When Dave Myers, a semi-retired sign shop owner in Waterbury Center, Vt., needed a dependable rigid substrate to help fabricate they hobbyist’s miniature railroad towns, he turned to what he knew would work— Gatorfoam.
“As I built my railroads, I always reached for Gatorfoam as my modeling substrate,” says Myers, who is a member of the National Model Railroad Association. “I immediately started using it for bases and expanded from there to sub-roadbed, back drops and module surfaces. I knew from using it in the sign business that it held up extremely well, machined great, and took paint and stains without warping.”
Myers has modeled the Mid-Atlantic & New England (the MANE) railway line running from Maryland to New England as well as the Mill Creek Coke & Coal Tipple No. 2 and other craftsman model kits. These extensive models occupy a second-story 18’x29’ room built within the exterior walls of the 1820s barn located on his property.
Gatorfoam, manufactured by 3A Composites USA, Mooresville, N.C., consists of polystyrene foam bonded between two layers of wood-fiber veneer laminate. This unique construction makes Gatorfoam rigid yet lightweight and warp-resistant; its surface also is exceptionally smooth and strong, offering superior dent- and scratch-resistance.