I am in the process of laying out my n scale track plan and preparing the bench work. I have a couple of questions. When people are talking about blue/pink foam are they referring to the rigid insulation foam from Dow/Owens or something else? Is the recommended practice to use 1x3's for the frame? What do you recommend for the legs? I was planning on putting 1/2 plywood on top of the frame then add the foam, does that make sense? It looks like I might be able to get the foam in 1/2 size, how many do I stack on each other? Thanks for your help....
That is correct, the blue foam is usually DOW, the Pink usually Owens Corning Ive seen alot of people use 1x3's for the frame, but i personally like my frame to be a little more beefy, so i used 2x3's . I made my legs out of ripped 2x4's. Just cut them straight down the center, cut to benchwork height. Yes that makes sense, that gives your foam a good solid base so you dont accidentally go through the base of the layout if you lean on it or something. That is entirely up to you. Depends on how deep you want to carve your scenery into the foam. If you want deep rivers or valleys, you will need more foam in that area. Or you could cut into the benchwork and drop it down in that spot only so it is below the rest of the benchwork. If your going to have relatively flat scenery, then you should be fine with one (1) sheet of 1/2" foam ontop of the 1/2" ply
That type of foam insulation is not easily available in San Diego. Beware of the foams at the home improvement stores. They are NOT the same, and most are highly toxic (arsenic, a diabetes danger) when inhaled, such as with smoke from a hot wire tool or inhaled when its' shaping creates dust.
Tony, Lowes in Mission Valley by the Padres Stadium has the Blue DOW chemical 1" foam. i bought all they had about a year ago LOL. Blue and Pink foam is extremely hard to find here in Cali. Ive called around to just about every single place i could find (i used to work at Lowes here in Rancho Santa Margarita in the Lumber/Building Materials Department so i had easy access to most of the building supply places in CA, all in an organized little box full of notecards lol) None of the Home Depot's or Lowes had the blue or pink foam that was within reasonable driving distance, just the white foam. I even called stores up north to see if they had it. if they did i would have had them ship it to our store, but none of them did. Only place i found was the Lowes in Mission Valley as i mentioned above. I also called Owens Corning and Dow Chemical, they said they dont do small orders on insulation, and that we would have to order a whole bunk of the stuff minimum. My Department Manger could get clearance on that from the store manager, and i certainly dont need 100 sheets for myself LOL
Hi Css29, I'll echo Tony and Josh's comments about how hard it is to find extruded foam (blue or pink) in California. There have been several threads on this topic; the most recent is: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=112718 If you do a TrainBoard Search on "foam source" you'll find others. Seems to be hit and miss - I found mine at a local contractor supply store - nothing at the big box stores near San Francisco. Good luck,
Do to the fact that it is getting virtually impossible to get good clean straight lumber my current layout is build entirely from ½” thick cabinet grade plywood. I found a woodworking shop in my town that would cut the 4’x8’ sheets into 3” wide strips eight feet long for $5 per sheet. With their equipment it took about 15 min. to turn each sheet of plywood into a stack of lumber. It has no warping, no knots, on fouled up edges. In the long run it was cheaper than if I had tried to purchase actual lumber and after 6+ years I’ve had no problems with it.
I happened to stop by the local Home Depot to see what they have. I found "white" foam board in various sizes and thickness. Will that work or should I keep looking? What do you recommend I use if I can't find pink/blue?
White foam is beaded foam like those cheap 7-11 ice coolers. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE THIS AS A CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL !!! White foam is Okay for scenery but little else.
That is the route I am going, but I have a couple of questions. I am in Europe and unsure how to specify the plywood. What kind of wood is yours (or what would be the best choices) - birch, spruce, fir? What method did you find the best for making the joints with the plywood strips? - glue, nails, screws, butt joint. Did you use the plywood strips for making the legs, too?
Phil - I posted recently that the Home Depot in Union City (at the I-880 / Whipple exit) has a complete supply of the pink foam. Also, Pacific Supply Lumber See this post
Did you miss the post where i mentioned the Lower in Mission Valley San Diego has the Blue Foam in 1"? Its 2x8' Tongue & Groove. There phone number is: (619) 584-5500 call them and ask for lumber/building materials department or commercial sales, and then ask them if they have the Blue Owens Corning Tongue & Groove foam sheets.... Last time i was there, they only had 2x8', they may have 4x8's now though.
I called them tonight and the lady said that they did not carry them. She might have miss-understood so I might just take a drive down there.
I would give them a call back in the morning when the commercial sales guys are in. They will know what you are talking about, and are knowledgeable. Most likely when you called this evening, you got a person from another department that was covering for lumber because the lumber person was either gone for the day or at lunch. The people in the lumber/building materials departments are usually airheards anyways, trust me, i would know i used to work with a bunch of them who had no clue about anything in the department, gave me a real headache when i would have to do everything in the department, ontop of answer customer questions lol. Im going to give them a call as well, as im about due for some more foam myself. I just wish i could find a location for the foam a little closer to me here in Orange County
Go without. Try the cookie cutter method for your subroadbed and cut it a bit oversize. Then create a web using cardboard strips suported with wood or newspaper for forms. Drape on some plaster cloth. Don't try so hard on the foam. Heres what I hope is motivation. Give it a go.
Just got off the phone with commercial sales at Lowes in Mission Valley (san diego) they have blue foam in stock, always carry it, 2'x8'x1" sheets!!!
ahhh haaa, see i knew they would have it. Its good to hear they still have it, ill need to make a trip down there soon for some more
Tony, Which foam is it that is toxic? The blue or pink or are you talking about the white beaded foam?
