newbie here, (Jack). I need all kinds of help. I have a table and am looking for 2" foam/styrene to use as a base.
Cant seem to find what Im looking for, I was looking for 2 x 2 x 2 squares, (7 of them).
I have an 8 ft table and will attach the foam to the table with some kind of glue.
Im going to model N scale Kato snaptrack. Any advice/help will be so much appreciated.
Thank You !
Welcome, I'm a newbie+6 months and you're in the right place. I got all kinds of help here, people are very supportive and they remember that they too were a newbie once.
As far as glue goes, there is stuff that is actually called foamboard adhesive, sold at all big box hardware stores. You might want to get a caulking gun, they are pretty cheap and a lot easier than squeezing tubes and tubes of adhesive over a 2x8 baseboard.
Home depot has a basic one for $6, so even if you never use it again...
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Anvil-10-oz-Smooth-Rod-Caulk-Gun-HD109T2-AT/336297442
(I used mine for laying track foam and track, but I have no idea how Kato snaptrack goes down.)
PRO TIP: When you snip the end of the tube of adhesive, it is still sealed inside. You have to poke a sharp stick down the nose to open it up. The caulk gun has both a thing for cutting the end of the tube and a thing for poking the hole built into it! If you don't use all of it, put a long nail in the top to keep it from drying out.
As for foam, I went through the same thoughts because I though 2x2 squares would be easier to handle. However, it turns out that they are much more expensive than sheets. I also went with 1" thick which turned out to be plenty. I suspect that drilling through 2" of foam plus baseboard for wiring will be a pain.
My initial worry was that my skills were not up to cutting foam sheets in a straight line, but it turns out they are pre-scored for breaking into thirds or halves. The photo below of a piece of scrap I was experimenting with (for burying something below ground level; tea bag provided for scale) shows how neat the break edge is. I am hopelessly mechanically declined, and this was easy even for me.
Home Depot has 1"x2x2 squares for about $10 each:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-C...XPS-Rigid-Foam-Board-Insulation-9WE/315401957
And 1"x4x8 sheets for about $32:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-C...Rigid-Foam-Board-Insulation-20WENGX/315197840
If you get the sheet and decide that you do want 2" after all, you can break it in half and stack the two halves on top of each other. But like I say, 1" was plenty for me, and used the remainder for various elevated things like hills. The biggest challenge was getting it home.
