Before we start building, lets look at the foam core itself. There are several kinds on the market. For modeling purposes I divide foam core into three kinds:
1. Black-on-Black Paper Foam. This is the primary material we're going to use. More on this soon. 2. Gator Board.  This is a professional grade material. It has some uses in model building that we'll cover soon.  3. Everything else. This is the stuff that almost always has a white plastic core sandwiched between two shinny layers. The outer layers are white and one side often has a color. Some of it even has a peel-able sticky side. For model building there are a few shortcomings: - The outer layers are very shinny and don't hold glue as well as porous materials. - The
foam is usually very dense. A new blade will dull quickly causing the foam to pull and bunch up. This makes it difficult to get a smooth even cut. So, I stay away from these kinds for modeling.