can white foam packing that comes with t/vs be used to build hills and ridges
Yes. We built nearly all of the mountains on our HO scale club layout out of those white foam packing blocks by stacking them up, glued together with caulking compound, trimmed where desired, draped with old towels, and then plastered.
You can see the results at http://members.cox.net/cacole2
yes . most people use the blue or pink because it isn’t as messy to work with , and has a finer ‘grain’ , but if you’re plastering over it there should be no problems
be aware that white , pink , or blue foam all are very flammable and the fumes released are dangerous , also some glues and paints contain solvents that dissolve the foam , again releasing dangerous gases .
I’d stick with pink or blue foam for the base, though. The white stuff doesn’t have the tensile strength, so it won’t give you the strong, solid support the others will. For hills and ridges, though, it should be fine.
Just curious, has anyone used the R-Tech expanded foam sheets sold at Home Depot and Lowe’s? Was wondering how that stuff works compared to the extruded foam. Much easier for me to get to Home Depot compared to traveling a far distance to obtain the extruded stuff. Thanks, Steve
I’m not sure where you live but in most localities (maybe excepting California) Lowe’s and Home Depot sell extruded foam. I know I got mine there.
Regards
Ed
HOnestly (no, that’s not an error [:-^] ), any type of foam will do what you need it to do, despite their several properties. It is just that the extruded stuff is somewhat easier to cut, to break cleanly, to shape cleanly, and to work with generally. But all of them, with some determination and patience, will do what you want it to do.
I can’t say that the expanded foam, or bead-foam, will look great painted… at least with one coat of latex. But, with added ground cover, it should be fine.
I’m in Phoenix and Home Depot and Lowe’s only carries “R-Tech” Expanded Foam Sheets. Only one other place a distance away from me carries extruded foam sheets, though in oddball sizes. Just wanted to know if anyone was familiar with the R-Tech stuff. Thanks, Steve
Sorry about the assumption. I did a quick Google search and came up with this thread talking about using foam. Some of the posts reference using R-Tech. you have to scroll down a few posts to get to the part talking about R-Tech. Sounds okay.
http://forums.privateerpress.com/lofiversion/index.php/t53214.html
regards
Ed
I have to agree with crandell. If you are going to be plastering over the foam the type is irrelevant. true the bead board is messier but one plus is that it is easier to shape any wanted contours. you can simply rub the stuff to the desired shape. Besides, who’s afraid of a little mess?
Don’t forget, white bead board is usually much cheaper then the extruded pink or blue stuff.
Nick Brodar