Can someone please tell me how I build backdrops on a open grid 1 x 4. What material and dimensions should I use?
Thanks in advance
It is totaly a function of the material you will be using, I had access to 4’ x 12’ lengths of corrugated cardboard and gave it a try on my last railroad and just glued it to the basement wall. Styrene you could probably do the same. Something heavier like masonite or wallboard is going to need some more serious support. Masonite I would use 1 x 2’s app 24" on center. Wallboard I would go up to 1 x 4s
or, if you have a dedicated train room you can simply paint the back drops right onto the walls.
Trevor
I haven’t done it yet, but I am going to try foamboard attached to uprights from the benchwork. I’m mounting 3/4" square dowels on the wall end of the cross beams (every 16"), and will eventually glue foamboard to that. Who knows if it will work, but it seems like it should. Backup plan is masonite.
I used 1/8" hard tempered Masonite for my backdrops on my peninsulas and they go all the way to the ceiling. As I have quite a few I had to come up with a method to attach them to the dropped ceiling.
I had tried the 2x2 supports and they did work well but my back drops were curved in places and this made for some challenges in holding the Masonite. I finally used the brackets designed for mounting lights on the cross TEEs of the drop ceiling. I just drilled a hole in the end of the 2x2s and would slip the end over the bolt sticking down.
Now the upper end of the 2x2 had some support, not a lot but much better than having it just hang in the breeze.
To get around the problem with the seams, I use the paper drywall tape and paint the tape right into the surface as I primer the Masonite. I then use drywall mud to smooth out the seam and then just primer it and do the finish painting of the backdrop.
BOB H – Clarion, PA
I use walther’s city backdrops glued to the wall …then flats, then half buildings, then full size buildings for city scenes…for the country, i’ll just paint the hills and trees on the wall…trees are easy to paint …all you’ll need is a small artist’s brush and a fan brush…first, make a bunch of small trunks with brown paint…then take the fan brush and dip it in dark forrest green paint and lightly tap it against the trunk in “Z” patterns…then go over it again after the dark green dries with light moss green paint to highlight the trees where the sun comes through and hits them…then i’ll come off the wall with styrofoam in the shape of small hills and cover them heavily with woodland scenics foliage or even steel wool rolled in little balls spray painted light and dark green …a lot of people don’t like the steel wool idea because it’s metal that they think can get in the motors of locomotives…but once it’s painted it doesn’t fall apart and i keep it far enough away from the track as to not cause problems…chuck
I used 1/8" masonite that I got from Home Depot. I had them cut it lengthways in 18 " wide strips. Since I have a shelf layout, I simply set it on the benchwork and screw nailed it to the side wall with drywall screws since I knew where the studs were. Butt joints were tape and mudded. Where the masonite curved into the corners, I just screw nailed into the walls on both sides of the curved area without worring about the reinforcing the curve. Masonite will take an extremely tight curve or a very loose curve depending on what you want in the corners. Position the masonite so you don’t have two pieces meeting in a curved corner.
Larry