Who has made their own ground foam?

[nachoman]

I have some scraps off foam rubber left over from recovering the seats in my car. Before I chuck them, I thought I would consider making my own ground foam. I have read about people doing it so I know it works, but what I really want to know is if it is worth the effort.

My layout is small (4x8) and will have semi-desert scenery. Plus, much of the layout will be taken up town/industry. I would estimate that i would only need about 3-4 bags of WS ground foam for the whole layout. Obviously, making my own ground foam wouldn't save me much money.

Are there any other advantages to making your own ground foam besides cost savings? Does it look better?

[MasonJar]

I have read a number of methods on the 'net, but since I am working on modules (2x4 feet only), I agree that it seems a lot of trouble to go to for that small a space.

I did try making my own with some paint, old sponge/foam and an old blender, but results were not great. It is nice that you can vary the texture, but I found the colour never really took to the sponge. I did not try with automotive foam, so perhaps that was the problem.

Since returning to the commercial route,I buy bags not shakers since the "official" container seems to add significantly to the price. I have a collection of peanut butter jars that work great for storage and dispensing. I'd also advise that there is more than Woodland Scenics in this game too.

Andrew

[eightyeightfan1]

I bought them "shakers" also, but I refill them with the bags.

[ezdays]

A few years ago I also bought a really cheap blender at Wal-Mart thinking I'd be clever and save scads of money by making my own ground foam as well. It never got off the ground, so to speak... It just wasn't consistent, the foam was hard to grind and I gave up trying very quickly. For the quantity I needed it was probably cheaper in the long run to buy bags of it in the first place.

Oh, if you buy any spices at Costco or anywhere else in the large size, the shaker bottles from McCormick are the same size and shape with the same type of cap as the ones from Woodland Scenic. Now that where you'll save some bucks, You'll use vast quantities of spices for a while just to get the bottles empty quickly, plus you'll save yourself the frustration of making the stuff in the first place.

Oh yeah, some spices are cheap enough so that you can buy it in those large bottles cheaper that WS sells the empty bottles at your LHS.

[nachoman]

Yeah, that's about what I figured. More trouble than it was worth. Thanks for the advice.

[e-paw]

I have a link to a guy that makes his own ground foam.<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.geocities.com/thorshammer73/foam.html">http://www.geocities.com/thorshammer73/foam.html</a><!-- m -->. I have not tried it yet but want to. do you have any idea on where to get the raw foam to use as a base?

[MasonJar]

I have a link to a guy that makes his own ground foam.<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.geocities.com/thorshammer73/foam.html">http://www.geocities.com/thorshammer73/foam.html</a><!-- m -->. I have not tried it yet but want to. do you have any idea on where to get the raw foam to use as a base?

Unfortunately, Yahoo! pulled the plug on Geocities in late October...

Andrew

[e-paw]

yea, I just found that out. can't remember his tekneak either.

[MasonJar]

I seem to recall that it involved upholstery foam, a blender, and RIT dye. He noted that you needed a lot of water, and to tear the foam into smallish chuncks to begin with so that the blender could cut it up. Not enough water meant that the mix would not move and the motor would burn out.

I think that Paul Dolkos has made ground cover for his late November scenes using a blender and leaves... So that's a slightly different take on ground foam.


Andrew