I was thinking of using styrene for my backdrop. The walls in my basement are concrete blocks. Does anyone have a good way to attach the styrene to this type of wall? The wall is painted with basement paint and my concern is after some time the paint will wear off and the styrene will fall down. I also cannot put anything up on the wall such as drywall or any major project. Also, does Home Depot sell styrene and if so under what? I can’t seem to find it on their website.
Thanks!
This site has info on many types of plastic including styrene
Have you considered attaching the styrene (a.k.a. plasticard) to the rear of the table? I’ve done this to preserve the surface integrity of the wall or window sometimes.
The use of plasticard can get real expensive if you have to buy a sizeable amount. Have you considered Masonite® or a like material that’s smooth on 1 side?
I’ve always had good luck with 1/16" door skins. They are easy to bend and their smooth surface makes painting easy. They can be secured to the rear fascia of the table (before it’s pushed against the wall) or attached with L-brackets to the table top which are hidden later with scenery.
Another source is
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&category_name=76&product_id=3008
What about foam? I don’t wanna take over your thread, but my layout is on my patio and it has a fair ammount of contraction(1/32"), and I want to use foam as my center backdrop. Is this possible?
Thanks,
Spit
I’ve done the same as conagher, attaching 0.060 styrene panels to wooden slat supports that are screwed to the back of the layout. I didn’t want to take the chance of damaging the playroom walls. Attachment to the vertical slats was done with simple, general purpose adhesive.
And in general, no, Home Depot and other such stores do not carry sheet styrene per se. What you will find in these stores are shower wall/kitchen wall panels, textured one side but dead flat on the other. These are just as good, very reasonably priced and what I’ve used on my layout. The ones I got were full 4x8’s but I think they come in 2x6 panels as well. Sheet styrene suppliers are generally located in fairly urban locations. Some do not deal directly with the public. There were none located within reasonable driving distance (i.e. within the county) in my suburban/rural area.
CNJ831
I’ve ordered from usplastic.com (see Bob W’s post). While I don’t remember the exact cost, it seemed at the time to be very reasonable. While I purchased the large sheets for structures (including shipping it worked out to be a fraction of the cost of Evergreen or Plastrut) I’m definately considering using it for backdrops.
I purchased large .060"sheets at a plystics shop (in fairly large city here) found in Yellow Pages. However, till I found it, I had priced at the internet sites given in your prior responses, and would have bought there. A little cheaper local and I could roll it and put it in the car so no shipping. Reasonable prices really. And makes a great backdrop to paint, very smooth. Fortunately, I was able to build wall studs in front of my block & insulation, and could glue styrene over untaped drywall. Good luck. I think you would like styrene. Hal
Yes. The first N-scale layout I built was a basic dogbone on 2-inch foam. I cut a slot down the middle and slid in a sheet of 1/2-inch foam for a divider. It worked well and no bracing was needed.
Thanks for all the replies! I think what I’m going to do with my layout is attach 1/4" luanboard to the concrete walls with cement board screws and then stick the styrene to that.
Thanks again,
Aaron