Welcome aboard, Don!

Gen2

I'm not sure this is going to the right place, but this is where I'm at.

I was quite surprised after all the negative comments I read on your site about page numbers not being there anymore, including mine, that you didn't say anything about it in this issue.  I was also surprised to see that you made all these changes when the vast majority of your users appear to use a PC. Yeah, tablets and iPhones and iPods and whatever will increase in the future, but they aren't quite there yet.  Yes, the young folks are married to their iPhones, etc., but how many older readers, like me, do you  have that like the then current way of doing things? 

I stopped trying to view last month's on my iPad after losing track of where I was in a prior session and how to get back to that spot, without knowing the page it was on and links that didn't work and links that locked up my i-pad.   Yes, my ios is ALWAYS current! I haven't even gone back to it to finish the other 90% of what I didn't read.  I haven't decided what I will do for this issue and those following. I may give the I-pad another try and maybe not.  The iPhone?  no way.

I realize this is just my opinion and matters quite little in your big picture. It is your business that has to be run efficiently and I understand that. Ken

Regarding foam use...

The most significant downside to the use of foam in model layout construction isn't the fire itself, but the toxic gasses released by the foam when it burns. The gasses can render someone unconscious very quickly, and dead very soon after that. Generally other layout construction materials, like wooden benchwork (unless it's pressure treated wood), plaster, cardboard, etc.

All the plastics used on a layout, in rolling stock, ties, structures, etc. generate toxic gasses, but those big sheets of extruded foam increases the gasses by orders of magnitude. THAT's the real danger!

Mark B.

RSS Feeds

Dangers of foam use

I have often wondered why this hasn't been brought up before. Yes foam board has been  used in home construction for years. The building code in British Columbia, Canada requires all foam board be cover with 1/2 " drywall and be firetaped( that is paper drywall tape with one coat of drywall mud over).This is to give the homeowner time get out before the fire reaches the foam board. The fumes from burning foam board extremely toxic!

As a carpenter I will be looking at other ways of doing scenery.

Brian L

foam

Here is a link to some research done on the flammability of foam.

http://www.scaletree.com/foamsafety.html

...and here's the actual MSDS sheets...

Dear MRHers,

...and here's the official MSDS sheets for the US, Note that both DOW (Blue "StyroFoam") and Owens-Corning (Pink "Foamular") products are listed an _non_-flammable.

( http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/flammablesolid.html)

Owens Corning Pink "Foamular" foam:
http://insulation.owenscorning.com/assets/0/428/429/434/bb2dc0a2-05eb-4c6a-b311-50c1a9210510.pdf

DOW Blue "Styrofoam" foam:
http://www.dow.com/webapps/msds/ShowPDF.aspx?id=090003e8802361c1

http://www.dow.com/webapps/msds/MSDSResults.aspx?TPName=styrofoam&Country=US

Agreed, the gases released in a burn-of-foam situation are possibly/likely hazardous in terms of extended concentrated exposure, but to say that "foam is flammable"
(with implication that it is more-flammable than most any other common layout-building material)
would be erroneous at best...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

PS experience here matches the report posted by Brian above, and matches the Aussie equivalent MSDS specs for such materials. IE a material rated as "non-flammable" must be "self-extinguishing", (It may melt, and appear to burn while in direct contact with flame or extreme heat source, but will not maintain combustion/"stay alight" in and of itself).
 

Gen2

This is a step in the right direction. The format allows more users to utilize their current technology to view the magazine. I would encourage going forward and not backward.

Randy H

Landscape gutterless format on Gen2

The new "middle-of-the-road" gutterless landscape format is a good compromise. Not having a mobile device--at least not yet; perhaps in the near future--I appreciate how the wider format fits my home computer screen. Thanks not only for keeping up with change, but also for being sensitive to the needs of users without mobile devices.

George N