Re: Foamcore and hot cutters Re: Terrain

>Further by the way, I've seen 'styrofoam' stamped on the blue stuff,
so,
>either the term has gone the way of the zipper, or it's TM for more
than
>the hard, craft stuff.

Styrofoam started out as a product trademark, I think,
for polystyrene foam products. The best known is the
"compressed-bead" style *expanded* polystyrene; this is
what most people (in the US, at least) mean when they
refer to "styrofoam". In the building trade, *extruded*
polystyrene is commonly used, because it doesn't break
down into individual beads when exposed to environmental
effects. (You *don't* want your basement insulation/seal
to break down! Expanded PS, on the other hand, is
*slightly* more environmentally friendly than expanded
PS; that's why most styrofoam cups and nearly all
styrofoam packing material is expanded PS.)

If you're not sure of the difference, think of styrofoam
cups. The ones with a seam are *extruded* PS (extruded
as sheets, and cut and glued just like paper cups).
The ones without a seam are *expanded* PS (expanded
into slightly-compressed beads in a mold).

I like to use expanded PS (salvaged from equipment
packaging) for naturalistic (i.e., non-stepped) hills
(for DSII), but extruded PS is much better for terrain
panels/bases because it is stiffer and less likely to
break. Both can be cut with a hot-wire cutter as long
as they don't have a paper sheath.

Foam-core from the hobby store is extruded PS with
a paper (usually) or plastic (vinyl, polyethylene, or
polystyrene) sheath on both sides. The paper-covered
foam-core can't be cut with a hot-wire cutter. The
plastic-covered foam-cores can be cut with a hot-wire
cutter, but it's a slow, messy process; you'd have to
stop every 10-15 seconds to clean the wire. Imagine
cutting a plastic (polystyrene) car model with a
hot-wire cutter, and you'll get the idea.

In general, as someone else pointed out, you need
to cut foam-core with a sharp knife, in two or
three passes.

- Sam
________________________________________
Samuel Reynolds
Spinward Stars: http://www.spinwardstars.com/
sam@spinwardstars.com
samuel_reynolds@csgsystems.com