(Yet more) Pink Thinks

Having reviewed a Model Railway Journal article concerning insulation foam baseboards. It would appear that I am on the wrong track concerning the construction. It seems that the method used on my previous layouts is the way to go. That is, flat sheets cut to size and framed with wood for protection. I have to admit I had thought as much when I re-reviewed the 1" and even the 1/2" foam at my local Menards the other day.

So this then is how it would go together, a slab the size of the layout that would effectively be the water level with the land being added on top of that cut to the shape and size required. I agonised for a while longer concerning the thickness of foam to use.

Should I use 2" or 1 1/2"? Two inch would mean that the ground level would be a scale 12' 6" above the "water level" I will be modelling the tide out so water level is a somewhat misleading term to used.

Is a scale 12' too much? In the end I thought that it was, this is after all the silted up River Lud we're talking about and not a major river and have decided to go for 1 1/2" which would be just about 9' in real life.

The real issue is the size of the baseboard. I really would like to go to 4' 6". That presents no problem with the pink foam as that comes in an 8' x 4' sheet but the ply to frame the layout comes in 4'x2' or 8'x4'. My woodworking abilities (or lack thereof) really mean I need everything to come out of one sheet of ply but do I really need an 8'x4' sheet of ply? Or do I want to cramp my vision by slicing 6" off the design to fit in with sizes of the wood. I'm sure I can come up with some solution to the problem. Even if I have to lay everything out full size before I start to make the baseboard.