Attaching insulation board??

[Virginian]

HI y'all...
shamus,
After a "delay on account of pain" (carpal tunnel injury, left hand/wrist), I've finally got my 4x8 ply supported and ready
to attach insulation board, and then, at last, I get to lay some track

The question is, since I want to be able to, if necessary, remove the insul. board for future modification,when the time comes to move the whole thing, what is the best method, d'ya think?? I would rather not have screw heads, as I will not follow my track plan to the 'line': I want the freedom to modify as I go...I'm thinking of white glue, sparingly, with very small screws or finish nails along the perimeter ( I will have a three inch min. edge all around). I think that if I use a few longer spikes for the track, here and there, that should be sufficient...white glue, with a little thinning should be pry-able..any ideas?

Thanks
Virginian

 

[shamus]

Hi Virginian,
If you are going to move the insulation board as you say later for modifications, surely you would also move the ply with it. Insulation needs to be screwed to ply at various intervals otherwise it will start to warp especialy when you start to add glue for scenery. Paint the insulation first an earth color, apart from looking better it will also make it easier to cut with a craft knife, if you want to raise the tracks somewhere.

 

[Shay2]

Hey Virginian,
I'm wondering if your talking about this type of surface?

I glued the pink insulation to 1/2" plywood with yellow wood glue thined 50% with water.
The porosity of both surfaces make it impossible to take apart once it dries!

If your concerned about the size and moving it later on you might try cutting it in half, IE. two 4X4 sheets that you screw tight together from underneath. The top "seam" is easily filled with a mixture of ground foam and glue and if screwed to your support framework can be easily disassembled for moving with very little damage to anything.

Rich

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Rush Run River Logging Co.

 

[Shay2]

As an after thought....

I didn't use cork under the track. Bought some bendable stuff..soaked it in warm water like they say and ended up with a mess...What can I say, I'm an amature with HO!
What I did do, was, after reading Shamus's track and balast wall paste trick...I tried just gluing the track to the foam insulation with wood glue. It works perfect! I held it in place with pins till it dried.

The photo show's the next step, I used an exacto knife to cut "V" groves down into the foam on either side of the track to act as a balast trench.

Then mixed the wallpaper paste and colored balast and smeared it over the track and into the groves. I will find the photo's and post them so you can critique my end results.

Rich

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Rush Run River Logging Co.

 

[Virginian]

Thanks shamus and Rich
Rich: no, I'm using a fiber board insulation they call 'sound board' over 't the Home Depot. Pretty heavy, but, as best I can figure, this is what shamus means by 'insulation board'. I do have some Dow 'Blue Styrofoam' to use for elevations: mountains, river canyons, hills....Thanks for the ideas...they will come in handy when I get to that part of the project.(All will be sectional, removable peices...I'll figure out how the sections attach to the layout 'board' when I get there

shamus, I was hoping to be able to move the beast in two pieces 'cause of weight. When I do move into the house (workin' in the garage at present), I will be re-designing this section. The interim design is inclusive; a classification yard next to a small town, a main line 'oval'with double reversing loops xing in the middle and a coal mine with small yard in one corner, back behind a 'mountain' When the bench work is ready in the bedroom/trainroom, the 4x8 is to become my two main yards (N&W on the 'North',VGN on the 'South' with the surrounding City of Roanoke and hills in the middle.And, of course, a back drop of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The big problem is to make it hold together and still be able to seperate the two layers so I can carry the thing by myself, as will probably be necessary. I'm using a bit thicker plywood; at the time I bought it,there was very little 1/2" that was even close to useable, so I bought some A grade 3/4" Birch...very stiff, which is what I needed at the time..but also heavy!
I think I'll screw down the outer edge,lay the track out, then, when I have everything right, add some screws round about in the middle. That should do the trick. I might still use some thinned White glue as a little extra adhesion,spotting it in pattern over the whole surface of the plywood, then laying on the insul. board.

Should I paint the whole board, top,sides,and bottom??

I'm going to use artist gesso mixed with a bit of mixed 'red clay' and med. brown acrylic. That should do it!
Thanks
VGN

[This message has been edited by Virginian (edited 04-27-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Virginian (edited 04-27-2001).]

 

[shamus]

Hi VGN,
No need to paint all of it, just the top, use your medium brown/red acrylic and add some white wood glue to it also. Let it dty then you can start laying track. Don't forget to track pin the outsides of youe track, not in the center as this will cause the track to go out of gauge if you hammer them in. I only ever use the track pins made by Peco, 1/2" long and as thin hell.

 

[Virginian]

Hi shamus
roger wilco!.. I can't get peco 'pins', but I've made my own from straight pins...with the insul. board in place, THIS TIME!

,they should push in nicely. I do have some tiny track spikes I bought, but they're so tiny, and short, it's hard to keep a holt !!
Bye now, and thanks for your support!
VGN

 

[George]

I hope this doesn't sound stupid, BUT.....

If you're concerned about moving this in the future and you don't want the screw heads visible, why don't you drive your screws in from the bottom? Will work the same way, removable and the screws out of sight.

Your soundboard sounds like homasote. Is it gray and looks like heavily compressed cardboard, or is it more like ceiling tile?

George.

[This message has been edited by George (edited 04-30-2001).]