Have you considered using booger glue? Sorry, but that really is what it's called. It's the stuff they use in magazines to paste in advertizing inserts that can easily be removed without damaging the paper on either.
It looks like rubber cement, but it isn't the same thing. Rubber cement will rip paper to shreds it you try to remove after it sets. Try a google search on "booger glue" and you'll get 100s of hits. It's also called "fugitive glue." It's sort of hard to find, but here's a link that sells retail. Good luck!
BTW, great photo of the building. Did you take it? If so can you give some specifics such as camera. lens, focal length, parallax correction, etc.
Can't seem to paste the link. It's www.gluefast.com
- Harry
Yes, you're right. I measured the door on the left.. from threshold to transom and it's 7 feet, so that's within tolerances.
Thanks!
Jarrell
OldStone wrote:Nice work...very realistic. As for scale - many old (and even "new") buildings of this kind used, in total, 11 feet per floor. Doors and windows were very tall and can give you a false reading, sometimes. Cheers.
I think you have a good point, I'll try a building that shows only the side or the rear. I want to try several ways before I commit to glue. That stuff is kinda permanent. I'll probably end up using this one either somewhere else or further in the background so that only the upper floors show.
ndbprr wrote:Time for the nitpicker I guess. You have used a building front and in my opinion there is no way the main entrance and window display would butt against a railroad track. Good idea but I would use the back or side of a building in that location.
I've yet to work out a fool proof method in Photoshop to get the building the height I want, but I'm getting closer I think. I may use this particular one as a 'background' building, behind other prints. Dunno yet.
I have tried the foam board, use it as light reflectors in photography. It does have a tendency to warp over time, more so if it gets damp, so for now I'll use the gator board that I have. We'll see.
I'm not sure what I can do about the rolling hills backdrop. It would probably look better with a flat terrain back there but there's no way I'm going to tackle repainting it..
As far as the fire escapes, I thought of that last night.. along with trying to put an awning over a window, just to see how it would look. I know you've done a lot in this area so if I get to that point I may contact you for suppliers etc.
Thanks Mr. B.
MisterBeasley wrote:I thought the building makes the train look less real by comparison. At least photographically, that building achieves a very high level of modelling.I do think it's a bit over-scale. Comparing the doorway to the figure, it seems too tall. If you have a DPM building or other similar structure, try a side-by-side comparison.Have you tried using foamboard (cheap) instead of Gatorboard (pricey?) I have some foamboard that I've painted "sky" to use as a temporary photo backdrop, since the women won't let me paint the walls. It works pretty well, although it will warp some.The painted backdrop behind the building doesn't really match at all. As long as the photo is cropped tight, the image is great, but seeing those rolling hills right behind it doesn't fit.Another thought - how about adding some 3-D detail like fire escapes to the building?
I thought the building makes the train look less real by comparison. At least photographically, that building achieves a very high level of modelling.
I do think it's a bit over-scale. Comparing the doorway to the figure, it seems too tall. If you have a DPM building or other similar structure, try a side-by-side comparison.
Have you tried using foamboard (cheap) instead of Gatorboard (pricey?) I have some foamboard that I've painted "sky" to use as a temporary photo backdrop, since the women won't let me paint the walls. It works pretty well, although it will warp some.
The painted backdrop behind the building doesn't really match at all. As long as the photo is cropped tight, the image is great, but seeing those rolling hills right behind it doesn't fit.
Another thought - how about adding some 3-D detail like fire escapes to the building?
Tom, are your buildings directly behind the fence building flats? I like the way your's looks.
Tom Bryant_MR wrote: jacon12 wrote: Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I did forget, as usual, to mention that the building (first photo) hasn't been trimmed yet. Every thing will be cut away except for the building itself. For the foreground, I've heard of using a fence to block the view of the board sitting on the ground. I may try that.Again, thanks for the help!Jarrell Hi Jarrell, the fence idea is a good one. I think my depth here is about 2" with that fence about 1/4" from the paper backdrop. Regards,
jacon12 wrote: Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I did forget, as usual, to mention that the building (first photo) hasn't been trimmed yet. Every thing will be cut away except for the building itself. For the foreground, I've heard of using a fence to block the view of the board sitting on the ground. I may try that.Again, thanks for the help!Jarrell
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I did forget, as usual, to mention that the building (first photo) hasn't been trimmed yet. Every thing will be cut away except for the building itself. For the foreground, I've heard of using a fence to block the view of the board sitting on the ground. I may try that.
Again, thanks for the help!
Hi Jarrell, the fence idea is a good one. I think my depth here is about 2" with that fence about 1/4" from the paper backdrop.
Regards,
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Tom
Mornin' Loathar!
The photo part is the building standing up behind the Woodland Scenics fella. I was using him to see if I had the picture scaled about right.
The picture came from a commercially available cd of images called "Railroad Graphics", think that's correct. Anyway, I'm fairly good in Photoshop so I had to do some work on the picture, increasing the contrast some, did some color correcting and applied a bit of sharpening. The images on the cd are not the best in the world, I think anyone could go out with a half decent digital camera on a nice sunny day and do better. Getting the picture to the correct scale is a matter of guess work for me, not too big and not too little.
Since I'm so new at this I can't figure out what to do next. Do I print and mount a bunch of pictures and simply arrange them in a pleasing manner, one in front of the other, or what? They're mounted on Gator board, which isn't available locally, and they don't give that stuff away! It's about $5 for a 12x18x3/16 inch board, so you don't want to waste it. It's the best stuff I've seen for this though. It's so light and soooooo rigid, really resisting any warping at all. I have a friend that does a lot of his modeling of small diaramas on a section of board, a small scene including structures, little people etc, glues it all down and sets the whole thing on his layout. Notice the thickness is the same as HO scale roadbed. He says it's a whole lot easier to do it all sitting at his workbench than on the layout.
Anyway, I'll figure out this bg building thing one day.
Thanks,
loathar wrote: jblackwelljr wrote: Jarrell, A few days ago I answered a thread about "who inspires you." I listed a few modelers here on the forum. I left your name out. I apologize for that. NO DOUBT!! Is that whole thing just a picture?? The steps and fire escapes look 3D. Your going to have to gives us a blow by blow on how you did this. That looks WAY better than any preprinted background builds I've seen.
jblackwelljr wrote: Jarrell, A few days ago I answered a thread about "who inspires you." I listed a few modelers here on the forum. I left your name out. I apologize for that.
Jarrell,
A few days ago I answered a thread about "who inspires you." I listed a few modelers here on the forum. I left your name out.
I apologize for that.
NO DOUBT!! Is that whole thing just a picture?? The steps and fire escapes look 3D. Your going to have to gives us a blow by blow on how you did this. That looks WAY better than any preprinted background builds I've seen.
jblackwelljr wrote: Jarrell,A few days ago I answered a thread about "who inspires you." I listed a few modelers here on the forum. I left your name out. I apologize for that.
Thanks Jim, I appreciate it.
jblackwelljr wrote:Jarrell,A few days ago I answered a thread about "who inspires you." I listed a few modelers here on the forum. I left your name out. I apologize for that.
Great photo. My only thought is to second John's comment of cutting the building out exactly along the outside edge once it is mounted. Use paint or marking pens to color the exposed edge of the mounting board to match the building colors.
Mike B.
That is a good idea and a good picture (and it gives me some ideas).
I have not done this so these are just my thoughts and not experience:
Have fun and let us know how this concept progresses.
-John
I'm trying my hand at installing a few backdrop buildings in the 'seedier' side of the tracks on my layout. This is right across from the yard... you know the type area. I've printed a building and trying to scale it to where the main door is about 6 to 7 feet tall. That's about the only way I know to get it HO scale. I'm mounting it on gator board with spray- on glue. Here's a shot of the print leaning against the backdrop.
and a couple of closer shots..
I have about 2 to 2 1/2 inches between the track and the backdrop in this area.
I've never tried this before so I'm unsure about how big to make the printed buildings, so I just went with the above thinking. I'd like suggestions and tips from anyone that as done this, things like what NOT to do and what to strive for. Also, what is the best method for glueing the board mounted prints to the painted masonite backdrop? Do you overlap the buildings in a certain way? What are some tried and tested ways of disguising the ground in front of the buildings?
If you have pictures of yours or some you know of on the web I'd appreciate seeing them.