Sunday Terrain Piece and Late Saturday Product Review

I have been out of town this weekend, so my Saturday product review is a day late. All the same, let's get on with it.

This week: Woodland Scenics Hot Wire Foam Cutter

I spent the better part of the day in the garage playing with one I purchased recently. I've not quite got the techniques down, but the actual product is sound.

Most of the advanced terrain-builders already know that Styrofoam is the way to go when it comes to making cheap terrain. The problem lies in cutting the stuff. Saws can sometimes be too coarse, making a huge mess and scattering little bits to the four winds. The beauty in a hot-wire cutter is that by using heat, it creates no mess. Unfortunately, the side effect of this is that noxious fumes tend to be released when cutting the most common forms of styrofoam (polyurethane sheets). Thus, all hot-wire cutting should take place in a highly ventilated area, such as directly outdoors or in an open garage. Also, as always when working with any hot instruments, burning yourself is always a hazard. Use ample caution.

I picked this up at a hobby shop for about 27 USD. It was on clearance, luckily. I imagine you can get it for more or less, depending on where you are located.

The basic usage for the cutter is simple. You attach the wire to two positionable-posts on the guide, and you can start hacking away for some rough cuts. Alternatively, you can use the posts to adjust the angle of the cut by inverting the cutter on a flat surface and feeding the piece to be cut through it like a jigsaw. There are some attachments available to purchase, such as a different bow and guide to make more accurate straight cuts. I will be needing to purchase one of these...








As for the Sunday Terrain Project, I didn't have time to actually do anything, but I dug up some articles for you to peruse through. I found these on a website I frequent, "www.TerraGenesis.co.uk".

Here is one that is similar to my foamcore ruins, but more intricate and advanced. I thought some of my readers might appreciate the link:
Foamcore Ruins

This article on making building wall molds for resin casting out of art foam (38 cents a sheet at walmart) was interesting too. I will have to try it.
Art foam wall molds from craft foam

Last but not least, I have a lot of left-over sprue. Here is an article on a very novel way to use up that sprue! I may have to do this to get rid of some of it.
Sprue Vegetation

Hope you all had a great weekend! Now back to the grind!