Possible backdrop idea

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I glued some 3/4" foam vertically to the back side of my benchwork and was just going to spackle the joints, sand it smooth, and pait it. However, I was trying to think of a possible better way to accompli***his. I picked up a 3-pack of illustration board at Staples, tonight, originally just to put a sheet on my workbench to protect the surface, when it gets too beat up, flip over, when both sides are beat up, throw it out and get a new piece. Not cheap, but a lot cheaper than a large size self-healing mat.
Anyway, the edges are pretty well finished, so the pieces fit together very tightly. I stood a couple pieces up against the foam and there really is hardly any gap. Far nicer than the gap between the foam sheets, but there will be more of them.
I’d like to hear what others think or have done. What would YOU do?

–Randy

2

By foam I assume you mean some form of expanded foam like styrofoam. I used white foam and did not fill in the holes. When painted it was no better than the concrete walls that were there before so the voids definitely need filling. I wouldn’t want to assume that the spackling would stay in place since it would not be bonding to the foam. A better way if you had some help may be to glue kraft paper (brown wrapping paper) to the surface for a continuous seemless surface. It comes in large rolls in varying widths. either way I would experiment before committing to a course of action to be sure it would work and I was happy with the result.