Foamboard for Scratchbuilding?

[St. Simon]

Hi,

 

I've searched for this, but can't see anything! I need to make, a simple rail served distribution centre for the extension of Hyth Parkway:

 

 

I have looked for a suitable kit for it, and have found nothing. I did think about kit bashing a few pikestuff kits together, but I would need 4 kits to do that, plus it would be too long. So I've been looking at scratchbuilding it.

 

I have looked at various methods, most of them include sticking several layers of thick plasticard together, but seen as I'm a lazy kind of person, I don't want to that! So I've been looking at 3mm Foamboard, this is strong, light, durable and easy to cut. It would mean you would only have to cut out two layers, the foam board and a layer of plasticard foto make it look nice (three if you were doing an interiour).

 

Would this make a suitable alternative to plasticard for scratchbuilding?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Simon

[Guest jim s-w]

Hi Simon

 

I make extensive use of foamboard in my buildings - check my workbench thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/2486-p4-new-street/

 

 

 

 

HTH

 

Jim

[St. Simon]

Hi,

 

I thought I saw somebody using it on here, thanks Jim!

 

Simon

[mikeg]

Hi Simon, I to use foam board for buildings, the one thing to remember is that any sandwich of layers must be in 3 or 5 otherwise the building will bow and warp, which I found out the hard way. If using plasticard for the outside layer then you need to add a layer of similar but thiner material to the inside if the building has long walls, for small buildings I find just a layer of paper will do the trick. Its a bit like plywood, it always comes in odd numbers of layers to keep it stable.

 

I have just paper stuck to both sides of board and it works. The other thing I have used is two layers of card (cerial packets)and a skin of plasticard for small buildings in O so should be OK for OO medium buildings, very cheap!

 

hope this is of use

 

mike g

[br2975]

Simon,

.

As we speak, I'm knocking up the carcass of my 'Cardiff Bar & Section Mill' which is in 5mm foam board.

 

It was bought in a sale at 'Hobbycraft' - I wait until they do a "2 for 1" offer as they aren't the cheapest - just as I did 'Staples' for some sheets of 3mm a few years ago !!

 

I find it easy to use, very light in weight and provided it is braced internally, it'll be fine.

 

My 'mill' will be 'L' shaped 48" x 9" with a 9" x 9" foot, and the buildings are all but 12" high. Two fiddle yard sidings will be hidden inside.

 

I intend to clad them with 'box cladding' or similar, on a dwarf brick wall - all of which will be stuck to the foamboard, or a false face of Letraset mount board.

.

Brian R

[Guest jim s-w]

Hi Simon, I to use foam board for buildings, the one thing to remember is that any sandwich of layers must be in 3 or 5 otherwise the building will bow and warp, which I found out the hard way. If using plasticard for the outside layer then you need to add a layer of similar but thiner material to the inside if the building has long walls, for small buildings I find just a layer of paper will do the trick. Its a bit like plywood, it always comes in odd numbers of layers to keep it stable.

 

I have just paper stuck to both sides of board and it works. The other thing I have used is two layers of card (cerial packets)and a skin of plasticard for small buildings in O so should be OK for OO medium buildings, very cheap!

 

hope this is of use

 

mike g

 

 

Hi Mike

 

Never had that happen. Wonder if its because I use double sided tape to laminate things together which could be argued is another layer. Using solvents or 'wet' glues I would guess it would warp.

 

HTH

 

Jim

[invercloy]

Check out the last edition of MRJ, there was an article on doing exactly this in it.

[bertiedog]

I use a lot of Depron, the closed cell extruded foam sheet, in many ways it behaves like balsa, and I get little or no warping with an added surface or laminate. The glue must be solvent free etc, there are good glues around, including solvent free contact types.

 

I use it for larger wall elements where there is little point using wood or sheet styrene. I should add I stick with Depron brand, as others tried did have problems, less dense or a bad surface finish.

 

Depron was developed to go under flooring, so is pretty tough. For buildings that have a scribed stucco or plaster finish I use cheaper ceiling tiles, but you have to use hot wire cutting to get accuracy, the Depron sheets cut with a scalpel as usual with Balsa Wood.

 

Stephen.

[Steve Williams]

Hi Mike

 

Never had that happen. Wonder if its because I use double sided tape to laminate things together which could be argued is another layer. Using solvents or 'wet' glues I would guess it would warp.

 

HTH

 

Jim

 

Jim,

 

Am I understanding you correctly? You fix Plasticard to the foamboard using only double-sided tape and don't bother to fix Plasticard to the other side of the foamboard (unless it is visible of course).

 

Steve

[Guest jim s-w]

Hi Steve

 

That's correct yes.

 

Cheers

 

Jim

[Steve Williams]

Thanks Jim.

 

Steve

[hmrspaul]

There was a demonstration of this at York show. Very nice and no mention of bowing. What has to be avoided is any glue which has a solvent in it - sorry I cannot remember the name of the demonstrater but he recommended using PVA. He also put a very thin skin of PVA on the side then covered with DAS which he then scribed for brickwork or stone work (admittedly this was 7mm).

 

My take on this has been this unfinished wagon works - http://ebormodelrail.fotopic.net/p56521247.html Instead of double sided tape, I have used mounting board - which I believe is the same as foamboard but has a pre-sticky surface (underneath a protective film). Adding plastic sheets (or paper) is very easy and permanent. Once again, possibly too thick for 4mm modelling, but just right for a double skinned brick wall in 7mm.

 

Paul

York

[Steve Williams]

There was a demonstration of this at York show. Very nice and no mention of bowing. What has to be avoided is any glue which has a solvent in it - sorry I cannot remember the name of the demonstrater but he recommended using PVA. He also put a very thin skin of PVA on the side then covered with DAS which he then scribed for brickwork or stone work (admittedly this was 7mm).

 

Paul

York

 

That sounds like Gordon Gravett (sp?)

 

Steve

[bertiedog]

I wonder if we can sort out and identify the types and brands of these foam modelling boards and sheets, there seems that there are several types, and suppliers.

 

I use Depron plastic foam sheet, an extruded completely closed cell polystyrene board, which has a smooth surface, compared to say ceiling tile, which has a semi open surface, somewhat course in texture.

 

Depron sheet is widely used by Aeromodellers for aircraft structure, it equates to light weight grade grainless Balsawood in density and handling.(sizes from 2mm upwards in thickness to 10mm or so). There are rival makes of Depron type foam, which was developed originally for an underfloor insulation, both heat and sound deadening insulation.

 

There is reference to Hobbycraft brand "foam board", I assume the "Craft Shop" suppliers. Is this a closed cell hard foam, or a softer type, as foam sheet samples I saw before were a bit soft, but of an unknown brand. There's no "Craftshops" stores locally to check personally.

 

I have also seen surfaced plastic craft sheets, sandwiching an internal foam, they have a distinct hard surface, the foam seemingly only a filler. Very much more a rigid foam sheet.

 

Another type of foam sheet had internal corrugated structure within the foam, between outer plastic surfaces, very stiff along the corrugations direction.

 

Now,I know reference is made to magazine articles, but I do not have access to these, so can any of our RM members identify the foam types, and suppliers that they have used. I have no connection with Depron, just a user of the sheets.

 

The use of double sided tape sounds interesting, for laminating sheets, with Depron having a smooth surface I found PVA works well, although the solvent free contact versions are better, as the plastic absorbs no glue slowing drying of normal PVA a bit.

 

Stephen.

[Pacific231G]

I've been looking at 3mm Foamboard, this is strong, light, durable and easy to cut. It would mean you would only have to cut out two layers, the foam board and a layer of plasticard foto make it look nice (three if you were doing an interiour).

 

Would this make a suitable alternative to plasticard for scratchbuilding?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Simon

 

Simon

As you can clearly see I'm no expert at scratchbuilding and I've been experimenting with both card and plasticard but I've used this material for several buildings and I like it a lot. I know it as foamcore though I'm not sure if that's the proper name but it's just the bog standard display type that HobbyCraft and Staples sell in packs. It's a lot less prone to bowing than card laminates and gives the basic thickness of walls in a single layer. You do need a sharp knife to get a clean cut and cutting out things like window openings needs care as it's quite a deep cut. The surface does take acrylic paints very well- my buildings are French so rendered- and it seems very stable. I took most of these photos very quickly on my desk and with the camera very close there is a bit of fisheye distortion- the foam walls are all straight honest!!

 

 

The Café Restaurant- based on a postcard view- was built with a foamcore base, end and internal walls but a card frontage rendered with Greenscene concrete texture paint and then overpainted. You can probably see that the foam walls are very straight whereas the front wall needed bracing- the roof is card based with tiles from strips of Wills corrugated plasticard and has distorted (damnit) so will need dissasembling and probably relaying on foamcore- I really don't want to do the tiles again. Using foamcore rather than plasticard also meant that for the inside of the building I could easily glue paper printed with wallpaper and floor designs scaled from samples taken from the net straight onto the foamcore.

 

 

The loco shed walls were built from foam core and have remained completely straight. It does have an internal wall of card laminated onto the foamcore after the glazing material (Scene setters) was put in place to forma sandwich. Fortunately the end wall will be at the end of the layout so you shouldn't notice the excess glue!! The roof is a separate plastic subassembly that slots in to take advantage of a commercial moulded pantile sheet. I wanted the railway buildings to have more consistent mechanical tiling than the café restaurant.

 

 

For traditionally built industrial buildings- like the wine warehouse- foamcore seems ideal as it naturally has the appropriate thickness for a stone or concrete wall. Both the wine warehouse and the loco shed were painted with acrylics directly onto the surface of the foamcore and the stone courses were cut from very thin card. The wine warehouse is low relief so has wooden blocks glued inside it to screw it to the backscene so I can remove it for superdetailing and adding the name.

 

I've not tried laminating foamcore with moulded plasticard for brick etc. but as you can see laminating the roof which was moulded plasticard strips laid on a plasticard base and then laminated with card which I did for the Cafe roof did have problems though I possibly assembled the roof too soon after producing the surfaces so the glue and paint hadn't completely cured and dried.

 

I'd definitely suggest trying it and I've used it and its thicker equivalents for other things including small baseboards- I built an entire baseboard in an evening with a Stanley knife, steel rule and a bottle of PVA- and I think I'll probably use it generally for sub baseboards for groups of buildings.

 

Let us all know how you get on.

 

David

[scotcent]

I would strongly commend Foamboard for buildings. This stuff is a layer of expanded foam between two layers of card, and is easily available from any art shop, W H Smith, etc in thicknesses of 3mm, 5mm, and probably more. It is fine and rigid, doesn't warp, glues easily with PVA, and can be painted with any of the usual paints. The surface, like any card, can be scribed for bricks or stonework, and it is an appropriate thickness for walls. As noted it needs a sharp blade and some care for cutting out openings, but it's quite forgiving, and reasonably cheap. I use nothing else for buildings, other than very small structures, and have no problems with it. See Burntisland station building attached. Incidentally, Don Rowland built the adjacent Hotel in Plasticard, and you really couldn't say which was which.

 

Allan

[bertiedog]

So there's a card surface on the foam inner? very useful, and potentially stronger than Depron sheet for larger areas. Depron has a surface, but being part of the extrusion process is really only the same inner foam but compressed.

I'll try our local art shop and see if they have the cardboard faced version, I have never seen this available.

 

Stephen.

[28XX]

So there's a card surface on the foam inner? very useful, and potentially stronger than Depron sheet for larger areas. Depron has a surface, but being part of the extrusion process is really only the same inner foam but compressed.

I'll try our local art shop and see if they have the cardboard faced version, I have never seen this available.

 

Stephen.

 

This stuff is used by the acre (hectare?) by the exhibition industry. Usually has a photograph printed directly on one side, and Velcro buttons on the back. I used to get it free from work, old exhibits are yesterdays news.

[Coombe Barton]

So there's a card surface on the foam inner? very useful, and potentially stronger than Depron sheet for larger areas. Depron has a surface, but being part of the extrusion process is really only the same inner foam but compressed.

I'll try our local art shop and see if they have the cardboard faced version, I have never seen this available.

 

Stephen.

Try Hobbycraft (Thanet I assume is the closest to you) - http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/Pages/Stores/Store.aspx?storeid=47 - I use the Tamworth one and they had a BOGOF offer on foamboard on Wednesday last week.

[Campaman]

Yeah the Foamboard I am currently using is from old exhibiton panels.

 

I have also made my own version of Foamboard by using some excess laminate flooring underlay thin grey foam, by gluing card either side of it, it came out fine, and works the same, you can also make this into a laminate of card, foam, card, foam, card. for extra thickness and strength.

[St. Simon]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the replies guys! I've got to say all the buildings you've show on here look great!

 

I've got to go and buy some and get building!

 

Simon

[Ramrig]

I notice you mention glues for bonding Plasticard to Foamboard. Solvent free contact glue? A trade name please would help as I am also new to using this foamboard material and intend to build my platforms out of it. I purchased mine from Rymans in Derby, an A1 size sheet for just over £5.00 ( I think).

I have always used card in the past. The old platforms were fixed down plastic to card using Dunlop (?) glue about 20 years ago, but over the years the surface has seperated.

[bertiedog]

I notice you mention glues for bonding Plasticard to Foamboard. Solvent free contact glue? A trade name please would help as I am also new to using this foamboard material and intend to build my platforms out of it. I purchased mine from Rymans in Derby, an A1 size sheet for just over £5.00 ( I think).

I have always used card in the past. The old platforms were fixed down plastic to card using Dunlop (?) glue about 20 years ago, but over the years the surface has seperated.

 

There can't be a glue maker who does not offer "solvent free contact adhesives", Evode, Bostik, Henkel etc., (there are shops own brands as well), Wilkinson do one, Uni-bond do one etc.

 

All these are PVA based, and safe with polystyrene, foam, Depron or the foam board.

 

Where card comes away in old joints it is usually the card de- laminating, the glue has not failed, it is the surface of the card breaking up. With all card on it's own, I always lacquer it, but you can't do this with poly board, but you can use the MDF sealers, which are PVA, or coat the card first with a coat of dilute PVA,and let it dry before further glueing. This bonds the card surface very thoroughly.

 

Stephen.

[Ramrig]

Thanks for that advice. I will have a trip to either Wilko's or B & Q tomorrow to see what I can find.