About to build a small, along-the-wall, shelf type of layout, I'm looking for inputs about choosing between homasote or foam panels to go on top of a plywood base. <br> <br> My layout will be mostly flat.<br> <br> <u><strong>Homasote Pros and Cons</strong></u><br> <br> 1. I can get 4'x8' 1/2" sheets at the local (Northern San Diego, CA) Home Depot. I like this size because it matches the plywood.<br> <br> 2. Not expensive.<br> <br> 3. I understand Homasote makes an awful mess when cut, but I'll do that outside (at least for the main cuts). Cuts indoors would be a big since layout will be in a carpeted home office full of things that I'd rather not coat with dust. There will be drilling for wiring holes. Maybe more cuts later as urge to change comes along.<br> <br> 4. Homasote certainly deadens sound well.<br> <br> <br> <strong><u>Foam Panel Pros and Cons</u><br> </strong><br> 5. My Home Depot was some foam panels. They come in 4x8 sheets but I think they might be the wrong stuff. They are white and kind of bumpy. I think I want the blue or pink kind, right?<br> <br> 6. Where do you find this stuff? Where in San Diego??<br> <br> 7. Foam panels are easy to carve and cut with a hot wire or hot knife.<br> <br> 8. If I get panels smaller than 4' x 8' then I will have lots of seams. I have to make sure they aren't visible, so looking for inputs about doing that.<br> <br> 9. Foam is lighter than homasote. Not sure if this will be significant factor, but having sections easier to carry up and down stairs would be a plus.<br> <br> 10. With foam, I imagine I could more easily avoid the totally flat look by carving in ditches and such here and there after things are installed indoors. Homasote might deter me from that. Opinions, comments, inputs???
I'm a big fan of the foam. Lightweight, doesn't warp. You can lay track (with caulk) directly onto the foam for yards / sidings, or put cork on top & then track. Very easy to carve / shape (but a MESS: keep vacuum handy!). Here's my layout: I tried Great Stuff to stick it all together. Don't recommend. Caulk works better & easier to carve / paint when done. Here's sculpted & first coat paint: The other benefit of foam is scenicing: takes paint fine, and very easy to plant trees. Just poke the foam with a T-pin then plant: And if you want to change anything later, you just cut with a steak knife: Attach plaster rock castings with caulk & you're good to go. I looked around at some S.D. Home Depot's and they seem to have only the 1/2" 4'x8' sheets. So, depending on how deep you want your terrain, you just caulk sheets together. (Takes a couple of days for the caulk to cure, as there's not much air between layers: I'd wait a week to make sure). Or, you can search for 2" sheets. I know they have them in L.A. Go to the Home Depot site, make your local store your "home store" and then search for Owens Corning Foamular 2" sheets. Click "check availability" and it should come up with a list of stores that carry it in your area.
What scale? You really don't need Homasote unless you\re modeling HO and larger and planning to handlay your track (Homasote makes a great base for spikes). Otherwise, if you're not handlaying, it's not necessary. Fomam is much easier to cut and shape.
Foam Panels From reading many posts, I gathered: The extruded type of foam is pink or blue. Extruded foam is stronger than the expanded type (EPS - expanded polystyrene) Extruded type of foam is largely preferred my modellers. EPS may be great for insulating a home, but it does not have much compression strength. Using EPS as the base for hard shell scenery would be fine because its strength is not needed after the shell hardens. But using it as subroadbed seems a little less than desirable. Extruded foam's small cells and smoother surface would seem to be more appropriate for subroadbed of large flat areas like a yard. I have tried to find extruded foam panels at San Diego Home Depot's. I am encouraged to hear you have it, but thus far, all I can find at Home Cheapo are white EPS panels. There seem to be regional differences about whether a Home Depot carries extruded foam panels. All of the manufacturers of extruded panels tell you Home Depot has it. The EPS stuff is tempting. My local Home Depot sells 4' x 8' 1/2" sheets for only $6.95. This would seem to be a lower cost than the extruded pink or blue stuff and may explain why it's easy to find. Can anyone please inform me of a place in San Diego County that definitely has the pink/blue foam panels?
I am using Foamboard with Homabed. Homabed is Homasote in strips like cork. It comes in curvable and non-curvable strips. I prefer the 60 degree profile that is available with homabed vs cork. I am also handlaying my track but with ploybound glue instead of nails. You can get Homabed at www.homabed.com. Good luck finding the pink or blue foam.
Owens Corning Foamular is what you want. It's pink. The white stuff is no good, IMHO. Too flaky, doesn't take paint well, etc. If you do a search at the Home Depot website, it will tell you which stores have it. Then you call to make sure they have it before you drive out there.
Hi Bill, Welcome to TrainBoard! Please take a moment to post an introduction of yourself in the member introductions area. Really? I highly recommend using Great Stuff to stick foam to foam. I thought it was WAY easier work with, and carved/painted exactly like it was part of the pink stuff. Great Stuff also expands to fill in gaps between layers/blocks of the extruded foam, reducing the need to Spackle or fill in holes later, but that's more for mountain sides than just flat base layouts.
I know: and you did a fab job with it! I just found my rasp getting caught up on the Great Stuff seams, making it harder to carve. Then, the paint wouldn't take like foam, so I had to spend a lot of time spackling. Then painting again. I did like how it totally blew up and filled all my cracks. Got it on my hands (they DO say use gloves, but did I listen?) and my hands were nice, yellow & insulated for a couple of weeks. If you have LOTS of foam (like Mark), Great Stuff is great. Especially if you're going to use the whole can. For a couple layers, smaller pieces, I'm "sticking" with caulk.
I've just completed my second layout using the pink extruded foam (2" thick). Coming from my first layout which was heavy particle board, it was like I'd died and gone to heaven. So yeah, I like it and the way you can carve it up and make rivers and valleys....and yes mountains. I don't see myself going any other direction as far as a base for a layout goes. I have no experiece with homasote so can't comment on it.
One tip for cutting Homasote, Use a box knife with a SHARP blade. Cuts easy, and no mess If you go the foam route, you don't really need any plywood under it, It will support itself nicely. Just use cheap shelf brackets, or make foam brackets like I did......Mike
Bull, See if you can get a hold of one of the Freemo club in CA. They use the 2" pink stuff. Here a link to there Yahoo site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-mo I like using Loctite Power Grab to glue foam together.
I have made two foam layouts and one homasote. The homasote layout is my newest. I have additional layout pictures of all three in my album. I had two issues with the foam layouts. First, the 2" thick foam makes mounting switch machines problematic. I use Peco switches and mounted the switch machines to the bottom of the track using the supplied tabs. That mounting buries the switch machine up inside the foam, making it difficult to reach. Also, there is a large hole under each switch to accommodate the machine. Second, the foam melts when exposed to acetone and contact cement. My homasote layout is almost ready for track. I want to finalize some track modifications and finish sealing the roadbed. The homasote is 1/2" thick and I plan to mount the switch machines to the roadbed underside with a small 1/2" hole for the throw rod. I also plan to experiment with Tortoise machines. Both will machines will be fully visible and not buried in the roadbed. I think that will make maintenance easier. I have observed some slight warping between supports. I consider this more a feature than a bug because it imparts a slight undulation to the track. I switched from foam to homasote but I am not yet convinced that homasote is better. This Winter I will start track laying in earnest and then I will know better whether the homasote is worth the extra effort. Minnesota Summer is too short to spend much time indoors, so layout construction is mostly a Winter activity.
Foam You might check at Lowe's in Mission Valley or Home Depot should be able to order it for you as we do have it in the Home Depot in Ensenada, most likely in Tijuana too, but haven't check there.
Where to find pink foam panels in San Diego Not all Home Depot's have this product. I live in North County but had to go to the Mission Gorge (Mission Valley area) to find 4' x 8' x 1/2" panels. I'm glad I went with this instead of homasote, but have yet to determine if homasote is better for sound deadening.
