backdrop

[Anonymous]

I am about ready to make back drops for around my railroad. What product is used most often? I have seen photos of some that curve around and still look smooth, but I am not sure what material it is. This months MR shows a few photos that look very nice painted a nice sky blue with a few clouds.

Thanks for your time...........

[cwclark]

hardboard or tempered masonite works well for curved backdrops....Chuck

[ndbprr]

Backdrops can be made of anything you are comfortable working with. Drywall, masonite and many years ago Linoleum are/were the materials of choice. My current railroad has corrugated cardboard for the backdrop as I can get it in 12' sheets from my employer. Joints were made using white glue and strips of newspaper. So far so good after four years and it is in a northern basement with extreme humidity and temperature swings as it has an entrance form the garage only.

[mls1621]

Home Depot stocks a product called Poly Wall. It's 1/16" thick and comes in 4' X 8' sheets, costing about $14 each.

I've used it behind my N scale layout, a 10' X 14' L, spanning 24' with a twelve inch radius in the corner.

I attached it to the back of 1" X 3" molding, using liquid nails and staples then predrilled holes through the molding and screwed it to the wall.

For the joints I used duct tape attached to the back of the material to hold the joint tightly together and scotch invisible tape on the front to hide the seam. The invisibel tape is pressed tightly down using a wall paper edge roller then painted a sky color.

Once painted, the seam is almost totally invisible. From five feet away, unless you know where it is, it is invisible.

I originally got the idea from an article in N Scale magezine.

I hope this is helpful.