Hey, I’m 23 building my first big railroad. I have all of my benchwork done, should I use a complete base of 2" extruded foam board. Or should I just build straight onto the plywood, and build up the landscape and whatnot around the track with the foam board? And how should I go about a base color for my foam board, it is currently pink. [?]
Use the 2" extruded foam.
Read the $500 layout series in MR. You will find the common recommendation to look at miss-mixed latex paint in brown shades to best match the dirt in the area you are modeling. Paint the foam with it.
You should also use some sort of roadbed under your track, I like Woodland Scenics foambed, and use Aleene’s Tacky Glue (Wal-Mart crafts section) to secure it to the foam table and the track to it.
If you build directly on a plywood sheet, you eliminate the ability to easily put in culverts, streams and small depressions below track grade. Using the foam, and some type of roadbed on the foam, you create a base that is easy to cut and alter so you can include below track grade features. Just my opinion, take it for what it is worth.
Tom
The onyl down side is you have a longer length of throw arm for your switch machines.
Randy
I agree with nfmisso. One other advantage of the foam board is that it offers an extra layer of sound insulation. If you lay track directly on plywood, the plywood acts like a drumhead.