Let's see your foam mountains and structures

My foam mountain.  I did this in seven parts so I didn't have to get on top of the layout.  Hurts da knees.

Here's a few pictures of my foam mountains. Well!!! these mountains maybe hill's to some. All the foam was given to me and it was 8 to 10 foot long, 12 inches wide and 3 to 4 inches thick.

This "massive" mountain, was built to: 1] fill a corner, 2]serve as background for my Frick Sawmill and, 3]provide an excuse for a fake tunnel portal.

Here are a few structures I did in urethane foam for a client.

In the begining and sorta close to the end. I sure have done a lot of fooling with foam and thank goodness I'm close to the end of that. Still have a lot of fixing and fine tuning work to do . But the heavy part is finished.

Larry

Not as extravagant as others before me, but this was my 1st attempt at a mountain side cliff and a foam bridge (The bridge was actually the 2nd attempt).

There is a real life story with the truck hanging off the edge like that.  Several years ago my son and I went train chasing.  We were in Perry County following the NS Mainline.  The road became elevated over the track and we were climbing a mountain.  The road turned to dirt but the GPS showed it continuing. 

We saw a sign that said, "Continue at your own risk".  Everything seemed ok.  The road was wide, it appeared safe, the GPS said it went through.

It was early April and a bright sunny day... maybe 50 degrees.  We kept going along following this mountain road.  As the road twisted and turned we went around a corner and instantly found the road to be nothing but ice.  We were on the north side of the mountain and the sunny days had not melted all of the winter ice.

With every inch forward the back end of the truck got closer to the edge.  I stopped the truck and got out.  The ice was so slippery, when I stepped out, I immediately fell right on my back. My son got out to see if I was ok. 

I walked him off the road near the mountain side and gave him the cell phone.  I told him if the truck goes over, he has to call 911.

I went back in the truck and tried to go forward away from the edge.  The back end kept sliding closer and closer.  I put it in reverse steering away from the edge and I still got closer.  Probably to the point where you see the truck in the picture below.

In one last effort I turned the wheels toward the cliff and put in in reverse.  I really thought I was going over.  But the truck swung around hit some branches and bushes and righted itself going back down toward the mountain.

My son jumped back in and we called it a day and went home.

The moral of the story....

Turn around when you see a sign that says, "Continue at your own risk".

Ron

If you are looking for mountains to model...look no further than TW TrainWorx.

I like blue foam board

Here are two before and after scenes.  The "white" one is where I coat the carved foam with texture paint to create an even surface and fill in any gaps in the foam layers to make it ready for rock castings and scenery.

I love pink foam.

Nice work, Pete!

Here's a hillside/tunnel I've been working on.  I'm not completely satisfied with how it turned out, but I can live with it.  In the back corner of the hill, I left a flat spot to put a rotary beacon or a radio tower of some sort.  At the hill's base I'm planning to build a "plateau" hill about 3"-4" high to put three or four houses on.

For now I think it makes a good 3D backdrop.

     PRRfan is that an old Honda CB 350-450 in your first picture, in the background? Choo Choo Kenny

Thanks for the ideas. We have to start on a mountain range at the far end of our new Christmas layout. Your photos will sure help.

Absolutely great scenic foam mountains, cliffs and groundscaping work folks.

And ronO45's mountain road story reminds me of when I lived in the N.C.mountains and had to walk over 3 miles and talk a logger into bringing a John Deere to pull my truck out of a frozen ravine. I almost needed it to get myself out. Yep, lesson learned- 4wd has no traction on ice.

Excellent examples everyone!  In the past, I used blue and pink foam, and do not recall a preference.  Just this past Saturday, I bought a 2-inch sheet of green foam At the local Lowes.  It is the stuff that has some small air voids in it.  It was all they have had since I started pricing it a couple of months ago.  We will see how it is to work with.  This sheet will be used mostly for a base, so I won't be doing much cutting or carving, however.

Yup, a '71 CB450.  My grandfather bought it new and he gave it to me two years ago.

     PRRfan i had 2 of them 1 was A chopper and the other 1 was stock for parts to get the chopper running. Before I could get the chopper finished we moved and I could not take them with me. No one wanted to give me any money for them so I ended up giving them away. Bummer  Take care and remember it does not matter what you ride but that you ride! Choo Choo Kenny

These are some great examples. I'll be starting on some mountains in the next month or so, so these have given me some great ideas. Thanks!