Ok, I took the plunge. I realized I needed to get the backdrop in place before building the new benchwork on the layout extension, so I went ahead and ordered 48 feet of backdrop from the Backdrop Warehouse (bit of a bite in the wallet there, but they give 40% discount when ordering even numbers of the 21"X12’ sheets.)
Anyhooo…I plan to mount this on that typical smooth one side 1/8" fibreboard stuff. I see lots of tips on the vendor’s website but wondered if anyone on the forum with recent experience had a word to the wise for me.
For instance, I am bending one end around in a 180 degree sweep within a 6 foot wide section. Is the board likely to hold its shape over the years?
Should I prepaint the board with something to seal it against humidity? Should I dress the shiny side with something to promote adherance?
Mine isn’t curved, but I installed an 8 foot long Backdrop Warehouse product on a sheet of Masonite using 3-M spray contact cement. The backdrop I used was a one-piece photograph of the Port of Seattle, Washington. It is printed on very heavy paper and is plastic coated. I kept it rolled up and began at one edge, carefully unrolling it and pressing out any air bubbles.
By fiberboard are you referring to something like MDF? if so not a good idea as it more then likely will break if you try and bend it. I second the use of Masonite and Either spray adhesiveness or good old wallpaper paste. One little thing you will need to do before & after bending your Masonite is use one of those counter sunk drywall bits so the screw head sits just below the surface of the Masonite and then go over it with a little drywall compound sanded smooth if not eventually the screw heads will show up. My friend learned this the hard way after he had some 100’ of photo backdrops installed. I made the mistake of trying to blend the curved Masonite in with my existing drywall in the room, not a good idea as i now have to refinish a nice vertical crack along the seam When we put the Masonite and backdrops up at my friends house last year we took the extra time to countersink & fill and sand and the rend result was a perfect job.