Definately, use foam core for your backdrop. The 1/4" version is slightly flexible and can be curved around corners. Airbrushing or hand brushing with artists acrylics will produce excellent results, as will gluing on photographs of real scenery (or commercially available backdrops, for that matter). I've never had trouble with distortions, even using hot glue or undiluted white glue, although spray adhesives give better results. I'd imagine that diluted glue / matte medium (such as most of us use for attaching scenic materials) would saturate the foam core and ruin it, however, although I've never tried it. Incidental overspray does not matter as any blemishes can be hidden by ground cover.
If you find a good art store, foam core does not have to be expensive. Heck, Staples and OfficeMax around here sell the stuff. I can get a 20" x 30" piece for $4; 40" x 60" runs about $15. One of these cut in half lengthwise -- making two 20" x 60" -- pieces is my backdrop of choice. Yes, it's more expensive, but you get an unbroken 5' length, so you don't have to worry about seams showing. A word of caution: check the corners of the boards before you buy. Sometimes they get mangled in shipping.
Beadboard or styrofoam generally does not work as a backdrop, in my experience. Painting it tends to enhance the pebbled effect, which makes everything look fake, and especially ruins the effect of sky. It does, however, make a good tunnel liner when painted flat black.
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dante wrote:I don't know if it will make enough of a difference to prevent warping, but there is a type of foamcore with heavier gauge facers. I believe one product is called Gatorboard. (More expensive, of course.)
Yes, I've seen the stuff advertised.
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MisterBeasley wrote:You can get 1/4-inch thick foamboard at craft stores. It's light and cheap, and has a smooth surface. This is the stuff used for presentations and displays. It's fairly stiff, and takes paint very well. And if you mess up, you can turn it over and use the other side.
By foamboard, I assume you are talking about the stuff that has a foam core with paper cladding on both sides? Somebody in another thread here mentioned that they tried the foamcore for a backdrop and it warped like crazy when they painted it. I don't know the specifics though, so I think I'll give it a try.
I've used quarter-inch extruded (pink) foam for backdrops with good results. But as I was wandering around HD yesterday, I saw some beadboard styrofoam sheets that measured about 1.5 X 4 feet. For me, they'd be a bit more convenient to use as a backdrop but the surface is not smooth - there's a definite texture to it.
Has anybody used textured styrofoam beadboard for a backdrop and how did it turn out? Did the texture detract too much from looking like sky?