Ultraboard- Styrene faced foamcore

The place to discuss all aspects of building models from scratch.

Moderators: Joseph C. Brown, Moderators

Post Reply
Andrew Gorman
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2002 4:56 pm
Location: Escaped from darkest suburbia!

Ultraboard- Styrene faced foamcore

Post by Andrew Gorman »

In my incessant scavenging, I've been running across some styrene faced foamcore- usually used for signage for conferences, conventions, etc. I tracked down a manufacturer at:
http://www.ultraboard.com/ultraboard/specs/
This could be a useful material for those who like to build BIG- I was thinking of studio scale star destroyers or a 1/1000 Babylon 5 Omega. It's interesting stuff. Sturdier than paper backed foamcore, rigid and light, but the thinnest is still 3/16 inch thick. I found some inexpensive pieces at my favorite Bay Area hobby shop, SCRAP:
http://www.scrap-sf.org/
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Looks to be really great material!

I'd have to find a Knoxville/East Tn distributor for getting enough to tackle some projects I have in mind... that's not a complaint, just a fact. :D
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Kylwell
Moderator
Posts: 29643
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 9:25 pm
Location: Lakewood, CO
Contact:

Post by Kylwell »

My worry would be how the expanded, however dense, polystyrene foam would handle various glues.
Abolish Alliteration
User avatar
Umi_Ryuzuki
Posts: 3841
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2002 2:22 pm
Location: PDX, Oregon
Contact:

Post by Umi_Ryuzuki »

Polystyrene foam does not like CA glue.
However there are "foam safe" CA glues out there.

Something to consider:

Heat can cause different rates of expansion in foam and the coating.
If you have ever watched foamcore warp you have seen the potential.
Gatorboard, and perhaps this new Ultraboard may be more stable, but
I would still select the outer side of a warped gator board to mount graphics.

Obviously you wouldn't display a model in direct sunlight, but temperature
variations in the display area, lighting around or inside the model can make a
difference.
'
"I have to go now,... because my life is stupid and leprachans are dorks."
Nyow!
/
=^o^=
TrekFX
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 12:29 pm

Post by TrekFX »

I have similar material I bought well over 10 years ago. Some has been in-use with fabric mounted, in an enclosed space which has seen plenty of thermal cycles and changes in humidity. Still pretty true, even larger pieces up to a few feet long. Leftovers (some a few feet square, some strips a few feet long, misc bits) I set aside and left in the back of the closet are still in good shape. It seems reasonably stable. I like this stuff!
Post Reply