Foam Mountains

LOOKS GREAT!!!  You might also want to add a wire brush to your list of tools.  Messy... but adds some of the finer abnormalities to the rock face.

Have Fun!

Ron

Darren that is really impressive and the layout looks huge! What are the dimensions?

Excellent workmanship,

Jay

Looks great - now I know where all the foam went when I went looking at Lowes.

I especially like the parts where you used a hot wire knife. Can you share what model # from Amazon that was? That seems like a tool I need to get.

And, what is "quilted batting" look like, or what is it?

I never worry about detailing the foam. I apply a coating of lightweight joint compound over the foam so minute details are not retained. Still wet I spray paint over the coating and add the details with WoodLand materials grass, stone etc. then "lightly"  spray it again with a reflective color like gold or silver metallic.

Darren, The layout is looking great!  You are doing a very nice job!

Thank you for the positive comments, can't find too many of those these days, and thank you for the ideas.  I forgot to mention that my final shaping step for the foam is to use a angle grinder with different size discs, but I plan to try the wire brush.

The foam cutter I bought off of amazon is listed as:  Winon Hot knife foam cutter, retails for $22.  I also got the quilted batting there.  I found a video on Youtube.  The individual uses a glue called "Modge Podge" on the foam, then places the quilted batting on.  After the glue dries he hand paints the batting.  The end results are impressive.  I plan to use the batting on the tops of the foam formations.

I used a total of 6 sheets of foam.

The layout is "L" shaped, approximately 28' x 30', varying widths.  It is all one connected loop with the trains travelling from top to bottom then back up.

Darren

@AlanRail posted:

Still wet I spray paint over the coating and add the details with WoodLand materials grass, stone etc. then "lightly"  spray it again with a reflective color like gold or silver metallic.

Gold or silver over the WS material?  I would love to see what that effect looks like.  Can you share some pics? 

Ron

Wow! That is beautiful. Fun how it becomes a small world. Does your vacuum still work?

Impressive work Darren.  One of the great things about rigid foam is its light weight.  I made this corner mountain with foam modules so it can be taken apart if I need access to the track inside the tunnels.

A hot wire doesn’t make enough mess for me.  I used a keyhole saw or steak knife for the cuts and a wood rasp/60 grit sandpaper for shaping. I used mold-a-scene/sculptamold for final shaping.

The family and I visited the Scenic Express warehouse this morning.  Impressive, very impressive!  Jim couldn't be a nicer person.  We were treated to a tour and he helped us out with the items we needed.  My wife was joking that I could have spent the entire day there, and she's right, LOL!

Can't wait to finish shaping the mountains, get them painted, and start some scenery!  I will post some pictures once I make a little bit more progress.

Darren

Darren,

Nice layout and foam work. I carve layers of pink foam to shape, then cover with Mold-a-Scene plaster, polyurethane foam rock formations, earth-tone paints, real dirt, ground cover, and trees from Scenic Express. My article on this subject is scheduled to appear in the February/March issue of OGR magazine.

MELGAR

Looking great.  I had great luck scratching at the surface with a pumice stone in addition to the tools you have mentioned.

As to painting I would say this.

1. Start with a coat of primer appropriate for foam.

2. Apply a layer of black. Especially to the deep areas.

3.  Hit it with a couple different shades of grey.   I did a much smaller project,  but for the grey I found watering down some latex paint and using a hand powered spray bottle gave a nice effect. (Remember to spray away from your finished piece until confident no more pure water drops are coming out of the spray bottle. ) if using a rattle can, spray at a very shallow angle.   You don't want to coat like you are painting a wall. 

3. After the grey dries, mix it up with some red, rust, and yellow.   Sponge them on here and there or use a spray bottle again.   The point is to have little bits of break up color.

4.  Now is when it all comes together.   Get some white paint, (off white will do,  maybe mix in an extremely small amount of the grey.  Get a brush and dip in this color,  maybe a 1/4" into the paint,  and wipe it off the best you can. Now "dry brush" your highest surfaces.   Remember to keep as little on the brush as you can.   Lightly brush the surfaces.   This will knock the monolithic appearance of the grey down and will blend the accent colors.

That's how I did my Halloween foam layout.

All very impressive. Darren you have an outstanding layout in the making 👍

Melgar -Thank you, I look forward to reading the article.

jhz563 - Thank you for the detailed instructions, thank you for taking the time, most people will not do that anymore, it is appreciated!

Seacoast - Thank you for the kind words.

I have been working with an angle grinder on the foam, actually it has come out better than I expected, especially when I get complements from my father-in-law, I know I at least did an "OK" job.  I will post some pictures of my progress here.  I have one more 16hr shift this week but I hope to put some time into the layout this week.  I want to get things back up and running so the kids can enjoy the trains, especially this time of year.

Darren

Coming along nicely Darren

I am getting close to being able to paint the foam.  Here are a few pictures of the progress to date. I have to "tie -up" the trestle area and then I will be able to put the bridge and track back in place so we can run trains again.

Darren, your foam mountains are looking great!  What did you use to carve the foam?

Mark,

I used a "Cat's Paw" or nail puller, it's pictured in the bottom left picture, utility knife, hot knife cutter, and an angle grinder.  I shaped the foam with the knife and hot knife wire cutter, then I beat up the foam with the cats paw.  Next I pulled/raked across the foam, again with the cats paw.  This took out small and large chunks of foam.  Once I had that all cleaned up then I went to the angle grinder.

Darren

Yes, I always called it a nail puller, but cat's paw is a great name for it.  The variety of tools and actions with them made for many variations in the "rock" formation!!!

Darren

I believe you have Pennsy Rock wall from Scenic Express to line a portion of the track. If I am correct, what type of glue did you use to hold the sponge like wall to the surface?

How do you hold the pink and green styrofoam to the surface behind the styrofoam?

Seth,

Please let me know which picture your referring too because I do not have any rock wall materials from Scenic Express, many other items from them but not those.

The walls, on the long straight-a-way, are molds I made, then filled with Hydrocal.  The forms are then adhered with drywall mud.

Now, the molds (light grey in color) on the large bends, below the rock faced wall, were actually designed for bridge pillars.  I just decided to cut them to my specifications and use them for another means.

Darren

Scenic Express rock wall soft foam material.  Fort Pitt Highrailer city module.  Good base material.  I believe, foam safe, construction adhesive was used.  Correction:  Scenic Express wall material has a peel-and-stick adhesive backing.

Thank you for clearing that up, I had never looked into the Scenic Express walls due to having other items that I purchased 10 years ago.

I was able to get some more work done on the mountains the last few days.  It's not where I want the end results to be but I am trying to get it back to a point where I can run trains by Christmas for my little one.

That's nice progress.  You have a lot of rocks to paint! 

Thank you  Mike and Darren for your information tonight.   

Those rock faces/cliffs are amazing! What did you use as far a painting process to achieve such effect.

Reminds me of the cliffs of Dover in South East England.

Jeff, I used several different dyes; raw umber, burnt umber, black, slate grey, and stone grey. 

I mixed the dyes in plastic cups and then used foam brushes to apply.  I just "dabbed" lightly onto the rocks starting from the top and working my way down.

It was the first time I had ever used the products so I was a little apprehensive.  I started with black first then moved from dark colors to the lightest, allowing one color to dry before I started another.

Darren

I like foam Mountains

I was able to get in a few hours last night after work and some more time this morning!  It is nowhere near complete but I wanted to get the layout to a point where I could run trains for my helper, just in case some magical elf happens to bring him some trains on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a safe and joyous holiday!

Darren

Looks like a happy helper ready to run new trains an a wonderful layout he helped with.