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Hey all,

Looking into getting a hot wire foam cutter, and would like some advice on the types of foam you use for your terrain. I'm thinking to start simple with some hills. What type of foam (I'm in the US) would you use, and can you recommend some tutorials to make reasonably sturdy terrain?

What other stuff would you use your foam cutter for?

Thanks in advance!

The dense, pink building insulation foam works pretty well... it has a slightly tougher skin on top and bottom, comes in half-inch and one-inch thicknesses (and more), and is available at Home Depot in convenient 2' x 2' pre cut tiles. There's some examples of stuff I've done (hills, temples) in my P&M blog linked in my sig.

Good luck and have fun!

Second MacPhail's suggestion. Building insulation (pink or blue) is much better than white packing foam which has those small bubble shapes that you see when you break it up or cut it.

My two cents,

CB

Garbage white expanded Styrofoam boards should be ok for hills so long as you seal it in a layer of something. i think it has its place for cheap bulk building.

for more detailed play pieces the pink or blue foam is best.

also shout out to expanded PVC foam boards. quite a useful material.

there are some really good DnD terrain builders on youtube that take foam building up several levels.

(also last time i remember terrain tutor uses the bead type boards for stuff like his D day diorama table. )

If you're doing hills, skip the actual styrofoam.

Look up sheets of upholstery foam (the type they stuff your car seat with) on eBay or a similar site. You can get a 6'x2' sheet for around $20-25. It's available in a number of thicknesses. I've currently got several 1" sections and I'm working on thicker 2" stuff. You obviously don't cut it with a foam cutter, but rather a hobby knife and then pluck/tear with your fingers to get a natural/rocky shape etc. Layer it and connect it with glue if you want to build stacks.

The advantage is that it's flexible, doesn't chip, crack or break (trust me we've all seen the hills in a hobby store which are speckled with pink foam because they've been abused for years). It's light weight and while it takes a good bit of spray paint to coat them, it's easy to hand paint details and add flock. You can see some of mine here:





We often use them as line of sight blocking if we put trees on them, or simple cover for infantry. Also used as islands when gaming on the acid ocean tables, etc.

The pink,blue or black stuff as mentioned above. Its called Jablite in the UK and normally used for insulation .

Styrofoam for building up the base for large terrain pieces as long as you seal it before priming.

For smaller stuff like dioramas and small terrain pieces, insulating foam is the way to go.

How do you seal styrofoam?

Do you seal the insulating foam (or the above mentioned upholstery foam?) before you prime it?

I was just going to put some texture down (like Vallejo Sandy Paste) but wasn't going to put anything else down. I managed to pick up some upholstery foam for cheap at a local hobby shop, but am not quite sure how best to seal/prime.

Any thoughts?

Styrofoam is sensitive... one leaky pore and it will melt from the inside. A couple of coats of PVA glue should do the trick, and maybe use thin coats of paint on a drier day... I beleive it's the solvent that does the damage.

The pink and blue construction foam is tougher, and has a thin plastic skin if you don't cut into it. PVA works here too, and youll still want to seal it. Because it cuts so crisply, you could also skin it with styrene card.

Don't overlook just hand painting it. Terrain is super forgiving and paints quickly and easily. Use a big cheap brush and some art store acrylic paint cut with water and a drop of dish soap.

That upholstery foam, frankly, looks awesome and pretty straightforward. I might have to try that.

I seal with masonry paint,the textured stuff. It just brushes on.

Bought a huge bucket from the reduced shelf in my local DIY store

It should be noted that you should absolutely NOT use a hot-wire cutter on PVC foam ... (Use a knife. A regular sharp stanley knife or box cutter type knife) OR on polyurethane foams.

You will liberate chlorine and several nasty compounds like dioxins which will do your lungs absolutely no good, and more than likely result in permanent harm. All of these get liberated when you burn PVC, and burn it YOU WILL (it may only be surface, but surface burns on this stuff very much count) as well as melting it.

"Styrofoam", btw is a trademark of Dow chemical, and is a specific BLUE extruded foam insulation panel. It is not white and beaded. It is NOT used in packing or in take-away coffee cups and never has been. That stuff is EXPANDED polystyrene foam and is NOT the same thing at all.

Really? That's the first I've heard of this. I've got a sheet of upholstery foam I'll be cutting up with my hot wire cutter - should I be doing this in a well ventilated area, and perhaps with a respirator? This never occurred to me.

I assume melting anything will off-gas small amounts of stuff, but not in any meaningful concentrations.

Keep a fan blowing to get the fumes away from you as you work. A respirator rated for VOC’s is also an excellent idea. Burning any foam releases some very nasty stuff that can do serious damage either immediately or years down the road.