Line tunnels?

Crumpled aluminum foil painted black is very easy to hot-glue in place. 

But some have said it works best if running conventional only.

I use a single piece of corrugated cardboard rolled into a U cross-section of the correct height and width, glued in place.  However, I do not line the whole tunnel, only the first eight inches or so inside each tunnel.

I used pink sheathing styrofoam to "box" my curved tunnel.  I cut a single large piece of styrofoam for the roof in the desired curvature.  I then cut smaller vertical pieces to the desired height and hot glued them to the roof.  Once done with that, I crumpled brown kraft paper (grocery bag paper), misted it with black and brown paint and hot glued it to the inside of the "box".  

 

Make certain the width of your roof and "box" matches up well with your tunnel portals.

 

Curt

Just get a piece of foam from a big box store, go to a gravel driveway or parking lot, place on ground and jump up and down on, then paint and install.

 

--Greg

Curt?  What thickness foam did you use?

I posted this a couple of times but the best and simplest way to line a tunnel is with "blackwrap". It's used in the TV and Movie business. It's about ten times the thickness of aluminum foil and can be crumpled very easy. It's flat back so all you have to do is touch it up with gray primer after you crumple it up. Easy to glue and looks like rock. 24 inch by 25 ft. is only $22.95 at Filmtools. It also comes in 36 inch width. Google Filmtools and look under "grip" as in lighting grip and type in blackwrap. Easy and looks good. I've used it for years in business and layouts. Don

John:

 

The 1 inch.  If you can't find scraps around building sites, both Home Depot and Lowe's sell it in 4 X 8 foot sheets.

 

Curt

Woodland Scenics tunnel liner.  It is HO but can be pieced together for O.

Thanks John for the thread. I was getting ready to do this. I think I will order Don's stuff. Excellent find!

I have used light bulb packing material. Depending on the bulb manufacturer, you can get them at the big box stores. The attached pictures are for illustration purposes as they have not been altered, painted or permanently installed.

 

John,

It isn't necessary to line your whole tunnel, especially if it is quite long, unless you plan to run a camera through there like many do when making a video.  I did line mine quite simply with black construction paper. The tunnel is curved so for a base I bent the blue half inch foam around the inside and used a hot glue gun to hold it in position on the table. Then I glued the black construction paper to that.  Simple.

.....

Dennis

You might want to check out Eric Siegel's "Building O-Scale Tunnels" videos on his web site:

 

http://www.ericstrains.com/video/

 

(under the "Tutorials" drop box)

 

Andy

Thanks Andy but I did.  I spent 135.00 on the stuff from Alumilite and it was a disaster.  Very messy, smelly, unpredictable, expensive and impossible to use material.  I am throwing it all out and eating the loss.  I could not, for the life of me, see spending the time, money and aggravation doing it this way.

Thanks though Andy, in my hands it was a major disaster.

Mike, tell me more about how to use the Woodland Scenics form for O.

Don, do you need to buy the bulbs or can you buy this packing material anywhere??

Brand of bulb?

John,

I used polyurethane foam and fiberglass screen to create my tunnel liner in a tunnel that was already in place.  It was a fun project that I thought turned out pretty good.  For more info on the process I used check out my blog on my website Bo's Trains at http://www.bostrains.com.  Bo   

 

Before

 

After

 

Please visit my website Bo's Trains at http://www.bostrains.com

I just pick them off the shelf and throw them in the cart. They usually just throw them away.

 

I use crumpled Al to make a form, I then poor plaster and when dry I remove the Al.