Help with my First N Scale Layout.

[railfan]

At our Lowes the 4'x8' foam is currently light green colored and real light weight. Comes in one inch and two inch thickness.....and maybe others. Pretty sure it's extruded....whatever that means.


Mike

[k0ncept]

Originally Posted by railfan

At our Lowes the 4'x8' foam is currently light green colored and real light weight. Comes in one inch and two inch thickness.....and maybe others. Pretty sure it's extruded....whatever that means.


Mike

TY I will head up there and look, the extruded is supposed to be easier to work with and wont flake when carved... "I think" hehehe...

Ahhh time to get to work, i will post up some more pics with some benchwork laid once I get some done, I need to shim and mount the base cabinets to the wall now..

[k0ncept]

ok Just got back from Lowes, all they had was some white type foam board, polystyrene? is this the correct stuff?

no blue no pink just white lol..

[joed2323]

Honestly, if you have a shop vac on hand, And dont mind using it, just carve and have the vacuum going at the same time, it doesnt make that much of a mess.

Ive used the white on my layout because it was free and on hand and i didnt have a problem except the mess, but thats what a vacuum is for...

The white stuff is the kind everyone hates. The blue and pink does carve nicer but honestly the foam usually gets covered up anyway. I like to use quick set dry wall compound to cover up the foam. I do know the blue and pink foam is more money then the white foam.

Also for mountains/hills, you can pick up a roll of aluminum window screen at walmart for under 10 bucks. A bag of drywall compound for about 6-7 bucks at homedepot and you can make some awesome hills this way for cheap...

All you gotta do is cut the screen to bulge it up to make a hill/mountain. It usuall takes 2 coats of quick set drywall mud to get into the screen and cover it up.






I hope your not mad that i posted pictures on your thread, its just for ideas

[railfan]

Yeah I get what you mean by extruded now....I think I knew that once......then forgot........guess my brain has a loose connector somewhere... lol. The old styrofoam bead-board is the real crappy stuff. Not sure about the white styrene. Some foam genius will chime in here soon I hope. If they would just stick to one color on the correct foam board......we could save alot of energy trying to guess our way though this dilemma.




Mike

[k0ncept]

Originally Posted by joed2323

Honestly, if you have a shop vac on hand, And dont mind using it, just carve and have the vacuum going at the same time, it doesnt make that much of a mess.

Ive used the white on my layout because it was free and on hand and i didnt have a problem except the mess, but thats what a vacuum is for...

The white stuff is the kind everyone hates. The blue and pink does carve nicer but honestly the foam usually gets covered up anyway. I like to use quick set dry wall compound to cover up the foam. I do know the blue and pink foam is more money then the white foam.

Also for mountains/hills, you can pick up a roll of aluminum window screen at walmart for under 10 bucks. A bag of drywall compound for about 6-7 bucks at homedepot and you can make some awesome hills this way for cheap...

All you gotta do is cut the screen to bulge it up to make a hill/mountain. It usuall takes 2 coats of quick set drywall mud to get into the screen and cover it up.






I hope your not mad that i posted pictures on your thread, its just for ideas

I dont get mad, Thank You for posting them Inspiriation at its best!! TY!


Well im STILL working on benchwork and making SLOW progress, but the hardest part is almost over and I can move on to the rest, I REALLY want to get this damn benchwork done by tomorrow.. I will be working late into the night again....

[k0ncept]

Originally Posted by railfan

Yeah I get what you mean by extruded now....I think I knew that once......then forgot........guess my brain has a loose connector somewhere... lol. The old styrofoam bead-board is the real crappy stuff. Not sure about the white styrene. Some foam genius will chime in here soon I hope. If they would just stick to one color on the correct foam board......we could save alot of energy trying to guess our way though this dilemma.




Mike

I had no idea either, remember when we used to use that wooden type wall board, blah, I would much rather use foam, super easy to carve out rivers and streams and what not... Cant wait to FINISH the bench work, almost there, one more big section to go and im POOPED! I think it will have to wait till tomorrow..

[TheZeke]

Love those rocky areas on the hill face. How'd you do that?

[k0ncept]

ok some updated pics....

Made 2 workstations, where I will install Keyboard Type Drawers for controls and whatever, man this is the most bombproof framing I have made yet, I can jump on it, yank as hard as I can on it, and I cannot get it to shake, I even had friends try it as well , now all I have left is really easy as far as benchwork goes, I wont have to worry about incorporating cabinets into it at all, thats what took me so long today.. So Tomorrow all I need to do is slap the last part together and then its time for plywood and foam... I think I will pait the upper part of the room just to make it easier before I do trackwork, that should not take too long.. Thinking Sky Blue for the entire room...











Here are my Helpers who worked hard with me all day today..



I better finish tomorrow im beat lol...

[k0ncept]

Update so far, I have like 95% of all the benchwork completed, since I don't have a track plan, and really lack the skill to pre-plan one, I decided to just install the plywood over the top for now, benchwork is bulletproof, and all I have left is trying to figure out the final plan for the hinge lift...

Im a complete noob and rookie, even at 44, so this is taking some time to figure out, I have been looking at the internet, and found a few different things... In the picture, you can see kinda how I think it might work, I just have a piece of wood laying across the top for now, I almost wish I had a direct angle, but i wanted the door to be able to open and close without having to lift it everytime, and as it sits the door can open and close and still has like 2-3 inches from hitting the bridge...

Im getting there, if anyone has any suggestions on a good trackplan for this size room I will take ANY and all advice...

I want a doubletrack main, decent elevation, some mountains, possibly a logging operation, maybe 3-4 towns, maybe a staging and switching area?

I think a recent head injury I suffered has really messed me up, im currently on the mend, but just dont seem to be able to sit down and plan a layout, I get 10 mins into it and I have to lay down cuz my head starts spinning.. Head injuries are a weird thing, im heading to a neurlogist here in a few days, im just waiting for the appt...

But first and foremost Maybe I will order enough track to go around the room first and go from there... Next step is foam installation tomorrow, I just need my friend to come over and do all the work for me like he did on my benchwork..


Here is the brige lift hinge area im trying to figure out