next morning if I want. With fine saw dust you can also carve stone walls after a day if you put it on about 1/8 inch thick. That ought to give you a start. Practice will refine your skills.
I have ordered “a bunch” of Woodland Scenics foam sub-terrain system material. I am using it all on a plywood base. I haven’t received the material as yet but I am interested to see how it will turn out. I think most of us are on a learning curve with foam becuase it is a realatively new material being used in model railroading.
You can follow the progress on my blog (click the weblog button below.).