Building board

I've just started a thread in Building, and realised that we're not starting at the beginning! Without a proper board your model is not going to be straight, and if it isn't straight it's never going to fly well!


Ok, this is a building board, and, you may find it expensive! Without it you're going to be even worse off! Let's look into it.


We start with a piece of Super wood, 16mm thick, select at your local B&Q. I chose 1metre x 530mm wide, look at your piece closely, make sure it's not warped or twisted. This building board will take you up to 80inch models. I advise you not to use chip board, it's not stable enough in a humid climate!
Now take two pieces of angle iron, I used 50mm x 50mm and screw them firmly to the back of your fledgling board, I use self cut chipboard screws, they've got a really deep thread that bites!


This is the hard bit, you have to find 6mm cork gasket material, your local Motor spares emporium should get it for you, but it will be expensive

Cut your cork to the right size. Now you need some Jesus glue, clean the top of your board nicely and spray your Jesus glue (3M spray contact adhesive) on the cork and the board, wait 10 minutes. Then get someone to help you carefully place the cork on the board, it won't matter if it's not absolutely straight, but it would be nice. If it's not straight you're going to find out why I call it Jesus glue!


Voila! A building board, I find 'T' pins are a bit thick for smaller models, but Mapping pins work well.


Then you just need an old table or support, then you can build while she's watching Telly. Tell her it's all about togetherness!

Cork sheet - model railway shop!

Superboard? Is that a SA product, I don't recognise it.
For railways, that require a dead flat surface, .75 inch MARINE ply is recommended. That is rather heavy, though, so a good alternative is thick MDF, thoroughly sealed and varnished, then mounted on a 2 x 1 frame with diagonal cross-members. (Underneath, of course!) glued and screwed.
Rule - if it isn't flat to begin with, it won't be flat when you've finished!
The cork is so you can stick pins in!

p.s. - did that Zebra mind you borrowing it's skin?

Eric, Superwood is just strips of 16mm x 50mm pine clamped and glued together, then given a swift rub down. It's available in a variety of widths and is commonly used for shelving. And the Zebra practically died of old age! After seeing him laying in one place for a week (starving, no teeth) I couldn't stand it any longer and sent him to the big grassland in the sky! I decided to have the skin properly tanned and backed so that his life would continue to give me pleasure!
BB, the Plaster board (called Gypsum board out here) is an excellent idea! And so much cheaper! Just don't glue it to the base board, it's not as durable as cork.
Mr O.F. interior doors are good, I once had one hinged on the wall, just not very portable.

Superboard - sounds like what we call blockboard.

Chipboard is hygroscopic. If it gets damp, it will swell up, and eventually the glue that is bonding the particles - fails. It will crumble at the edges and corners first, and unless it is VERY well supported, it will sag in between frames, so if you look at it from an edge, it will look like a sketch of the Pennines!
Take a scrap bit, screw it to a batten at one end, put the batten in a vice, so the chipboard is unsupported anywhere else, wet it, and let it dry, a few times, then see for yourself!
It is also quite hard, and you will find that getting pins into it is difficult.
Cork is no good. as said, it is too soft, and will crumble quite rapidly once you start poking pins into it.
If you can find a big enough sheet of fibreboard (like a notice board), that would be ok, if you can keep it flat.
I've not tried plasterboard.
Plywood - some is quite soft, some is hard as nails. BUT it is also quite floppy unless you get a really thick sheet of 7 ply or more, and then it is getting heavy!
Hardboard (a form of compressed cardboard, with a shiny side and a pimply side) - forget it.