{"id":425,"date":"2013-03-08T01:00:41","date_gmt":"2013-03-08T06:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smallmodelrailroads.wordpress.com\/?p=425"},"modified":"2015-04-25T20:52:45","modified_gmt":"2015-04-26T00:52:45","slug":"working-with-foam-core-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/working-with-foam-core-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Working with Foam Core – Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LayoutIn my prior post,\u00a0Working with Foam Core<\/a>, we looked at the On30\u00a0Bakersville layout I had started two years ago. Since pulling off the shelf again I have begun working towards completion (albeit very slowly and in between other projects).\u00a0In this update I add the sides and the backboard to the layout. The entire layout is built on a 20 x 30 piece of foam board that I picked up from Hobby Lobby.<\/p>\n

\"Bakersville<\/a>
Bakersville track in place<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I cut the sides from a single piece of 20 x 30 foam\u00a0board\u00a0to make two matching 15 x 20 inch pieces. I attached each\u00a0piece\u00a0to a side using hot glue. Be very careful of the glue gun as any part of the tip is very hot and will cause a very bad burn (I can show you how I know this). I also recommend placing the gun on a scrap piece of board as it tends to drip.<\/p>\n

Before gluing anything, test fit all pieces. hot glue sets up fast so you will not have much time. I arranged everything within easy reach and went through the motions of how the assembly would go before I actually applied the glue. To attach the side I added the glue to the base and then pressed the Foam board side into the glue. I had to use a fair amount of pressure as the glue is thick and I wanted everything as flush as possible. After about 1 minute the glue had cooled enough to hold everything in place. i then repeated the process for the other side.<\/p>\n

The layout has a turnout and small track in the back to act as a fiddle yard. The back board will need to be in front of this track. Openings needed to be cut to allow room for the train to pass through. I cut another\u00a0piece\u00a0of foam board to size (3 inches shorter than the sides because it is on top of the layout base). I measured the height of the locomotives I intend on using and decided 3 inches was\u00a0sufficient\u00a0clearance for anything I planned to run on the layout. For the opening widths, I placed the background in position and marked in pencil the approximate opening widths based on where the track intersected the board. I cut the openings, test fitted the back and ran \u00a0train to check clearances. After a few more cuttings and tests, the back was ready.<\/p>\n

\"Back<\/a>
Back board as seen from the rear of the layout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A single piece of foam board will bow after time if there is no support for it. Even these “‘new”\u00a0pieces\u00a0were not perfectly flat. to install the back as is would require\u00a0gluing\u00a0with butt joints. This is not an accurate way to ensure things are straight when glued and ensure they stay that way. To fix this problem I cut some long 2 inch wide strips to act as backing for the\u00a0joints\u00a0 I marked a line on the side where the joint would be and then glued the strips along this line. Once completed I was able to glue the back, one side at a time, into this joint creating a very strong, accurate and flush joint.<\/p>\n

\"Strip
Strip added to create a better joint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since the bottom edge was not glued and could still move a little, I added a couple small pieces of foam to the bottom edge in a similar manner to the side strips.<\/p>\n

\"Small
Small strips added to base<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With everything together, I could not resist placing some of the building\u00a0mock-ups\u00a0to test the look and feel of the layout. So far so good, I think this could end up being one of my favorites!<\/p>\n

\"Layout<\/a>
Layout with a couple mock-ups in place<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my prior post,\u00a0Working with Foam Core, we looked at the On30\u00a0Bakersville layout I had started two years ago. Since pulling off the shelf again…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles-on-small-layouts","wpcat-2-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4e6yk-6R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":271,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/working-with-foam-core\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":0},"title":"Working with Foam Core","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"December 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"There has been a lot of\u00a0conversation\u00a0in the forums about using Gator Foam, Foam Board, Insulation Foam and the pros and cons of each\u00a0for layouts. I decided to break out my old Bakersville Layout and see how it was holding up. I started Bakersville two years ago as an On30 test\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Small Layout How To Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Small Layout How To Articles","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/articles-on-small-layouts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bakersfield underside showing frame and cross members","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/img_1812-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":668,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/a-helix-in-foam-core\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":1},"title":"A Helix in Foam Core","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"November 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In a previous post we looked at the Brewery Tramway\u00a0which included a prototype helix. The thought of creating a helix and multilevel layout continued to intrigue me for some time. I had never done one before, not even on my large layout attempts. I decided to try and build the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Small Layout How To Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Small Layout How To Articles","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/articles-on-small-layouts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brewery_lower.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brewery_lower.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brewery_lower.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brewery_lower.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brewery_lower.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/brewery_lower.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/small-display-layout-with-variable-led-lighting\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":2},"title":"Small Display Layout with Variable LED Lighting","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"October 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While researching how to light my Mound City 1862 display layout, I received some very\u00a0innovative\u00a0lighting\u00a0recommendations\u00a0from Joseph Norris. I met Joseph through the Yahoo Small Layout Design Group. Joseph has been experimenting with a lighting design using bright LEDs that can easily be dimmed manually or electronically. He made his own\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Small Layout How To Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Small Layout How To Articles","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/articles-on-small-layouts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Portable Diorama (2)_img_14","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/portable-diorama-2_img_143-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":731,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/christmas-display-layouts\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":3},"title":"Christmas Display Layouts","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"December 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This month we will take a look at a series of Christmas layouts by Brian G Kammerer. All photos in this article are by Dana Laird.\u00a0We looked at some examples of Brian\u2019s work in a prior article \"Layout Composition and Design Concepts\". Brian has been creating small display layouts for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Layout Spotlight"","block_context":{"text":"Layout Spotlight","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/layout-spotlight\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/finished_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/finished_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/finished_1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/finished_1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2193,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/designing-a-box-for-a-small-layout\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":4},"title":"Designing a Box for a Small Layout","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"November 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When I design modules, I always try to make them a single element with everything required for setup in one package. The trains themselves must be transported separately for obvious reasons but things like legs, scenery and some structures in my mind can all be together as a single unit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Small Layout Design Ideas"","block_context":{"text":"Small Layout Design Ideas","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/small-layout-ideas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Box_1_Box_Explode_Color.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Box_1_Box_Explode_Color.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Box_1_Box_Explode_Color.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Box_1_Box_Explode_Color.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Box_1_Box_Explode_Color.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Box_1_Box_Explode_Color.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6129,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/pizzatopia-an-hon30-micro-layout\/","url_meta":{"origin":425,"position":5},"title":"Pizzatopia – an HOn30 Micro Layout","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"December 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"For the last couple years, the e-magazine The Micro Model Railway Dispatch and the Facebook group Micro Model Railroad Cartel have been hosting an annual layout\/modeling challenge they call their \"Christmas Challenge\". The name is just because you have to complete it by the end of the year, not Christmas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Small Layout Design Ideas"","block_context":{"text":"Small Layout Design Ideas","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/small-layout-ideas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_4497.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_4497.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_4497.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_4497.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":692,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}