How do you cover foam board?

[stearsmania]

I finally have my bench work finished on my N scale layout. It's massive. 14 feet long, 4 feet wide (first 8 feet), and 8 feet wide for the last 6 feet. Does that make sense? It's an L shape.

my question is about the foam board. I will have cork roadbeds on top of the foam, but how do you all cover your foam, whether it's white-pink-or blue? Do you paint it and add ground cover? Do you slap a little PoP on it and paint that? I painted some foam board in the past for my son to play on it with his wooden tracks and the paint chipped and it looked bad. Obviously, he will not be climbing on this (I hope).

all suggestions welcome!

 

[rzw0wr]

I think most give the foam a lite coat of latex paint just to make the foam all the same color.
I will cove most of mine with plaster cloth before I paint.
My layout is the same size as yours but in HO.

 

[stearsmania]

I went with N to get more out of my space. Was an HO guy before. First time dealing with N, I wake up everyday and wonder if I've screwed up.

 

[jwb]

Plaster cloth is probably a good choice to keep "crumbs" from falling off the foam. Then you can use something like Sculptamold or Celluclay to cover the cloth texture of the plaster cloth, and add scenery materials on top of that.

 

[jdetray]

The extruded pink or blue foam does nicely with a coat of flat, dirt-colored latex paint. You can sprinkle the still-wet paint with scenery material (ground foam, dirt, sawdust, etc.) to add your first layer of texture to the layout. No "crumbs" are produced by this type of foam.

The white beaded foam is a very different material; it's very messy and sheds enormous amounts of foam particles. Stay away from it!

- Jeff

 

[kenw]

scrape the surface to create texture, spray with latex to color.

 

[wombat457]

Stearsmania,

Lots of different ways to cover or color the foam. I use plaster of paris (POP) for a few reasons:

1. It's cheap and goes a long way
2. It is very light when dry
3. It can be shaped as it is applied to form your terrain
4. It is paintable and sandable
5. It is available in a variety of curing times (15 minutes to an hour)
6. It is easy to work with
7. It can be added to and depleted from by sanding or sculpting
8. It can be used to build gradients and roads adding to the cost savings

Once applied, I use woodland scenic s base colors to cover the white. Any earth color can be used, such as a latex paint from the local hardware store.

After that, I apply my basic ground cover, blended turfs and so forth.

 

[jdetray]

Money-saving tip:

Check at your local home center for paint that has been returned because the buyer decided it was the wrong color. I got a gallon of dirt-colored paint at Lowe's for $5. Almost any store that sells paint will have cans of wrong-color paint at cheap prices.

- Jeff

 

[engineerkyle]

The extruded pink or blue foam does nicely with a coat of flat, dirt-colored latex paint. You can sprinkle the still-wet paint with scenery material (ground foam, dirt, sawdust, etc.) to add your first layer of texture to the layout. No "crumbs" are produced by this type of foam.

The white beaded foam is a very different material; it's very messy and sheds enormous amounts of foam particles. Stay away from it!

- Jeff

I concur with Jeff. That is exactly how I do it. I've also let the latex dry, arranged the ground foam, ballast, rocks, etc. until it looks just right, then mist the scene with wet water (water with a drop of detergent to break up the surface tension). Next I'll drizzle on some Elmer's glue diluted with water. It spreads through the magic of capillary action, dries clear and holds everything tight.

Make sure it is extruded foam, very rigid and I've only seen it in pink or blue.

 

[Iron Horseman]

Imy question is about the foam board. I will have cork roadbeds on top of the foam, but how do you all cover your foam, whether it's white-pink-or blue? Do you paint it and add ground cover?

Yes, that is the one. I've had very little "chipping" problems where the foam gets snagged and the pink shows through. I once did a module with the plaster over, and will never do that again. Even the thin layer that I used doubled the weight of the thing making transportation and set up more difficult. Not to mention how much harder it was to add the larger foliage.

 

[Beachbum]

If the foam is extruded (blue, pink, or green) you can sand contours into it with a sanding block, electric sander, Sureform or whatever. I then slap cheap latex paint in top and add fine sand for the first layer. After that, I add layers of ground foam foliage until I get a look that I like.

AFAIK, the white beadboard foam (expanded styrofoam) isn't easy to contour, but I've only messed around with it a bit as an experiment.