I chose to build my landforms first before installing fascia. Just wondering how the best way would be to trace the contours on the fascia board before I cut it. I’m thinking about clamping the uncut fascia board where it will go and tracing the contour on the backside with a marker. Is there any better way to do it?
That’s one way. Another would be to use cardboard and do it in sections: IE rather then trying to do a 20 foot section, use several pieces of cardboard taped in place. Number the cardboard pieces, draw the outline, transfer the pieces to the facia board in order and trace the out line and cut away. Joe
It really is the easiest to figure out how far below the edge of the frame you want your fascia to sit, clamp it if you have enough of them, and do that for a section of fascia on either side to get a feel for how it will work, especially if there is any coving. Once you have the height above the floor of the bottom edge of the fascia determined, drill and screw, including doing countersinking so that your screws don’t stick out. With them securely in place, take your carpenter’s pencil or a marker and draw the contour at the edge of the terrain onto the back of your fascia sections, remove them, and use a jig saw. I use mahogany-surfaced doorskin, which can splinter, so I forcefully rub onto my cutting lines some masking tape to minimize that unwanted efffect. Then, remount your sections and paint them. Almost any green colour will do, but not turquoise. Olive, leaf, scummy pond, sage,…
-Crandell
One option to your method, after you “mark” the existing contour, check to see if you want to alter any real erratic jogs. By allowing the fascia to extend upwards above the scenery you can allow for more gentle, more appealing flow for the cut. You can even modify the sceney contours if desired.
I used 1/8" Masonite for fascia, and cut it into strips equal to the greatest height required for each piece’s eight foot length. These were then fastened to the layout with their bottom edges at the appropriate distance from the floor. The terrain was then formed (aluminum screen over risers mounted on the open grid framework) and Durabond patching plaster applied over that. Once the plaster had hardened, I used a jigsaw and follow the contours of the newly-formed ground, working from the aisle side of the fascia.
In most places the top edge is pretty level, and these areas required little or no trimming:
Other areas followed the lay of the land:
In the area where the fourth photo was taken, there’ll be the start of an upper deck, and it will have a similar fascia extending out from the upper portion where that high fascia ends. Its top edge will be mostly straight and level, with the lower edge deep enough to conceal fluorescent fixtures attached to the bottom of the upper deck’s framing.
Wayne
Backwards doing it you are.
Put the fascia on first, and then build the scenery up to match it.
ROAR
A neighbor was remodeling a bedroom and he gave me all the paneling he took down. As has been mentioned before, attach it to the benchwork, with the upper edge sticking above the scenery and tracing. Take down and cut with a jig saw. A quick pass with a palm sander gets rid of any rough spots. Paneling gives the fascia a nice texture.
Thanks for all the great ideas. I started installing this morning and have two panels up already. So far, so good.
Right you are Lion or at least there are two of us that do it that way
I do it your way; about as easy as it gets.
Make that 3.
Sure i’ll throw another one for 4. We mainly use a sub fascia for the benchwork and most scenery contours are already figured. The layout edge has many curves some rather tight. Before final scenery work the 1/4" MDF fascia is applied and final work is brought up to it. There are places where ongoing work made changes to the scenery and the fascia was fitted/ scribed to it.
Some spots the fascia transitions to backdrop
That “sub” fascia work quite well to allow solid scenery attachment (screen or cardboard strips)
A desgn change to add a quarry forced this scene to have the sub fascia reworked as well as the finish.
