I have been thinking a lot about back drops lately. The one that I have at the moment is a mountain scene that I made with trees, rocks, etc, up to the ceiling. That works for the Blue Ridge Mountain section, but now the mainline pushes into a railyard with a small town in the backgound and later into other mountain regions with small towns and or industry. I am a deceit painter (read not great). Was thinking of something like Sceneking or other products. What do you do? Show me some examples please.[:D]
Craig,
Is it possible for, You to show a picture,of what area you have now,that you would like the backdrop? That would really help a lot also…
Cheers,[D]
Frank
I think that everyone should have a back drop for their layouts.
I have seen local layouts that have the walls in the room, or garage area containing the layout painted a light blue and buildings and trees placed in front to form the finished backdrop.
These backdrops vary from poor quality , almost abstract painting by the most amateur of artists (I would opt to have nothing rather than one of these backgrounds) to a sort of paint by number hazy background (better than nothing I guess). to very professional, almost the quality of a professional artists or commercial photographer. Checking prices of professional backdrops that reach 20’ and wider backdrops do get quite expensive.
I grew tired of having to use photo shop to add a backdrop to my pictures to blot out the background which shows residential furniture and hallways. It was definitely a chore to try taking pictures withought a proper finished HO backdrop.
In my situation I have just purchased a finished backdrop which is 24" high and 20’ wide, it is a highly detailed photographed backdop of steep hills with trees graduating to farmers fields.
Now to determine the best material to mount the backdrop is my next move before setting up this backdrop.
I wonder how many members have backdrops on thier layouts and what the quality if these backdrops is…
Craig,
The reasoning,behind my question was,will the new backdrop somehow tie into the existing mountain,scenery, …or a completely different scene all together… Sounds like some depth perception,will be needed,for you mention,towns and other mountains…
Cheers, [D]
Frank
Don, I am interested in your comments because I am in the midst of developing a new backdrop for my large downtown passenger station. I want to have a backdrop that accurately depicts the downtown Chicago skyline in the late 50’s / early 60’s. None of the commercially available backdrops will do because none of them look like downtown Chicago in the late 50’s / early 60’s.
I had thought about trying to paint it myself from available photos, so your remarks about poor quality , almost abstract painting by the most amateur of artists greatly amuse me. So true.
Can you share with us the cost of your purchase of a finished backdrop which is 24" high and 20’ wide?
I am contemplating a back drop that would be 24" high and 7’ wide based upon a photo of Dearborn Station with the Chicago skyline beyond. But, I am worried about the cost if I take it to a professional printer.
Rich
Coved Masonite corner, blue wall paint, stencil spray clouds, brush painted trees.
I generally paint sky, clouds, landforms, water features etc. Sometimes have painted buildings etc. but not quite so successfully.
More often I “construct” or draw structures in Photoshop, or use found art and photographs, cut out and glue to painted background. Imperial Sugar and the two warehouses were drawn in Photoshop, the harbor unloader visible over the roof of a warehouse is from a published advertisement. The end-on views of railcars near warehouses are my digital photos of model railrcars glued into the scene. I do need to do some more blending with the ship photo at far left. I think for ships, I will use photos EXCEPT for the masts and lines and ropes, etc and draw them on BG.
Here is an example of drawing finer elements. The high-tension towers were drawn in Sharpie fine-point marker using a straight-edge to follow light pencil guidelines from a stencil. I made a bow from wood lath for the arcs of hanging wire, to guide drawing with a drawing pencil.
I shot digital photos of three pieces of painted PVC tubing and printed out enough to make a BG row. (Unfinished. Top gallery detail to be added later…)
I paint mine based on prototype photos.
Most of my backdrop buildings are indistinct, but some are more detailed.
This building…
…and these are representative of those intended to be “closer” to the viewer. I try to use simple color patterns and shapes that will be harmonious with the foreground but not attract too much attention.
Craig,
I do backdrops with different technique depending on the scene. The tendency has been towards simpler backdrops, but that’s in part because I did the most critical and complex one first, for Silverton.
The last of the above pics shows a different angle of the coved corner than the second one does. The mountain to the left of the river is mostly 3-D, but part of the left side is painted in. This has been an effective technique I’ve used several other places.
Here are a few pics showing how something that looks complex is actually painted in stages.
I used the Greg Grey (of St. Louis, he’s done many murals there and elsewhere) Green Frog backdrop painting video as guidance. I actually still need to go over them again to put in all the detail he shows you how to do, but just haven’t gotten around to it after 15 years.
Some places get just blue paint, like above Red Mountain, which is tucked under those artistically hard to manage stairs.
This coved area was intended at one time to be painted as the view looking west from Durango. I may still do that, but for now it’s mostly blue.
Don,
This sounds like exactly what I’m looking for. Could you share the name of the manufacturer or provide a link?
Here is backdrop of LION
LION standed on platform, took many pictures of Brooklyn skyline, knit them together and then printed a backdrop. Here is pictures of Brooklyn tooken by LION:
For City Backdrops I would recomend
http://backdropwarehouse.com/TnCommCitiesGrp.htm
For Hills and Mountains backdrops I would suggest
http://www.backdropjunction.com/thebackdrops/miscscenes.html
Don, can you share with us the cost of your purchase of a finished backdrop which is 24" high and 20’ wide?
Rich
well Im not don7 , but going on the posted prices of the backdrop junction site he posted and the square footage of a 20’ X 2’ =40sq.ft @ 7.00 per for vinyl/ non adheisive ,this would be my choice for possible reuse, that comes to about 280.00 minus 10% disc. = 250.00 American dollars + - some change .
but if you have o talent or interest in painting or playing with photo /print programs or are short on time ,this would be a option that I would look at. they look nice ,JW
Considering my time and the amount of supplies invested in my Silverton mural, that sounds like a very reasonable price. I’m still using the leftover paint, but I probably spent $250 buying it all. I can’t recall the hours exactly, but I’d guesstimate between 20 and 40 hours total.
Hi, I paid around $270.00 for the backdrop. I went to a sign painter who will cut me a special paper/vinyl backboard to mount the backdrop on.
Check out the custom order section, some great backdrops here
Yep, money well spent. If you’re modeling a prototype, there is nothing that says “You’re there!” than a realistic backdrop that is easily identifiable. When I did my mural, the cost for a printed photographic mural was somewhat steeper and the technology more limited. Now it’s a great investment in setting the scene on your layout.
I actually did it thinking, “If it’s a kludge, I’ll just bite the bullet and go to a photo one.” It’s grown on my over the years. Changing to a photo backdrop would make the transition to 3-D scenery at both ends somewhat different. But I doubt I’ll ever get an urge to change things now.
Don,
I’m thinking that gluing a 2 x 20 foot backdrop on something like tempered hardboard would make it difficult to reuse on another layout. I’m wondering what would be the best way to attach the vinyl backdrop to a stiff backboard so it won’t sag or wrinkle, but yet still remain portable
Is that what your special backing is meant to do, allow you to remove the backdrop without tearing it up?
Doughless,
If I wanted to make it easy to reuse, I’d find some aluminum flashing that wide and use it. 2’ is pretty wide, but I think is available if you look around. Then all you need to do is roll it up and take with.
In fact, if you could get it a little wider, say 26" or 27", then you could position the 24" image at the bottom and leave a strip at the top to use to attach it, then cover with molding to make it look finished. For the Cascade Branch backdrops, I just drilled small holes at the top and use nails to tack it up. A decent staple gun could also work, so you don’t need that strip at the top, but it’ll save punching holes directly into your beautiful new backdrop.
That’s a great idea Mike. Yes, for the price of the backdrop, I would want to last a long time, from layout to layout if need be. We take care in moving our items like turnouts and some structures from layout to layout, so I would think putting a little effort into making one of these highly detailed, somewhat pricey, backdrops portable would be time well spent.
Exactly, I want to be able to remove the background without damaging it in the advent that I may rebuild my layout, should I decide to.
The backing material is stiff enough that it will not curl, I only need to tack it every few feet to keep it in place.