Thanks Lone Wolf. That's what I did with the first foray into using photos as a back drop and it worked well but it was tedious cutting out around all of the trees and they were only about 22" long. This one is 14'!! I don't think I want to tackle that much intricate cutting but thatnks for the response.
Bill
Ha ha ha, I haven't scared anyone since my days at Knotts Halloween Haunt. Thanks for the idea, I will think on that one a bit.
I cut the sky out of my backdrop images and just use the structures and hills or mountains. I would paint the entire wall behind the layout sky blue first. Then the 1/8” board will make the structures and mountains stand out and look more 3D.
Maybe your avatar scared a few of the members away . To answer your question, I believe you can get some hardboard or masonite that is about 1/8" thick. You could apply that directly on the wall, on top of your other support, and make a higher background.
Simon
If that line is at eye level, don't sweat it. People should be looking at the layout mostly anyway and are unlikely to notice the transition.
Don't forget you can cut, file, or sand foamcore board to an angle. That would give the same effect, but be completely portable and not liable to other problems of actually attaching this feathering to the wall.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Hi all and thank you in advance for the help. I'm modeling HO in a large dedicated room. First problem, I built some "rock and hill" scenery first. (I didn't get the memo to install the background photo first) So I made a template for the 14' stretch of wall to apply the background photo to, cut the photo as it followed the contours of the scenery. Overall the photo is 12" tall and combined two of them to make the full 14' long. Now, I'm going to mount the photo on 1/8" foam core board and apply that to the wall. I have done this in a couple of other areas (much smaller) and am very happy with the results. Standing at the edge of the layout and looking at the wall, the top of the photo (which is mostly sky) will be at about a normal persons eye level. So you could see the edge of the foam board. Obviously, I will paint it to match the sky color. Here's my question: Should I just do that and call it close enough for government work or use drywall mud or something like it and try and feather from the board edge to the wall? We're talkin an eight of an inch here! Will it be that obvious? It isn't on my other ones but they are mountains against my painted sky on the wall. Thanks, Bill
Oh, I guess the other thing I could do would be to let the top of the photo (sky) go 1-2" past the top of the foam core board and glue it to the wall?