Dar# it! I just wrote a lengthy reply to Keith and sent it off not noticing that the "To" was to Keith not the group. Done it before, will do it again. I will attempt to recapitulate:
Keith, I will also be using foamboard for my modeling efforts. And I am not modeling flatland, either. I'm modeling southeast Ohio, also known as "little Switzerland." I will be trying a new method I recently learned about from Jim Six. Jim is building a new layout of the Michigan Central in northern Indiana. This is indeed "flatland" although there are rills, ditches, streams, rises, embankments, and the occasional moraine. Jim is using an uncommon technique. A light wood framework supports a base of 2" foamboard. On top of this is glued at least one layer of ceiling tile, the common 2' x 4' tile as used in ceiling grid systems. This is for the lowest elevation of scenery. More layers of tile are added for higher elevations, in Jim's case as many as four layers. So you see, Jim's scenery has an overall elevation variance of about 2", all done with ceiling tile. Jim applies the second and additional layers of tile in a topographic map fashion. After the tile are glued in place (with Liquid Nails) he grinds into the tile with a grinding wheel in an electric drill, and finishes off the contouring with a Stanley Surfoam tool. A friend applies a spray of water on the tile as work progresses, and with this there is no airborne dust, only the tailings of ground tile behind the grinder. One of the big advantages of this method is that the mess is contained. There is no plaster dust, there is no foam dust flying around. The mess is easily contained and vacuumed up. Jim is applying the track (prefab flextrack and turnouts) directly on the ceiling tile. There is no raised roadbed with cork or Homabed, only the ceiling tile, which does have drainage ditches "carved" into the tile on either side of the track. The result is a quiet layout. There is no rumbling as you would have on the foamboard directly, and no "soundboard" effect from hardshell scenery. Jim says it is the quietest layout he has heard. I will be modifying Jim's technique for my hilly scenery. My scenery base will also be the 2" foamboard, but my scenery will have as much as 14" of elevation variance on each diorama. Because of this, I will start with a coarse topographic base of foamboard, with linear (straight) edges. On top of this "pyramid" I will glue layers of 1/2" ceiling tile, again in a topographic manner. (Four layers of ceiling tile to each layer of foamboard.) This will then be ground down to final contour. You ask about rocks for foam. There are basically two options. First, you can carve your own. Basically, you glue up blocks of foam to form the rock formation, then carve them to shape with knives, chisels, wire brushes, whatever tool(s) seem appropriate. When done carving, you paint the foam like you would any other scenery method. The second option is to cast the rocks using spray foam like "Great Stuff." A good website on this technique is this one: http://www.bragdonent.com/gfguide.htm About halfway down the page is a section on casting rock molds with urethane. If you use an appropriate mold release, you can use any latex rock mold with the common spray urethane foam from the home store. Another viable solution to rock faces on a foamboard layout is to use ceiling tile for rock. This has been done on layouts for decades, dating back to the '50's as far as I know. One excellent website that treats this method is Harold Minkwitz's Pacific Coast Air Line. The page for this is: http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/rockfaces/ As you see, after the broken tile are glued together into the "rock" formation the surface is "filled" with a mix of paint and Sculptamold. As to molding rocks, whatever medium you are using, there are basically two types of mold, latex and foil. The latex molds can either be bought or you can make your own with liquid latex, brushing multiple layers on a rock that you like the texture of. Many modelers like the texture of lumps of coal. As I say "foil" this can ba any of several sheet goods, but aluminum foil makes a great blasted rock surface. No, not the foil itself, but using crumpled foil as a mold for you rock medium. One great suggestion is to start with a small diorama. You can experiment with new techniques without committing to a full layout until you settle on what works for you. Any new technique will have a learning curve, and you must expect to make mistakes, from which you will learn, and hopefully to have some great successes too. I hope this helps, Keith. Darrell --- In [email protected], Keith Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Hi, > > I was thinking of using foam board (the rigid insulation type) for > scenery. Flat areas seem straightforward. Just coat with your > favorite ground cover. What about vertical surfaces, in particular, > I want to model a rock face. I can't imagine making the foam look > like rocks.? Guessing I need to apply something over it. Any > suggestions or references? > > Thanks, > Keith > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
