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I have tried 3 hobby stores, even michaels a big chain, none of them carry it. Lowes said they could order it, but it would have to be more than I would like to pay for. Where do you guys find that stuff?

Home Depot, Home Quarters, etc. Any of the big home improvement/building supplies stores. You know, the ones with the big cavernous aisles, and varying sections including fixtures, paint, lighting, lumber, garden, etc. It's under insulation, usually near the lumber.

What Mannahnin said. If you specifically requested "pink" styrofoam, they probably thought you were requesting that particular R-value for insulating purposes. The stuff comes in blue and other colors which I know they would have in stock, all of which would work for modeling purposes.

Or haunt a local construction site - I always see scraps of it getting thrown out.

It's cheap, too. I think it's something like < $10 for an 8'x4'x1"

Orock wrote:I have tried 3 hobby stores, even michaels a big chain, none of them carry it. Lowes said they could order it, but it would have to be more than I would like to pay for. Where do you guys find that stuff?

Like they said. The goons at Lowes prolly didn't know what you wanted. It's called insulation foam board; it comes in both pink and blue (and maybe other colors).

It's about $10 a sheet, depending on thickness.

I've noticed at my local big box hardware stores that it's getting harder to find insulation foam board of the 1"+thickness variety (I'm seeing lots of contoured stuff etc., or stuff with reflective metal sheeting on the outside). You might want to try an actual lumber yard rather than an all-in-one DIY shop.

Most jobs dont need more than 1" foam, if you use it for wall insulation, 1.5+ is too thick for finishing off most of the time.

Last week I was in Lowe's, and they had 4' X 8' sheets of what looked like 1/4 inch foam insulation. The aisle was blocked off due to them stocking the overheads. Didn't see the manufacturers label, but it was smooth and white in color.

Ditto the above info regarding checking out construction sites, more private homes than office buildings to find discards on the foam.

Just remember: NEVER spray paint on to insulation foam, it will melt. Paint large boards with a flat paint using a roller before attempting to spray.

Laserbait wrote:Last week I was in Lowe's, and they had 4' X 8' sheets of what looked like 1/4 inch foam insulation. The aisle was blocked off due to them stocking the overheads. Didn't see the manufacturers label, but it was smooth and white in color.

Ditto the above info regarding checking out construction sites, more private homes than office buildings to find discards on the foam.

Just remember: NEVER spray paint on to insulation foam, it will melt. Paint large boards with a flat paint using a roller before attempting to spray.

Actually I used that melty thing to my advantage, built a bunker out of standard styrofoam, spraypainted it grey, and only the foam between the beads melted. Looked like a bunker made out of hand set stones. Very civil warish.

Was that the effect you were going for Orock?

It can be used for effects, but if you are building a game table, it can be detrimental.

Laserbait wrote:Just remember: NEVER spray paint on to insulation foam, it will melt. Paint large boards with a flat paint using a roller before attempting to spray.

In older WDs they have also suggested mixing some PVA with water (about 50/50) and brushing that on over the foamboard to prevent it melting when spraying. Funny thing is, it is transparent so if you missed a spot you are going to find out about it pretty quickly when spraying

legoburner wrote:

Laserbait wrote:Just remember: NEVER spray paint on to insulation foam, it will melt. Paint large boards with a flat paint using a roller before attempting to spray.

In older WDs they have also suggested mixing some PVA with water (about 50/50) and brushing that on over the foamboard to prevent it melting when spraying. Funny thing is, it is transparent so if you missed a spot you are going to find out about it pretty quickly when spraying

I personally use a layer of base coat paint. If you're painting a table, or large terrain piece, you're really better off using a house paint to coat the model. S'how I did my tables.

keep in mind that inventory varies from store to store as well.
i checked 4 different home depots before i finally found one that carried the foam. ironically it was the one closest to my home...

Laserbait wrote:Was that the effect you were going for Orock?

It can be used for effects, but if you are building a game table, it can be detrimental.

Two things. One to make shapes for plasticard to be glued to, such as battlewagon wheels, boxes, and vehicle parts. And to make hills by cutting it with hot wire, gluing sand on, then painting with a large brush.