… Ideally like the pink insulating foam, except they don’t make it at this thickness.
… normal (packaging) Styrofoam … except I could not find it at 3/8" thick and even when painted with latex indoor paint the little “beads” show. Then I need to put a layer of plaster (smooth it) which is a pain To apply and sand.
… Masonite/ply are too hard to cut precisely.
… Foamcore boards
Application is for passenger and (with shim strips) freight platforms, ~6’ long and curved in a number of cases. I am going for concrete look … Modern era
Last time, I used a foam core board (Elmers) but the edges don’t look satisfactory unless covered with plaster (darn!).
I would suggest…pine 1/4 x 1 5/16th’s batten. You should be able to get it at any big box store, what they usually sell is Poplar, little harder to cut than pine, but stronger. You might also find it at a big box store, but I get mine from Staples…is a sheet of Illustration board, usually comes in 24’‘x 30’’ size, two smooth side thin card paper over cardboard, looks like Mattboard, but cheaper. Can be cut with xacto, scissors and is sandable. They are 1/16th thick, put a piece on each side of the 1/4 inch batten…3/8 th’s thick will be the end result. You can put scribe line’s in one surface to simulate concrete freeze lines. I have been using this system a lot on My on going project, but I am fortunate to have a couple table saw’s and cut my own strip wood, starting out with a 1x8 pine board. I have been using Northeastern Flamingo Glue for all of it and the glue is extremely strong, even without clamping…dries in five minutes. Excellent adhesive for any wood/card kit or project.
Use a sharp blade and make shallow cuts. This will usually work without the grain of the board causing the knife tip to wander off course.
This isn’t 3/8" but there was a lot of cutting on the curve when I did the platforms in front of Durango station.
Another trick is to use aircraft plywood laminated to the bottom of the basswood. I use eitherer 1/64" or 1/32" depending on how thick things can be. This keeps the basswood from splitting.
The Illustration board comes that way. Both sides are White smooth paper, with cardstock in the center, laminated together. You can also buy thicker one’s. From the side it looks like 3ply card stock, with two white smooth sides:
With the pine wood sandwiched between the Illustration, it is extremely strong…You would have to put it over Your knee, to break it. And like I said…it You are off a little in Your cutting…it is sandable.
The piece with the cut-out rectangular holes leaning against the illustration board, will be going where the black portion of the backdrop is, extended out over the double track mainline. There will be Merchants row buildings kit bashed/ narrowed to fit against the wall…the tunnel opening is for the street vehicle traffic. The tunnel already has LED lighting in it. That whole area…is designed to be a lift off, in sections. Rix early highway overpass concrete sides will be going around the outside edge of the street.
LION has lots of platforms. Here is corugated cardboard on a 3/4" lump of some sort of stock. The rough edge is very prototypical although this particular station (In New York) has been renovated this year.
I do nok know what you define as easy to cut. LION has access to a table saw, so him can ust a 2x4 into a platform, and then use it to undercut the platform edge.
Railroads have profiles both for the rolling stock and for the wayside, and the platform edge that encroaches upon the “no-man’s zone” must be of “sacrificial material”
This platform used to be a 2x4…
These platforms used to be 2" thick fiberglass roofing insulation, first is was ripped to platform height, and then under cut to form the platform ledge. The top of the platform is decroative and was done on a computer and printed on a laser printer.
I don’t have a table saw! There’s part of the problem but curves is another. I think the 3/8" balsa has promise. I will try that first.
Trying to avoid laminating if I can.
Balsa glues really well, so it’s possible to add an edge strip to create edge relief. At 3/8" you are almost 3 scale feet tall so some profile to the vertical would be cool.
Try www.nationalbalsa.com. They offer sheets of high-quality plywood in 3/8ths, also pieces of various hardwoods in 3" x 3/8ths. If you need a lot, there are several online lumber vendors who will sell you sheets in up to 6-inch widths. Cut them with a handheld power jigsaw using a fine-tooth blade. If you are a masochist you can use a manual keyhole saw.
I strongly recommend against balsa. Its light weight makes it useful for model planes but it has many issues in terms of model railroading.
I usually go with basswood these days. It’s cheaper and stands up to being bumped and stressed better than balsa. Both are virtually interchangeable in most uses, though.
If it was me, I wouldn’t even bother with anything monolithic that would have to be cut. I’d build a form out of styrene and cast it in plaster, in place.
Much of the stripwood you buy for modeling is basswood. For example, Hobby Lobby stocks both side by side locally. The basswood is always cheaper, which I find a good deal because it’s stronger and has a finer grain to my eye.
IIRC, natural balsa stocks are declining, because it’s not farmed, while basswood is, so it gets replanted and plenty of supply. But that’s a very old memory and may no longer apply. YMMV
