Relief Patterning and Kappa-line foamboard

[eTraxx]

Making relief patterning tools using Sculpey - was interesting. I know some of you have made cobble stone surfaces in DAS using tools .. this fellow makes one from Sculpey. What caught my eye though was the reference to using Kapa-line foamboard. Looking around I found another article from this guy - Creating surfaces with Kapa-line foamboard. - which I found very interesting. This stuff is - "polyurethane (different from the polystyrene in standard foamboard) and is stronger, much denser though still soft.  It can also be glued well with solvent glues, including superglue, without dissolving."

It would be fun to find a supplier in the US to experiment with this product

[lab-dad]

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, as you stated, where to get it in the colonies???

-Mj

[mad gerald]

... terrific find, Ed ... 

Have a look at the offer of a german online shop (just for comparison):

http://www.modulor.de/shop/oxid.php/sid/a7cd6f064d47ab3cfb1bee2694fc6546/cl/details/cnid/SC_BBD/anid/BBDB

Cheers

[finescalerr]

It still looks porous, like foam core, so possibly more suited to large scale projects? -- Russ

[Chuck Doan]

Interesting find!

[5thwheel]

I used to find polyurethane foam sheets in 4'x8' x 1" thick at a local insulation wholesaler locally.  It was pink in color.  It works very nicely and can b e sanded or carved or cut with a hot knife.  Must wear face mask while working it as it is very dusty. It comes in various thicknesses and is used a lot in commercial architectural model building. (Sadly CAD has pretty much put the architectural modeler out of business.

[Ray Dunakin]

Precision Board is a polyurethane foam, probably very similar to what's inside this stuff. It's available in several densities. It's usually sold in bulk quantities though. I don't know of any place where you can buy such thin sheet of it. Rainbow Ridge sells some for garden railroad uses, but the thinnest they have is a half inch.

http://www.rainbowridgekits.com/PBsheetpricing.htm

[marc_reusser]

Precision board in a wide range, and other stuff (as well as sealers, fillers, primers, textures and hard shell finishes for it) is available through Coastal Enterprises (I believe they are the actual mfr of the product.) I have ordered materials and samples from them before. Thicknesses of the product(s) ranges from 1/4" to 24".

http://precisionboard.com/

[lab-dad]

I obtained some samples from the manufacturer Mark shows the link to.
Very interesting stuff. Looking to purchace some as now I know where my local distributor is.
My first tests of the material.
Dont think it will replcace wood or styrene but for stone I like it.
Guys like Ray with outdoor layouts should definitely look at it.
Everything you see is the foam.
Scale is 1:16



Marty

[marc_reusser]

Very interesting test Marty. Thanks for sharing. Can you tell us a bit about the process/route you took to create each of the components.

[lab-dad]

I didnt do much.
I used a saw to make the horizontal mortar lines, then a small screwdriver to make the vertical ones.
I used a small sandblaster to wear the bricks down a little so the surface was not so uniform.
I used the bandsaw to slice off the boards.
I used my wire pencil to grain the boards.
This was interesting because you can not see what you are doing!
I used acrylics to paint the material in several layers. I think my crackle paint went bad.
Mortar is joint compound.
Sealed the whole thing with matte acrylic.

I'm hoping to use this for the other walls on the machine shop, may be.........

-Marty

[marc_reusser]

Cool. Thanks for the description.
The issue with your crackle paint could likely be just because it was over an uneven/textured or slightly porous surface.

[lab-dad]

I sealed it with gloss before the crackle. 
Mj

[marc_reusser]

Hmm. Should have worked. Out of curiosity...gloss lacquer, or acrylic?

[lab-dad]

Enamel clear....?