# Level Ground



## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

I am rebuilding my HO tyco track to convert to a 4-lane setup. Last time I had used a thin carpet and cut pieces to fit between the track pieces. That was a mess as small fibers were always getting stuck to the brushes and motors. I'm about to just paint the table top green to resolve that. But since I'll be doing some landscaping I'd like to have a surface level with the track. Tyco track is ~7/32" thick. I thought there may be a 1/4" thick insulation foam of some type but didn't find anything online. I don't want to use wood because this table folds up and it's already heavy! So what track surfaces have you guys created other than wood? Thanks!


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

How about some of those foam camping pads. They come is different thicknesses but are close to a quarter inch.


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## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

Well the camping pads would be kinda tough to keep flat, they come rolled up and like to stay curled forever. I actually have one. It looks like Lowes has a 1/2" thick 4x8' sheet of R3.3 foam insulation. I'm going to check it out at the store and see if it will work. It was $10/sheet.


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## jobobvideo (Jan 8, 2010)

seen a lot of guys using cork board for edges not sure about wieght or cost...another idea...foam core board and card board...did a CA mission project with my daughter using that with cheap drywall mud on top made it very durable...would paint after mud dried if I used it on slot car track...just a thought


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

BewstdGT said:


> I don't want to use wood because this table folds up and it's already heavy! !


How does it fold? Just the legs or does the tabletop also fold?


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## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

We built a 10x3' shelf and bolted it to the wall. The back edge of the table has hinges so the whole table folds up against the wall so we can use all of the floor space. When I get the rebuild done I will post pics of everything.

I'm stopping at lowes tonight to check out some foam board.


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## galerdude (Jan 24, 2010)

Used to be able to get 1/4" foam core board from Laird Plastics. I think they are everywhere.Check yellow pages.


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## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

We do have a Laird shop in town that we buy corugated signs from for our business. I checked it out and their foam .187 and .25" was quite a bit higher priced than Lowes and Home Depot insulation. It was worth a shot though, thanks for the idea.


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

I use the foam board available at Hobby Lobby and cut to match the sections. Just about the perfect height and cheap!

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## beast1624 (Mar 28, 2009)

We just finished a monster HO layout. Used the 4'x8' sheets of insulating foam. Tried both white and blue, liked the white better (much easier to work with and easier to cover with paint/plaster cloth). In the TX area we can get it as thin 1/2". I also got some 3/4" thick 18"x48" sheets, 6 to a pack, for easier handling. We used Woodland Scenics foam railroad bed instead of the cork for the track boarders. On Tomy track this is a bit short so we put strips of rubber tool mat from Harbor Freight under it for a perfect match. Tack glue holds everything down great (carpenter glue doesn't work quite as good...longer setup...but it IS way cheaper). Also used hot glue (carefully on the foam) in a few places.

In some areas where the insulation buts up to the track a rasp made real short work of carving it down to track level. Covered all the foam with plaster cloth, painted with latex paint, used DAP spackling to fill in some seams and so far no cars have gone through any mountains. Just liked the foam sheets because they didn't add any weight and are so easy to work with. Very easy to layer to make terrain changes then carve to desired level.


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## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

Anyone have pics of these materials and how it turned out? 

I never planned on getting fancy but I think I'm gonna break down and use the woodland scenics grass materials. It looks so good when it's done.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Bubblewrap...*

Hot glued in place, stuffed as desired with non absorbant pillow stuffing, coated with Sculptamold, painted with med brown interior Latex and flocked when wet. Large sheets of Bubblewrap lay over track areas, you can see right through them, mark cuts with a sharpie, regular scissors to cut it.























































.... a lot less complicated and less time consuming than you might think. Credit to Bob...Bubblewrap...Zilla on this method.


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## galerdude (Jan 24, 2010)

Nice photos of the process :thumbsup:. That really turned out great :thumbsup:.


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## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

Thanks a bunch for posting pics. That gives me a little inspiration!

I went to Lowes (who has nothing!) and home depot where I bought one 1/2" 4x8 sheet of R3.3 insulation and another sheet of 1". It's the pink stuff that most model train guys use I think. I'm usually pretty thrifty but I'm fresh out of junk supplies laying around. There's a first! lol I plan to start working on it this week and I'll post pics in another thread as my progress goes. Thanks for all the ideas gents!


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## Tycoarm (Jan 7, 2006)

On my current 1/32 routed track, I once again used extruded foam cut to the thickness of the track along with shredded paper, plaster cloth and UGL waterproof paint (dries hard and less messy than plaster).

I use the foam along the sides of the track, I add shredded paper and covered it with plaster cloth and paint for larger areas.





























Here's a couple of short videos of the terrain buildup.


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## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

BewstdGT said:


> Anyone have pics of these materials and how it turned out?
> 
> I never planned on getting fancy but I think I'm gonna break down and use the woodland scenics grass materials. It looks so good when it's done.


I used blue rigid foam insulation - pictures are in my build thread: http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=3685272&postcount=80

Bob B.
Clifton Park, NY


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I used the pink stuff on the last phase of my last table. I started off with plaster cloth over crumpled newspaper and really didn't care for the mess. Once you shape sand the foam board, and paint over it, and then do the Woodland Scenics ground foam, it has a pretty durable hard shell. The only thing I'm not sure of is how well it would handle gouging from cars equipped with metal slot pins. However, it's easy enough to patch up if it did get gouged. For racing purposes, having a sand trap in the places where a lot of wipe outs occur would fix that issue. 

My next table I still plan on using the pink stuff for the whole thing, if I can ever get ahead enough to try it.


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## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

I went with the pink foam and it's already well under way, about a third done with the table. The thinnest foam I found was 1/2" so I had to fade every edge of the foam down to the track surface. For the grass I ended up buying a grass mat made by lifelike. It looks and feels exactly like woodland scenics final result at less than half the price. Once I finish the table I'll post a whole string of details on how I did it and what all I used.


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Sounds good!! Can't wait to see the pix!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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