I'm not sure what motivated me to make such a decision, but when I bought my first foamcore to make a board for WWG models on, I chose white foamcore. What's the difference, right? Ha, absolutely wrong!

My lack of observation at the time led to much wasted effort gluing and trying to edge the stuff, and I post this now to let other greenhorn builders learn from my mistake.

Here's what you might miss when comparing most white foamcore to most black foamcore: the white foamcore you're most likely to find will be glossy, and the black foamcore is more like than not matte. The matte finish will be happy to accept the glue into its pores, lovingly joining your printed and trimmed sheet of map to the board. The gloss finish will reject your good works, and glued-on cardstock will peel free even if you resort to force!

So, aside from saving you hours of fiddly work trying to cover up an edge that makes your board look unfinished, (matte) black foamcore just plain takes glue better.

Has anyone seen examples to the contrary? Gloss black and matte white?

Y'know, Halcy, that's a really good point.

I haven't used white in a looooong time, but I do remember it being a pain to get the glue to stick to (Elmer's white, at the time).

If you are stuck with (or even prefer) the white, you might try a Spray Adhesive.

I actually used spray adhesive on the white board...two different brands, in fact! The Elmers brand spray adhesive was not cutting it, so I found 3M Super 77 and tried that instead. It worked better, but it was still a pain. The damage had already been done.

I still use Super 77, and it works beautifully on the black foamcore boards. I have a local shop that will sell it to me in two sizes; one a 5-6 dollar small can, and the other an 8-9 dollar tall can. This shop is known for price-hiking, but it's not as bad as 15$ for a can.

I'll definitely check Lowes for more, though. Those extra dollars could come in handy.

I have personnally found the reverse preference to be true of myself: I generally go for the white foamcore over the black, for the same reason (gloss as prefered to matte) as you prefer the black.

It all stems back from when I used to scratch build exclusivly, the black seemed to warp even more than the white when I textured it, and also seemed to have less structural support than the white.

This, coupled with the fact that where I buy my sheets from, the black is $4.00 more expensive a sheet, I habitually see the white stuff as the right stuff, and dont mind edging the foamcore with paint as an additional step.

As an aside, I have had no problems glueing cardstock to the white foamcore at all, the only problem is warping (a universal pain I think) if you arn't too carefull, which is why I agree spray glue is tops.

I use the Duro All-Purpose Spray Adhesive. I got it at Jo-Ann's Fabrics for about $8, and it works beautifully.

White foamcore is much more resistant to warpage than black, and although black bonds much more quickly with many glues, I've learned the hard way that surface area plays a key role in this. Black foamcore's matte finish is much more permeable to moisture, and if you expose it to even one or two temperature/humidity changes, you'll learn (the hard way), like I have, and end up with a nicely (or terribly) curved piece of medium.
Case-in-point: I bought black foamcore, three sheets in all, and threw them in the back of my car to take to school. In going from store to cold-as-hell car (which turned into a warm car 25 minutes into the drive), to going outside to get them into studio, then warming back up in studio, I discovered three pieces of horribly curved foamcore, exactly 1-1/2 hours after I had purchased them... The same has happened after using white glossy foamcore, but only after many days of transport/neglect. Unless you plan on cutting your pieces right away, stick with the white, and edge accordingly.