Here I'll attempt to show how easy it is to make a 3D back drop for any layout.
We all like a finished look to our lay outs and what better way than to add a 3D back drop.
This is a simple 3 layer back drop constructed of sheet rock, Styrofoam and plaster.
I started with the first layer of sheet rock; this layer has the nature illustrations added, textures, colors and plants.
The second layer is where I affix the buildings and rock faces too and add another layer of hills.
The last layer on the short side of the layout I added the Styrofoam hills covered in plaster, other layers include, cork board behind building illustrations and small details.
Here we can see the layers numbered,
The first two layers are sheet rock and the third is plaster over Styrofoam rock out cropping, (I still need to paint my hand carved cactus)
Here is an easy way to add onto back drop of bracing at the corners and can even be used to repair broken peaks and so on,
Using different shades of the same earth tone colors can add depth and texture.
The building faces are laminated to cork board to help them "POP" out from the back drop surfaces.
Adding roof top details such as antennas, clothes lines, chimneys, and signs and so on give the back drop even more detail and depth; the chimneys are not painted on.
Using grass or dirt to make hiking paths on the top edges of each layer gives us a place for trees, bushes, and even people for more detail options.
All cut edges should be sealed with a coat of plaster to keep them strong and from crumbling over time.
Adding Fore ground details such as this ladder, trash cans, mail boxes and such add another layer of detail,
Added details between layers such as this telephone pole give the impression that there is another street behind these buildings, we call this a between layer detail, light poles are good as well as trees with flat backs that appear to be "behind" the buildings.
To add even more fun back drop details can be powered such as this radio tower warning light that blinks red, street lights can also be powered.(White and black wires will not be visible when connected).
This back drop is not finished until all the mountains are painted properly, and the buildings detailed by finishing the paint on them, the tree bases in my high desert area will be shaved to shape and covered with grass.
I hope you like my simple 3 layer back drop, if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them for you.
the building faces were copied out of a model train magazine that were published in HO scale and in black and white so the artist could color them as they saw fit, I made copies, added color and mounted them onto cork board before mounting to sheet rock.
I'm sure after my art skills improve I will be making the back drop more realistic as I improve, but because the layers are screwed onto the layout bases edge I can easily remove the back drop for reworking.
And I leave you with this parting shot of the full back drop that is now 80% done.The tan strip behind the train will have foliage and brick walls attached when finished to sepreate the main street from the tracks
Happy Rails.
Great thinking and ideas. Sure beats a flat backdrop.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Jess:
You sure add a lot of scenery in only a few inches - really expands your empire! Nice job!
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
The sheet rock is 1/2" but everything is screwed in so the back drop can be removed for painting or updates, the mountains range sticking out on the short end of the layout is styrofoam with a plaster ground cover, very portable.
The largest section weighs about 8 lbs. that is the longest peice with the town buildings on it.
I think this will be a future trend, totally interchangeable layouts.
Even my building lots are interchangeable.
Thanks for checking out my work, Jess.
Hi Jess,
You continue to show us how much you have progressed. You had a couple of serious set-backs and at one point thought of leaving the hobby.
I hope you take the time to stand back and admire your work and realize just how much your skills have evolved in the last months.
Your creativity is now starting to be met with advanced modelling skills and techniques and the product really shows that.
You have a great future in model railroading and we are all thankful that you didn't give it up and now favoring us with your pictures and ideas.
The best part that you show us Jess, is the fun you are having, and that is what it is all about.
Some of us are just too darn serious to let the fun show through.
Keep up the good work, and I look forward to more of your inventions and re-discoveries.
Johnboy out.....................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Thank you John Boy for your insights,
After reading your reply here I went back too look at the pics of my very first attempts and gees my first attempts were horrifying at the least....LOL!, I'm surprised that someone didn't tell me to give it up and take up basket weaving or some other hobby, but now I can see there are not too many in this hobby that would have said such things to a beginner.
I sure do get a lot of fun out of this hobby and I'm passing down what is important about this hobby too my two Grandsons and that is the journey and the fun and not so much of the final destination, already they show great promise with their ideas and their delight in having fun and the hours of laughter that we share together are worth every set back, they just love Grandpa's train set and they have a lot of hands on experiences themselves.
We had a locomotive derail and went crashing too the floor before the back drop went on and they were scared that they had destroyed Grandpa's train but I showed them that it can be put back together and told them that things like this happen and not too get upset by this, I sure wasn't, I didn't want them thinking too much on the material side of the hobby and more on the value of the time we get too spend together.
I hope my inspirations fuel others here to experiment outside the known and established guide lines that have been set by the hobby until now, I was so pleased to find that a few folks were getting ideas from me for a change and that made me feel good that I had stayed with this.
I know I shall be a life long model rail roader from here on and I hope to see the day that my Great Grand children are enjoying the hobby as we do today.
Thanks again for the encouragement to push past my earlier upsets; I'm so grateful that I listened to you and others when told not to give up on this.
Every time I start a train rolling down the tracks I'm reminded of the people who did not give up on me in the hobby and I try and honor you all by heeding the advice that you folks have shared with me and without this support I would have been just another who tried this and gave it up.
My life and my relationships have been enriched so much by this journey that sometimes it is hard to believe that a simple hobby could add so much to our lives here.
I ask My Creator to bless all my Rail Roading brothers and sisters here, I'm reminded of what my mother had predicted before she crossed over into the Spirit Lands and that was, "You will be fine and you will have many new brothers from an unusual source".
No truer words have been spoken too me.
With great Honor too you all.
Jess Red Horse of the "humbly inspired" tribe.