New Layout. Instead of putting down one or two layers of (pink) foam, is it feasible to put in three or four layers and then dig canyons and rivers?
Thanks. Sid1425
There is a guy on You tube that shows how he uses a blow torch to cut terrain in his foam base. The heat shrinks the foam and leaving an uneven contour.
EDITED… This link is just a you tube movie. Not a training movie. Take all caution when working with styrene.
Hi Sid1425
I would be very reluctant to use heat near foam even if it is one that has fire retardant qualities.
The fumes given off by the hot foam are toxic which is why hot wire foam cutter instructions say use in a well ventilated area.
I would lay out the pieces mark, cut then stack this allows easy tweaking of shape before fixing down and the plaster going on to give the final shape.
The time spent getting it right in this way is worth it in the long run.
Don’t forget to use one of those giant freight cars to get the track clearances right, hard to adjust once the scene is complete.
regards John
Styrofoam is inflammable and the fumes are toxic. I would certainly not try to shape the foam with an open flame.
Use a cerated knife to roughly shape the foam until it has about the contour you want to have. Smooth the surface with sandpaper or use a knife to give it the cracks and crevices that you desire.
Hi!
Can’t say strongly enough… keep open flames outside and never near your layout.
Feasible, yes, but is it practical? If you’re talking about stacking foam just to make the canyon walls, that’s fine, but I wouldn’t want to build the whole layout on 3 or 4 layers of foam. For one thing, it’s expensive, and it’s also much more difficult to run wires through that much foam.
I am sorry if I mislead anyone with the previous tube link. I had just stumbled onto this thread while flicking through the movies on you tube.
The guy on the movie was using expanded styrene which forms its density by using expanding styrene beads in a confined space. The 2mm beads are toxic in their raw form and vacuum fed into a press and then expanded with high pressure steam. The density of the block is determined by the amount of beads that are fed into the press. The blocks are then cut using super heated adjustable wire nets that have been spaced to the required measurements. During this there are some serious extraction fans working to remove the toxic fumes.To drive your car down wind of this place at the wrong time can give you some seriously sore eyes. The stuff is carcinogenic. This is printed on the MSDS.
I would not advise the burning of any styrene product. Use of any MEK product on the market is even more dangerous to the human body…
Find the hazards, Assess the risk, Make the changes. [;)]
I use a vacuum during shaping of the expanded styrene. I also use a mask. Long sleeves are advisable as well.
The chemicals can be absorbed through the skin. This is also the case with most medium density fibre boards, MDF and most marine ply woods. Its the glue they use to stick the veneers together that is the bad stuff.
Take car of yourself. In the end your health is all you have.[8-|]
well, you just made me have a nervious breakdown…[:)]
[:S]
What kind of railroad are you planning? If it’s flat (prairie land) then cut through your base layer and glue pieces to the underside of that layer to form valley (canyon?) walls. No need to cover the entire area six/eight inches deep just to form one or two stream beds.
OTOH, if, like me, you’re modeling a route with grades (2.5% mainline, 4% to the collieries) running through scenery that has contours like the lower depths of the Grand Canyon, then sheet foam over the entire layout is NOT the best choice (unless you’re one of the Rockefellers.) Consider classic L girder construction, cookie-cut plywood roadbed (with a layer of foam on top) and stacked foam canyon walls, leaving the major part of the landforms hollow. It requires a bit more pre-planning, but will yield a far more satisfactory result.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with steel stud benchwork, cookie-cut roadbed and foam-based landforms)