# Foam scape



## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Heres some pics of the last vestiges of my foamscape.

The original layout was Alpine. These avalanche galleries were high up on a mountainside.

A dozen years of being knocked around in boxes and closets hasnt helped their appearance much ...but it gives the general idea.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Gotta hang with me here*

Heres a series of pics showing how quick this stuff is to create. Elapsed time 9 minutes...took longer to crop and load the pics!

Raw foam, chunked and contoured, bombed black, bombed gray and hand wiped, little brown and green for effect. Again just a qwiky. Didnt have the full palllete of colors and just winged it with the bomb cans that were on the shelf. 

The small chunk is the tear out piece, inverted to produce a groto of sorts. For wet ravines gloss black is used as the under tone. Flat black for non wet areas. This example is bombed so unfortunately you can see under and beneath, latex soaks through and produces a better effect. 

Obviously there's more to it, but once this is dry it can be bent, twisted and bonded into any shape you want.


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

That is kind of cool -- I can see how it is easy to get slick results using just the randomness of the tearing.

Gotta file this idea in the old on-board computer. :tongue:


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## Scafremon (Dec 11, 2006)

Bill,

Be prepared to be bombarded with questions about this, as I think this might be the ticket for me in landscaping my track. Seems much cleaner to work with then scraping and sanding styrofoam inside my house. 

I can see where the tearing can give good results, but need to visualize better how to get a smooth rolling hill...and hiding seams.

I will head over to a fabric store to buy a sheet/chunk and start playing with it.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Yeah Doba your onto it.

Much like nature no two chunks are the same. By using different densities of foam the effect can vary greatly in appearance or texture. For example a 2.0 lb foam will tear much the same as a 4.0 lb but their finished appearance will be different.

For hillocks and knolls sheet stock can be used over selective base chunks of scrap.
At the time the slitter saw could produce a minimum thickness of 1/8", commonly used as headliner padding or packaging inserts like you see in the old t-jet cases.

The foam comes off a long chute in a continuous pour and is whacked into "buns" that are roughly 108x96x54. Like giant bread slices. It is then sent to a horrizontal slitter saw or vertical band saw for standard production sizes like upholstery cushions or mattress pads... you name it! Curves and convolutions are done on a contour saw.
The scrap comes in a myriad of sizes and densities. I always found the long rails to be very productive, these are the long side cuts removed from six or eight inch slabs. An entire layouts worth of foam can be made from just a few of these rails.

Another curiosity is called change over foam. Where the production run changes and two foams are seperate but together like a marbled rye bread. The cheapest of the cheap from which kids mattresses or crib foams are made..."junkie bunkies" LOL. The change over was fun to work with and from a cheapo four by three block I created an entire mountain of Swiss Alp proportions.

Like any other material it does have value even as scrap. So when you find the foam shop ya may have to spring for a pizza or a rack of grog....some places charge a small fee for rifling the scrap bin. Scrap is shredded and chipped into that gruesome looking caserole we all have seen as carpet padding...aka: "rebond". Shops do get paid for it...although it is a pittance. Rebond has no use in scale modeling... that I ever found...it's just too gnarley!

I know it's a novelty technique and flies in the face conventionalism but I'd pretty well had enough of the mud techniques, along with white glue, and matte medium. This is not to say that you cant use them but it dries hard and defeats the entire purpose of going foam rubber. The foam rubber is flexible, forgiving, transports with out crumbling or cracking. For me it all boiled down to eight hundred times less mess and knowing that a hurtling diecast locomotive would just bounce off or fall over.

Guaranteed when you place your hand on a cushy rolling foam meadow and it pops right back at you it's a bit eery at first.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Scafremon said:


> Bill,
> 
> Be prepared to be bombarded with questions about this, as I think this might be the ticket for me in landscaping my track. Seems much cleaner to work with then scraping and sanding styrofoam inside my house.
> 
> ...


Good Scaf, but try to find it some where besides retail!!!! They'll hose you down bad. Do some digging and move up the production chain a bit. Seek out a fab shop and stay away from JoAnns!

I should also fore-warn you that the aerosol contact cement used on the later flocking stages can be noxious in it's own right and MUST be used with adequate ventilation. Your turtle wont like it! As do the bomb cans used for undertones.

Naturally brushable cement can be used but I always found it tedious to apply for areas that require a light touch like cultivated turf/lawns or broad expanses where you need to cover scale acreage. I've thinned it in a pinch and it worked fine. However the aerosol seemed more expedient and works the best for seaming, albeit more costly. 

The same can be said for the paint, you may use canned paints opposed to aerosol. I just like the aerosols cuz it's a point and shoot medium and dries quicker. The aerosols allow for a faster free flowing technique that also allows precision control of quantity and direction/angles. Once again this is not to say that it cant be done by brush slogging... it just wasnt my choice.

Bomb cans should be of the bottom shelf enamel variety. Lacquer makes the foam crispy! Wash tones of greys and browns should be latex. Look at garage sales and the "oops mixes" sometimes available at paint disributors. I found that your garden variety oil base Walnut stain worked beautifully for dark earth tones...It was allowed to settle and the thicker dregs from the bottom of the can worked well. Some experimentation was required here to get it thin enough to be workable but not so thin that it would run away and not cover properly.

Here in the Pac NW we have deep earthy tones leaning to the ruddy at times in soil. Exposed geology is granite or white grey; and basalt brown/black. Turf is bright green and the foliage in general is pretty much all shades in the green part of the pallete.

Take some time to ponder what you want to model and select your base tones respectively. I was always careful to blend tones together... well get to that. Stay away from any colors that are stark and cant be found in nature.

Perhaps the best way to describe the coloring process is a wet on wet technique like a watercolor painting. The wet edges allow for colors to fade in and out and shade more naturally.


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## Ogre (Jan 31, 2007)

http://members.westnet.com.au/mjbd/html/foam_rocks_-_frocks.html

This is a good site for using foam.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Hard as a rock?*

NOT!!... Along with many other household items (shower curtain for tonneau covers...hee-hee), foam rubber is a great find. Lightweight, no special tools, holds it's shape, accepts surface treatments...it's a keeper. A great use for the stuffing from all those Dallas, Greenbay, Seattle, and after this weekend New England Patriot stadium seat cushions. Not to mention all those _"Were #1"_ foam fingers that will be rendered useless. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: nuther


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Ogre said:


> http://members.westnet.com.au/mjbd/html/foam_rocks_-_frocks.html
> 
> This is a good site for using foam.


Good one Ogre! Furlow is one of the premiere model rr's. He's was a great inspiration to me in the way back. I've been out of rr'ing for some time...not by choice. 

Pleasantly surprised that the technique has been advanced. Really great stuff in this site. It shows everything you need to know and of course why I love this medium for modeling.


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Ogre said:


> http://members.westnet.com.au/mjbd/html/foam_rocks_-_frocks.html
> 
> This is a good site for using foam.


_D A N G_ -- Those are some nice results on that site.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

Very nice indeed. This guy also has some stunning scenery techniques and his books are awesome.

http://www.mrscenery.com/


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## Tycoarm (Jan 7, 2006)

And yet another fresh idea that makes perfect sense for our delicate cars. :thumbsup:


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## 69Ed (Jan 23, 2005)

*Another foam rocks method...*

Hey Bill,

For creating cliffs, you might want to look back at my post from last year ago entitled "Thunder Hills Update" or something to that effect. I'd post a link to it here if I knew how...

After trying the frocks (and failing miserably) I stumbled onto this method. The frocks were messy, and never seemed to get completely dry (at least in the time period my 10 year old assistant was willing to tolerate). 

Build the rock walls in smaller chunks (4x6 inches or so) and then patch them up with sculptamold which makes it look like rubble being washed out of the larger cracks. I layed these right over the plaster cloth, which saved a lot of time. I also used the stacked foam method, but when all was said and done, the plaster cloth with discrete rocks done as foam pieces is far faster with less styrofoam particles stuck to everything!

Then get some of those little $1 bottles of acrylic paint from the art/hobby store. Paint the whole works with India black or some other really dark flat black. Make sure absolutely no white shows through. Then lightly brush over red umber and dark grey. You will be amazed at the results. You'll feel like an artist! The final touch is to dry brush (to us non-artists that means a brush with hardly any paint on it) over the high spots with white. This pops the highest edges of the rock. You will be astounded at the finished product. It's incredibly realistic looking and very accurate to scale. Best part is that its easy and cheap!

For the final touch you can spread (glue) fine gravel into the crevaces to simulate washed out material. Use the road bed material from Woodland Scenics, or just make your own. I tinted the tan stuff from woodland scenics with the acrylic paint in a dixie cup. 

Spray bomb enamel tends to melt foam, so the acrylic is the way to go, but be sure to black it out heavy with the acrylic paint first. 

Been awhile since I've visited, so my photos in my profile are missing. However, there are still photos in most of my posts. I need to post some updates of our fabbed Arco guardrails and lighting. 

Ed


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*I couldn't agree more Ed ! !*



69Ed said:


> Been awhile since I've visited.... I need to post some updates of our fabbed Arco guardrails and lighting. Ed


As a matter of fact ... Get out that camera and go for it !!!... How 'bout starting a new thread with new pics from all new angles?? A great track like yours should be showed off. Never did get enough pics back when you posted it. Show us the turfed areas and the transitions you crafted between track/grass/infield. For good measure, throw in a few of the vertical rock wall sections you built up along the elevated sections too. Not only did you do a great job, but you should show it to inspire guys (like me) who are in the beginning/middle stages of design. Gives us something to shoot for. How 'bout it ??? nuther dave


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Your track looks awesome. I was digging through some of your old threads to see pictures of the track being built. Very cool. The landscaping looks very real and I like how you made the dropped section under the bridge look as iff it were carved out of the rock.
:thumbsup:

-Scott


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## wm_brant (Nov 21, 2004)

Here is a link to some pictures of a track called 'Island Raceway'

It's a 1/32 scale track that uses extruded foam (the blue or pink insulating stuff) to make a Southwestern landscape. What he did was pretty simple, but very effective.

Click on the 'Island Raceways' link, then either '2005 Pics' for construction pictures or 'IR2007' for current pictures.

-- Bill


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Nice to have you back Ed*

Aint landscaping a gas. So many techniques that can "blend" together it's staggering. It never ceases to amaze me when some one drops a new idea or creation in the hopper. 

Got any updates on Thunderhills? Man you were on a tear at the time and the topography was over the top. I'm pretty sure you set some kinda worlds record for going from bare board to fully scaped. We wanna see more when you find the time! Lets bump yer build back onto the front page. 

Actually I never had any trouble with enamel aerosols eating on the foam rubber....admittedly though foams with a density of less than 2.0 did get a tad crispy but still maintained it's cush.


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## Scafremon (Dec 11, 2006)

Thanks for the link to Island Raceway photos Bill.

Very creative landscaping there. With some different coloring on the rock formations, you could make all the landscaping look like manzanita wood. 

Which made me think about a table that looks like a giant redwood stump, and a track layout on top of the stump. Basically carrying the theme from table top all the way down to the floor.

Or a large granite boulder that supports a race track.

Slot Tables as Art - interesting.....


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

I totally forgot about some foam work I did on my track years ago; At the end of turn 7 there is a rock face at the end of the high speed hairpin. It looks like death to a slot car until you hit it. Boing! It is actually a 2" thick piece of foam rubber carved with an X-Acto knife and painted to look like a rock face. It works great and looks totally real. It was really easy to make. I just cut angled slices into it and pulled chunks out randomnly. (If you look at natural rock outcrops or cut faces, you will notice they project from the Earth at an angle, not parallel to the surface.) Then it was glued into a pocket in the mountain ledge. Over the years it has lost some of its definition from pieces coming off, but it still looks good for 17 years of bashing.  Foam rules!

Older picture:










More recent:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Looks great Scott*

... no worse for wear and "tear".


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