Pink Foam Era, UPDATE!!! Part 4!!!

Hello everybody.
It has been almost a year since my last post.
During this month I had the opportunity to advance in one of the stages that interests me most in the model, and that is the bridge module.

As you can see, it is a sequence from cutting into styrofoam blocks, to its partial completion.

The stage of cutting the styrofoam into blocks is in fact the most time-consuming and laborious, since it requires making cardboard guides to adjust the styrofoam and they must also be glued.

The next stage was one of the fastest (just 4 hr), which consisted of cutting the ravine and part of the mountains with hot wire.

Afterwards, the excess styrofoam was cut with a knife cutter.

Finally, it was sanded with a sanding sponge and the rocks of the tunnel and the canyon were sculpted.

I hope you like it. I estimate that this year I can finish the microenginnering bridge to replace the temporary piece of plywood.

Looks pretty cool.  That

Looks pretty cool.  That looks like a lot of shavings were removed to make the shape.  There is certainly one way to get those results.  

Nice

Looks awesome

Photo 1

Looks really great.

I use pink foam for my landforms too.  This really looks good.  I do have the same question that Joe just asked about photo 1. 

One small critique

The contours really look good.  My only thing is that there is less than an inch above the tunnel portal which seems a little unrealistic to me.  I think a railroad would make a cut instead of a tunnel with that little above.  Adding at least a couple more inches above the tunnel portal I think would make it look better.

Just my two cents.

Good question

Hi Joe Fugates.
I am a fan of your work. I bought your videos years ago and whenever I can, I recommend them to my Mexican colleagues.

Regarding your question, I would like to mention a little of my experience.

When I started using Styrofoam on other parts of the layout, I tried to cut out the level contours of each piece of Styrofoam. The result was the following:

1.- In some parts I managed to save Styrofoam but in others I definitely had waste.
2.- When I tried to find a way to optimize the contours, it turned out that I also spent a lot of time turning the cardboard patterns on the Styrofoam sheets to save material.
3.- Cutting one or two patterns of Styrofoam with a cutter knife is simple, but when you have been cutting for 2 hours it can be particularly painful for the thumb, especially when cutting in curves.

For the reasons mentioned above, I decided that I didn't want to spend a lot of time on what would in itself generate waste. So in this last stage I preferred to start with large blocks (most are straight cuts) and that also allowed me to observe that the design I had in mind was not the best. The freedom of sculpting from a block is a bit different. Hot wire requires a bit of excess material as it usually loses a bit when melted.

I hope been more or less clear, since my english is not my native language.
Best regards
Luis Francisco
Mexico city

Interesting

Interesting. I’ve never been a fan of foam scenery because of the total mess it makes if you carve it with rasps, etc with little pieces of static clinging foam bits everywhere when you form the terrain. And using a hand knife to carve foam just doesn’t appeal to me, either, for the reason you mention: very hard on the hands after a while.

The hot cutters with the flimsy hot wire also don’t do it for me. Too easy to break and often too slow. I want something a lot more aggressive.

On Siskiyou Line 2, I’m looking to keep the module sections extremely lightweight so I’m going to finally give in and use foam for scenery. Recently on TrainMasters TV, Greg Baker showed a foam cutting method that totally changes the process for me — no more mess and finally aggressive hot foam cutting that really works! I have found my foam scenery terrain process for Siskiyou Line 2!

If you're a TrainMasters TV member, you need to watch this segment ... if you’re not a member, go ahead and spend the three bucks to view that one segment, it’s very eye-opening. Here’s the link:
https://trainmasters.tv/programs/no-mess-foam-scenery

@NDEMC307, I think with Greg’s approach, you could have precut those foam layers quite easily and then gone on to refine the foam terrain also with Greg’s recommended hot cutter and had absolutely zero mess in the process.

Another options from my experience.

Hello Joe.
Sharing my experience, let me tell you that I bought a Micro-Mark 85495 hot knife and I didn't feel so comfortable with its operation. First because it's not as fast as it seems, it travels quite slowly on the Pinkfoam, and second it leaves a lot of toxic smoke. In fact, from that experience I bought 3M masks with a carbon filter to work with this material.

Later I bought a VERY STRONG hot wire cutter from Hotwire Foam Factory called:
Freehand Router # 018

Freehand router

Its only drawback is that you have to adjust the screws from time to time, and reinforce the handle with a velcro strap.
Once these modifications are made you will find that it scrolls quickly.

Something that is remarkable about this cutter is that you can modify its shape and adapt to the terrain.
That does not always happen with the hot knife.

It also generates less smoke. Anyway I wear my mask and I always have a fan on to extract the smoke.

As I mention in this article, all that pile of Styrofoam was sculpted in 4hr. I think it took longer to fit and glue the styrofoam.

At the moment this has been my best tool. As for the Styrofoam and the dust my best ally has been the vacuum cleaner and a box with an integrated garbage bag to throw away the waste.

I will watch Greg's video to know his experience, maybe there is something that I have not taken into account.
Thanks always for your advice.

Best regards

Here is an alternative method

Here is an alternative method to get a land form and instead of removing material and throwing it away, you make forms by bending strips of cardboard and use a skeleton of scrap wood for a support structure.  The only cost is the hot glue sticks.  I'd guess the covering will still be necessary for both cardboard or foam landforms.

A clean job!

Thanks for your advice Jim. Your work, it's beautiful. 

The technique that you mention was on my mind at the beginning but I discarded. One of the reasons I decided choose pink foam against cardboard, it's because my layout is semi modular, in consequence each module works as a big rigid wood box, so if I decide move to another house, I consider the pink foam in blocks probably will survive the moving. The cardboard works fine in a fix layout, a friend of mine has done his layout with that technique. 
I guess at the end all depend of your requirements, space, budget among others. 

Thanks for sharing the pics!!!
Best Regards

NDEMC307You did a lovely job

NDEMC307

You did a lovely job as well!  I look forward to seeing your progress on that layout!

BTW, I did design the layout in those photo's to be semi modular as well.  And it would be separated at the joints.  The card board strips did end at each module.  However the house I moved to I decided to design a completely different layout so I didn't preserve and move this layout to be re-assembled.  But I believe the layout could have been separated into sections and moved and re-assembled using this technique. 

Here is a section removed while I was taking it down.  I cut it right along the joint here.

The foam does seem to lend itself to modular separation but I wonder won't you have to cover it with somthing that will still cover the joints, like plastic gauze or some other covering?  The layout in your photo doesn't look any more movable than my last layout done with the cardboard strips.

One thing I did want to demonstrate is you can actually get pretty specific with land forms with cardboard rather than just a blob for a rounded hill side.  I found I could sort-of "raster scan" as I moved from left to right or visa versa.

About the semi modules

Hi Jim!!!

When you said the layout doesn't look any more movable than your last layout done with the cardboard strips, maybe it's true.

I had seen many layouts destroyed due the moving or divorce or any other reasons. I hope mine could survive around the years. 
Talking about the separations, they are divided by wood, as I tried to mention, they are some kind of rigid big wood boxes. I attach a photo below.

This year I will apply plaster mixed with cement and pigment. I am planning to keep each module divided.

I hope to know your new projects.

Sincerely.

Speaking of tunnels that don't appear to have much over the top

How about this tunnel? Sure doesn't look like it has much over the top of it at all!

Can't see the photo? Try the direct link:
https://douglasscolony.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/DJI_0004-min.jpg

Maybe they could make it look more realistic by adding some more layers over the top? 

I guess

there is a prototype for everything.  Joe, you are the one to say model the mundane, not the exception! 

Hah, bring in the Moffat

Hah, bring in the Moffat Tunnel will you.  That's one angle I haven't seen lately and rarely, if ever, modeled due to the size and depth of it.

I do like to build layouts in a semi modular fashion so they can be broken down without a Saw Zaw, but so far I've also found what whatever layout I have built, I would not have wanted to use it in a future residence.  Usually the reason is the next layout space can be used much better if it had a new layout custom designed for it.  For a layout to be moved, and re-used, it would generally have to be on the smaller side, and then the space may beg to be filled or used differently anyway.  I did find that all the efforts I put into my last layout to make it moveable, ended up being for naught.  Yes, I did even place wood along the edges in places like Luis did.  But hey, you never know.

Your Work

Bravo, Luis!

The hobby has its own issues here...

Hi Jim.

I believe that the circumstances in which model railroad is developed in Mexico and Latin America in general leads us to make different decisions. For example:

1.- The cost of the models that I buy on ebay in the US, can increase on average up to an extra 22% when I bring them for consolidated parcel services to Mexico City. This is not to mention that I pay local taxes, although I strictly don't have to.

2.- That is why we have to find a way to optimize our effort and try to move the models as far as possible to save that work and money. Sometimes it is achieved, other times it is not. At least my intention is not to start from scratch with my layout.

3.-By not having our own industry, the costs are prohibitive, many friends have their trains and removable sets, but very few have layouts.

The layout since I built it, I thought myself, it should survive and at least it has withstood 3 earthquakes of 7.1, 8.2 and 7.3 on the Richter scale. It has survived at least two floods that, thanks to the fact that I have a pump in the basement, did not go bad.

The bases of the layout are not screwed together and each module is divided into its electrical wiring by a bus and these modules are joined with screws. The only part attached between modules are the track, just that.

Honestly, I would not like to make another layout, I have been enjoying this process for 10 years, but I would definitely not go through carpentry and other processes again.

I'll keep reporting my progress and only time will tell if all that work was a good bet.

Best regards

Hello Luis,I hear you! 

Hello Luis,

I hear you and understand! 

Even though I didn't move my old layout and re-use it by re-assembling it, my resources are somewhat limited (some of us in the US aren't as wealthy as others).  And to that end, while I didn't save the scenery, I did save:

- all the benchwork, all the wood and pieces of wood,

- all the screws

- all the track

- all the track nails

- all track rail joiners

On the new layout I have re-used almost everything that I could recycle.  So I am cognizant of the "economies" of the hobby too and try to recycle and keep costs in mind as well.  I am so glad I kept all the wood, for example, because the cost of lumber has skyrocketed during the pandemic!

Of course all the time invested in a layout, like you have is something to be considered too!

You are doing a great job and it looks very nice!  Keep up the good work!

Cheers,

Jim

Natural Disasters

Criminy! Your layout seems to be military-grade survivable. Good points about foam v. cardboard for scenery forms. Very much like the way your scenery flows. You could almost paint it brown, throw on some foliage, and call it good. 

@Joe How about this tunnel?

Hi Joe.

I don’t know about others, as they haven’t mentioned it, but for some reason I can’t see the photo you posted. I’m looking at this on a; iPad, using the Chrome browser.