I wanted to install a backdrop for an around the walls layout. The walls are drywalled. I wanted to install masonite hardboard on top of the drywall. I plan on using coved wood bracing to support the curved corners. The questions are...1) should i install the hardboard right on top of the drywall or do i need to use furring stripes? 2) is there any reason to not take the backdrop to the ceiling? it looks like most people do 2 foot high backdrops? 3) does any one have experience with having photos printed as the backdrop? i would be interested in where to start if i did not want to use some of the standard printed backdrops.
Why not simply use the wall as backdrop? If you want coved corners made from Masonite, they need no additional support, as they gain strength once the curve is imparted.
It's easiest to create coved corners when installing the drywall, but you can modify the existing drywall simply by replacing the 1/2" board with 3/8" board for at least one stud spacing on either side of the corner. I did mine when I drywalled the room, so was able to position the tapered edges of the 1/2" board adjacent to the 3/8" at the corners - this makes finishing easier for amateur drywallers like myself. Once you've prepared the drywall at the corners, curve a measuring tape around the corner at roughly the desired curve, then add an inch or two when transferring the dimension to the Masonite. To install the Masonite, abut one edge against the 1/2" board at one of the joints, then press firmly against the centre of the sheet, forcing it towards the corner. If your measurement (plus the inch or two) was reasonably accurate, the free edge will snap into place. Drill suitable holes along both vertical edges of the Masonite, then use a countersink, followed by a pass or two with medium grit sandpaper to remove any lumps and fuzziness. Add the drywall screws, making sure all heads are below the surface. mud and tape as you would for drywall.The drawing below shows the set-up (the green represents the mud, the red line, the tape).
Mine have been in place in my unheated basement, with no cracks, for about 20 years. You can do both inside corners...
....and outside corners using this method:
Mine is currently painted only as sky, but you can add printed or photographic backdrops, or hand paint your own if you have the talent.
Wayne
Hi OeBB
I will leave the experts to describe instalation of back drop boards
There is no reason I can see not to go to the cieling with the back drop.
However you do need to be aware that you will probably have to create your own back drop if you go that high with it.
Having it that high allows the rest of the railway to follow it up if you so desire, my own personal view is if the back drop is to be that high it should go floor to cieling and the rest of the railway should scenicaly do the same.
If it does not it will look a bit odd with a big vista back drop and no railway in front of it
regards John
1) Dr. Wayne has some good ideas, but you may be past that stage with room prep. Sometimes it's just easier to go over everything with a new layer of hardboard, although cost may be a factor. Hardboard is pretty darn cheap. I advise gluing directly to the existing drywall. If you use furring strips, then I presume you want to drive screws through the hardboard and into the furring strips? Then you end up with lots of spots to cover and mend. Lots easier to glue and avoid that hassle, plus it just looks better. My backdrop is glued to insulation that is glued to basement walls. IIRC, I did run a few fasteners in at the top where they were covered by the trim piece. I had my doubts about glue at first, but It's worked great for 20+ years so far.
2) Unless you're really short or you have a really tall ceiling, go to the ceiling. Otherwise you end up with a glaring break in the visual flow of things hovering over your layout. You can get paint to match if you're stuck using a too short photo backdrop as a compromise, although it can be hard to visually match everything.
3) I used a photo mosaic I made to paint my backdrop. This also is a good idea for a custom photo backdrop. You already mentioned the height of the sky, but in general you want to be sure the photo mural perspective matches what you see visually in your space. Also remember that this can all change simply by the layout changing to a different scene along the line as sceneray rises and falls, overhead obstructions intrude, etc. Generally, you can get just about any pic made into a photo mural, but use the best quality shots you can get.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
OeBB does any one have experience with having photos printed as the backdrop? i would be interested in where to start if i did not want to use some of the standard printed backdrops.
does any one have experience with having photos printed as the backdrop? i would be interested in where to start if i did not want to use some of the standard printed backdrops.
I recently installed a photo backdrop measuring 24" H x 78" W.
I bought the photo from an historical society. It is a high quality digital photo delivered to me on a CD. I transferred the image file to a USB thumb drive and took it to Kinko's.
I was very pleased with the results. Kinko's offers a variety of paper selections in terms of thickness and finish.
The key to good results is a high quality digital image.
Rich
Alton Junction
OeBBor do i need to use furring stripes?
TIGERS *like* furry stripes!
BTW: Have you ever seen a 1:1 scale backdrop?
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I did not cove my corners on my layout - I just painted the drywall clear to the ceiling! Since I am doing early FALL season - the sky is done as a Fall looking sky with only layered looking clouds (NO Puff Ball Clouds).
I figured that I could use the extra area lost with the cove corner for additional scenery and building flats!
Although some would argue that the eye will be distracted by the lack of the coved corners!
I believe - if everyone is looking at your backdrop instead of the layout -
YOUR Scenery NEEDS some real work!
And if the Layout is set up for OPERATIONS! - WHO has time to be looking at the BACKDROP or the Scenery?
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Depending upon your scenicking goals, I would simply sacrifice not having coved corners for the benefit of not having to install the hardboard and spackle and sand the screw holes, or mud and tape the seams. I have a hardboard backdrop and I wish I had drywall.
I've also had some issues with the hardboard absorbing humidity and warping with the change in seasons. This was solved somewhat by painting all four sides of the hardboard, but seam lines between the hardboard do appear, even with taping and mudding the joints.
My layout is in a basement, where the walls are concrete and I have no real humidity control equipment. If your drywalled room is in a more climate controlled part of the house, you may not have issues with the hard board. Again....I wish I had a drywall backdrop.
- Douglas
Doughless <Snip> I've also had some issues with the hardboard absorbing humidity and warping with the change in seasons. This was solved somewhat by painting all four sides of the hardboard, but seam lines between the hardboard do appear, even with taping and mudding the joints. My layout is in a basement, where the walls are concrete and I have no real humidity control equipment. If your drywalled room is in a more climate controlled part of the house, you may not have issues with the hard board. Again....I wish I had a drywall backdrop.
<Snip>
My Masonite (1/8" hard tempered) is also in a basement with little climent control
How I did my seams (which are over 10 years old) was screw and glue the ends to a wood backer.
Then instead of drywall mudding the seams
I painted the Masonite - let it dry for a week!
Then the seam I PAINTED the Drywall Paper Tape to the Masonite seam!
YES - I used the paint I had on the Masonite and PAINTED the Paper Tape into the Seam!
YES - It is NOT supposed to work - BUT it does!
So much for the Experts again!
I put a lot of paint on the seam - then pressed the paper tape into the paint
Then I painted the face side of the Paper tape again with a thick coating of paint
This made the paper tape completely soaked with paint (which the paint is acting like a GLUE)!
Left this sit a week until completely dry!
Sprackled the edges - sanded and Painted the Backdrop with my BASE Coat of Sky color!
Finished the Sky painting and enjoy!
This had been in for OVER 10 YEARS NOW - and NO CRACKS! NONE! ZIP!
Keep doing it the other ways and you will have cracks!
As I mentioned, my basement is also unheated and no special consideration was given to the Masonite corner coves - taped and mudded as any drywall, then painted only on the visible side. If there's any expansion or contraction due to temperature change or humidity, it appears to be taken-up by the curved portion of the coved corners. Flat Masonite backdrop lacks this feature, which probably explains why it's so difficult to keep the seams hidden. Masonite coved corners and drywall backdrop has been for me, so far, trouble-free.
I htink "the simpler the better".
I was fortunate in that the walls in the room for the layout were already painted a "sky blue".
I choose not to add clouds, though I could at any time.
YEs, that particular "back drop" goes all the way to the ceiling.
In the coner I struck out again, I built a mountain there so no "curving" needed, though I did add a curved sheet of thick cardboard painted with the same "sky blue" paint to the top of the mountain, behind the "sawmill scene" up on top the mountain.
Did you want just open air, cloudy sky, or a "scene" {City skyline, mountains etc} on your backdrop?
My particular backdrop has: $0.00 cost, but maybe a can of paint; has NO "damage" to the walls; doesn't upset the spouse; required no tools {except maybe a paint brush, and a roller and a screwdriver and a stirrer};needs nothing to be 'removed" if i ever have to move or take down the layout.
i t also may be considered "boring"
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
I was thinking on the same lines for my layout. What I figure I'll do with my backdrop is do a large multi-picture over lay of a panoramic picture that I take. Get it printed as large as I can while keeping it in HO scale. Cut off the sky portion of the panorama, and paint the rest of the sky in what ever I choose. All the sky will blend. I think key to keeping it HO is not having anything human in the foreground..........no buildings, cars, people...trees not too close. I think that will work?? I already have my rounded corners and such.
An alternative to Wayne's "coved" corner installation is to use a strip 1/4" furring adjacent to the 1/2" DW for the break. This will flush out the finished surfaces. ( do this regularly for wall repairs to plaster/ lath existing, lath/ button board plater to new) If you feel that the seams may ever try to show and want added strength, tape initially w/ Durabond 90, then skim w/ reg compound.
If you feel that you need addional support to the free standing arc for the coving, you can cut arced plywood for base and top if desired.
I like the method of placing the tape into "paint" then paint again. As you say, not suppost to work, but apparently does!
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
I have a space 9'X11" at one end of a"two-car" garage (inherited from the previous owners, and one of the more stupid garage ideas in existence!). I'm constructing a layout within these dimensions, and have completed the basic benchwork. Adhering to sage advice from others in the hobby (thanks, people), I installed the backdrop around the benchwork, which is basically a loop-to-loop with a small yard sticking out on one end, and a small area elevated at one end (of the loops) to represent an industry reached by a branch, before moving on to other things. After finishing the benchwork, I immediately installed the backdrop using 4'x8' sheets of a styrene material (cut lengthwise into 2 2'x8' strips) that I found at Home Depot. It is easy to cove the corners of this material, just by shoving the strip into the corner and securing it against the (previously installed) furring strips - I used 1x2s- with screws. If you plan it out , you can avoid the seam(s) occuring in the corners. The thing I most like about the material is its relative ease in bending to fit the corners, as opposed to Masonite, which I found to be recalcitrant, to say the least!. You really should enlist the help of another person to install the backdrop though; it's much easier. Afterward, I just spackled and sanded any irregularities, and painted everything a beautiful blue. Now I'm working on clouds and some other things (maybe not so beautiful!), but I was satisfied the way things turned out overall.
Have you considered just placing a very tall view obstruction like a mountain with tall trees at the top or a very tall building in the corner?
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow