Question for the community, please. What material do folks generally use to stand up backgrounds for their layouts? Using posterboard doesn’t seem very durable. Other options that are paintable?
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My layout is in an unfinished basement with poured concrete walls. I have used 2’ x 3’ Masonite panels glued to the walls.
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I haven’t done the backdrops yet, but the plan is to print them–not paint them–and I’ll probably use either nice-ish corrugated cardboard or else some cheap chipboard as the backer.
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Masonite may be flexible and sturdy enough to get the job done - just what I was looking for.
I’ll be affixing it to the 2x4 upper frame. I’ll buy a small piece off Amazon and see how workable it is before diving fully in.
Thank you.
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I think you will be pleased with the results.
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When our house was built, I had the basement framed and covered with drywall. The drywall was given a smooth finish. Masonite was only added to the corners to give them a round look. It is completely paintable. The sky is a blue without any green in it and takes great photos with a light on it or not. The clouds are New London Industries stencils and are painted with Krylon matte white.
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I use 1/8" Masonite as it’s very flexible, can be curved to a certain degree of tolerance, and can be painted…
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My layout follows along three walls of my basement, which is just concrete block. I used John Sterling shelf products from Menard’s, with risers screwed into the concrete blocks, to hold up the layout (and the shelf above it for lighting, and below for storage). This means the shelves are about 3/4" or so away from the wall. I glue (Liquid Nails or something similar) pieces of 1by3 or 1by4 wood spaced out between the risers as supports. The backdrop itself is sheet styrene, available in 4’ by 8’ sheets from Menards. The height of the backdrop can vary with the main shelf height, but is normally around 20". The styrene is relatively cheap and easy to use, and to paint.
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I didn’t know Menards carried styrene. What department is it in?
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It’s in the lumber area; in my store it’s on the bottom shelf (near floor level) in the aisle with the various sizes of plywood sheets.
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