An American scene with German Mountains. Guess that’s called Modelers license. [:-^]
I love your work.
Here’s what I got:
Dang, I think I need a better backdrop than my solid blue sky! Of course I already knew that, but this thread is pushing me closer to action. I just can’t decide if I should try to paint it or buy one. One will look good and the other one won’t cost me any money![:D]
Loads of good ones on here! Zak that background hill looks really good.
Similar to Mr B’s, this is just a small one - a trial before I do the full-length version
You’re still batting 1000, Mike. [:)]
Crandell
Not the best photo, but is shows our backdrop well:
Wow Matt that’s a stunning result.
Mike
This is meant to be the view across the water from MEC’s Calais yard
Great thread!
Mike, your work is fantastic and obviously painting is another hobby of yours.
I’m sorry if I have missed it in an earlier post, but do you paint with your backdrops with oil colours or acrylics?
My backdrop is painted of distant mountains using flat indoor Latex paint. About 45 feet of wall behind the shelf layout was painted this way.
Here’s another backdrop I’m using for my layout. Perhaps it is cheating just a bit because it’s not actually in place yet, but this 42"-wide poster photo will be used as the backdrop for my carfloat/dock scene on the section of my layout I’m currently working on.
The image depicts the actual Hudson River crossing point used in carfloat operations long ago, showing the view from Fishkill Landing looking south. The modeled scenery in the foreground will come up about 6-inches, covering much of the water-scape near the very bottom of the image. The notch in the mountains at the right of the photo is where the Hudson River cuts through the Hudson Highlands, the namesake of my railroad.
CNJ831
I like that image very much, John. Before I read your comment, I was thinking it was somewhere near Harper’s Ferry, and I went on to see that you were at least in the same theme…if nothing else. [:)]
I don’t have to say it to you, because I’m pretty sure you have long since known this, but for the sake of newcomers or those who aspire to imagery of their layouts, the key to making it all “work” is using a photo that is taken from the correct height and sun-reference position. Very often a photo backdrop that would in other circumstances be highly complementary to the layout in the foreground is actually a serious impediment to credibility and realism. While the layout seems to be shot from a high vantage point, the backdrop photo runs to a much further horizon than it should, suggesting the layout is heavily tilted…which it isn’t. Or the camera lens is more pleasingly kept very low to ‘ground level’, but the backdrop photo shows flat or rolling terrain rising at a weird angle.
I will be very interested to see how you employ this wonderful possibility. [:)]
Crandell
Mikelhh,
I’ve been following this thread and looking at your background art for a few days now. Each one is a gem in its own right. I especially like your use of color, and the implied details in your paintings. For instance, I see above, a brick building but not individual courses of bricks on its walls. Your skies are marvelously done with just the right hues. I’m very impressed and inspired by your background paintings. Please display more if you can.
Jim
Crandell - Indeed, the method for creating a believable photo-background for a layout is a highly interesting topic and likely rather poorly understood by the average hobbyist. Without question, it is worthy of an extensive discussion thread all its own…such as might have been forthcoming had this site been “improved” along the lines I and a few others had proposed a few months back. Instead, it remains largely just a disorganized chat room. Anyway, since there are at least a few here that might benefit, I will briefly point out the facts.
The hobbyist has essentially two choices when creating a backdrop for his layout. When he chooses to have scenes involving sweeping vistas he must decide whether the point-of-view shall be for the benefit of a realistic camera angle, or appropriate for the actual operator/viewer. Both situations cannot normally exist simultaneously, unless perhaps the layout is set exactly at eye level.
In my particular case, when I took the photo that will become the backdrop for my carfloat/dock scene, I chose to have the perspective correct for the operator. My layout has a track level of 42" in this area and my viewing height (floor to eye level) is 65". Thus, when operating my layout from a standing position it is as if I am seeing the scene from a scale elevation of 200’. The Hudson River photo was intentionally shot from a identical elevation of 200 actual feet above the water level. Therefore, when completed and the modeled scene plus the backdrop are viewed together, the two will appears to merge perfectly. [;)]
Too many hobbyists fail to appreciate just how critical correctly approaching this problem can be. That is why so many backdrops seem to have an obvious incongruity about them relative to the modeled scene. This the viewer often finds “disturbing” in the appearance, but can’t really put his finger on just what’s wrong.
CNJ831&nb
Thankyou Mitropa and Jumijo.
I use acrylics for my backscenes because they don’t have the gloss of oils and also because unlike oils they don’t retain surface brushmarks.
CNJ831 wrote:
"decide whether the point-of-view shall be for the benefit of a realistic camera angle, or appropriate for the actual operator/viewer. Both situations cannot normally exist simultaneously, unless perhaps the layout is set exactly at eye level."
This is why I have a gap between the baseboard and the wall so I can raise and lower the backdrop as required - higher for a high camera, lower for ground level - to accommodate changing eye levels. It’s not a perfect solution but it does help.
It’s a fiddly job involving propping up the backscene board from underneath the layout, and using velcro tabs to prevent it falling away from the wall.
Mike
agreed 100% With painted backdrops you at least have some control over that. I’ve seen commercially available panoramic backscenes with back-lit clouds, for example, but how many layouts are similarly backlit?
Shadows on and cast by buildings can bring you unstuck too.
Mike