Painting and Carving 2" rigid Foam?

Mike,

 

You don't want to use the white stuff - it's hard to carve, extremely flammable, and puts off dangerous fumes.  The blue or pink stuff can be cut with box cutters, or sharp knives, or a hot foam cutter.  You can also file it or use a hasp.

 

George 

I am in the process of making a mountain out of the foam insulation.  I am using a tippi tool. which is a hot wire that cuts into the foam very easy.  So far I have done three sections of the track side cliffs and love using it.  After cutting my rock formation with the fishers and angle cuts in it I just got done spray painting it.  I am using rustolium gray primer for a base coat.  This will eat the foam if not careful.  The trick is to keep it about 12 inches away and go over it lightly.  If you go to close it will eat the foam but for mountains I like what it did.  You can go to YOU TUBE and type in tippi tool and there is a tutorial on it.  I bought mine at the Allentown show a few years ago and just started working with it.  Practice on scrap foam first when cutting and painting to see how the paints and cuts work before getting to deep.  Hope this helps and good luck.

 

 

mikemike,

 

I did a small Christmas layout out of pink styrofoam a few years ago. Basic tools were a steak knife and hand held hacksaw blade. I backlit parts of it with Christmas lights for effect.

 

I just painted everything flat white, drybrushed some light blue on the hills for an icy effect, and sprinkled some diamond dust glitter for sparkle.

 

The Halloween version of the layout shows some basic carving of steps, again with a steak knife.

 

 

Jim

I use the Hot Wire Foam Factory or a 4" shop grinder. Interior latex paint

 

Clem

Here's a video from You Tube on the carving of a mountain then painting it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpko5rxM9pI

From reading what others have posted I think I have tried just about every thing including all the hot wire tools fooling with mountains, caves and hills. Here is a pic of a few of the tools.

 

Nice work Jim on those two versions.

This may have been discussed before, but do these methods still work with the newer dark pink insulation that is now available?

 

thx, Don

 

The falls are clear silicone caulk applied to a piece of clear plastic bag material. Cut to size and attached with more clear caulk.

 

Jim

 

Don

Just from reading other post apparently the pink is becoming more difficult to get in some areas. Here in TN in is readily available in 2" 1" and 1/2" at HD. I think the key word is extruded polystyrene foam. Others may help in to help answer you question.

Larry, I thought a few years ago Owens Corning changed the formula to the darker pink/purple (which I can get from HD), and there was some difference in the density.  Are you still finding the original ligher pink version?

 

Don

Don

I don't know about the change but think if it extruded it's the same density (stiff) not fluffy like the white used for packing and difficult to work with. I believe PactricH had to change colors when he was building his big time layout due to it changing to a color besides pink but didn't complain about it. Smack it with you fist you can tell if it's soft or hard.

Larry

Another implement that is useful for carving foam is the Dremel tool.  Various bits and cutting disks can be used to form subtle shapes.   Takes a bit of practice, but it makes for rapid progress once you get the hang of it.

So just use latex indoor house paint for the color

I use Olfa type knives with the snap-off blades.  With a nice sharp blade you have very clean cuts, and not the shavings from a saw type cutter,

Depending on the piece I'm working on I also like the Harbor Freight Hot Knife.  Russ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/1...hot-knife-60313.html

So is this the flammable stuff?    "Insulfoam manufactures a diverse line of InsulFoam® and R-Tech® brand expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulations"

 

Expanded polystyrene foam is what I don't want? Is that correct?

I don't seem to be able to find the stuff without paper backing around here (Torrance CA). Where does one look for the plain boards? Or, can you strip off the paper vapor barrier?

Jim Policastro, what material did you use for the surface of the skating pond?  How did you achieve the frosted look?  That is a very neat effect.

Garrett,

 

The skating pond is a piece of plexiglas. I sanded the top surface with fine sandpaper for the frosted look. I mounted it slightly above the foam subsurface so that I could mount a few Christmas bulbs just below the plexiglas.

 

Jim

 

Jim, thanks for the response.  You have created a neat accessory.  I will try to replicate as best I can.

All good suggestions...

 

My 2 cents worth...

 

I have an old electric carving knife....you know, the ones with oscillating serrated blades?...which works really well on doing basic shaping of foam.  You can usually find these at near give-away prices at garage sales.  And, who cares if they're really all that sharp?....it's the serrations and oscillating action that do the work.

 

Second cent....   Woodland Scenics sells a product called Flex Paste...

 

Flex Paste Link

 

...which dries to a hard white coating when applied to foam.  In your situation, it offers two advantages.  First, it neutralizes the foam so that you can apply any paint...solvent or acrylic...without damaging the underlying foam.  Secondly, it dries white...just dandy for the underlying base of a winter scene!!.  Spray on some bonding stuff...like WS's Scenic Cement...and then sprinkle some snow around....like WS's Snow.

 

No, I don't work for Woodland Scenics.  But I do work at a LHS and offer customers...like you...some how-to suggestions....based on my own and our customers' experience.   Always with a smile  and FWIW...

 

KD

JIM, 

I know i'm a little late to this discussion but I'm about to build a small layout like yours for the holidays " Halloween and Christmas" for the kids. I don't have much room and that why I need to keep it small. Any pointers you could give would be much appreciated. I'm not very good with the foam. Are those O-31 curves or O-36 ? 

 

Thanks so much  

I have used the 2 inch pink board. To cut it  I used a hot knife gun with two different size blades. After carving with the hot knife I used a hot melt gun to glue the layers together. Once I got the height I wanted I went back and did some fine tuning ( cutting ) of the foam. I then followed that up with a layer of plaster wrap. When that dried I applied a layer of Gypsolite. Then when that dried I applied woodland scenic colors to the plaster, yellow ochre, raw umber, burnt umber dabbing each one on. I finished it off with a diluted wash of Indigo ink.....................Paul

 

Railfamily,

 

I think the key to an interesting small layout is vertical height. Don't be afraid to stack those pieces of foam to create mountains, short tunnels, etc.

 

There's not much to the "carving" other than hacking away until something begins to look like rock. The smaller the chips, usually the more realistic the results.

 

The track in the photos is O36 Fastrack, although there's no reason why you couldn't do the same with O31 or O27 of any brand.

 

I haven't found much difference in results with pink, blue, or the newer purpler foam.

 

It's just the white beadboard that is messier to work with. It's OK for scenery, but it should be covered with a layer of plaster for durability.

 

This is white beadboard with a covering of Structolite plaster:

 

Jim

This is for my std gauge layout with Dickens village sitting on 2 inch blue styrofoam. Proportionately looks ok at least to me. Carved stone blocks, applied gesso and then color.  Christmas village on iceberg/north pole sits at various levels. 6,8,10, and 12 inches. Ice bergs final paint coat was interior latex color.  2 loops and all track at same level

 

Can't get a good picture but this gives an idea of what the result was. Rough cutting was with a serrated edged knife and cracks and crevices was with a hot wire cutter, Added  woodland scenics snow snow by apply matte medium and. Some steps were carved but they were small and few in number.

Thank you !!! 

Mikemike,

Nice job! Like Jim P. said, just start cutting. The hot knives seem to be more precise but the old steak knives still do a decent job.

More photos when you have time.

Sean

Here's a section of the PRR Panhandle called "Standard Slag".  It is a removable module that features a slag dump.  I used the pink foam.  I carved it, covered it with joint compound (spackle), and painted it with latex paint.  Eventually, I am going to cover it with slag, but right now I have other higher priority work (and don't need the mess).  It's passable for the moment.

 

In the first photo, you can see the module is slightly slid out from the main layout.

 

 

Here you can see the wooden "sandwich" or underlying framework of the module.  I used masonite, 3/8" plywood, and 1"x4" pine.

Here's the joint compound going down on the slope of the slag pit.

By the way, the green tank at the end of the track is prototypical.  It contains compressed air used to dump and reposition the slag car "kettles".

 

George