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I want to create a winter scene to display Depart 56 Houses on the inner most loop of a std gauge layout. I have to raise the platform so the houses look more proportional.   Has anybody painted and carved this blue or pink stuff white. And were you able to carve block walls and stairs path ways and streets without to much trouble. 

 

Did you use chisels xacto knives or what? This is all new so I am interested to hear any techniques you tried etc. Thank You

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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.

 

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snow 009

 

Jim

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Wow looks great!  What did you use for the ice falls? 

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.

 

snow 001

snow 002

snow 003

snow 004

snow 005

snow 006

snow 007

snow 009

 

Jim

 

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

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

Last edited by dkdkrd

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

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Originally Posted by Railfamily11:

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  

 

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:

 

Trainvign025

Jim

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Last edited by Jim Policastro

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.

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Last edited by mikemike

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.

 

General AreaW

 

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

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Sandwich Section 004W

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

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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

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Last edited by G3750

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