Blending the buildings

[cheese3]

No matter what I try my buildings still look like they are set ontop of the layout and not built there. What do i do to make them look like they were built there and make them look like they belong? I weather them but it is just the area around the base i have problems with. Ideas Please[:D]

[cwclark]

try "forced prespective"...it's in four parts, first make sure the buildings are higher than the tracks divided by a wall or a hill, anything to raise them,..on the backdrop, glue or paste a city scene backdrop, add flat building faces to the backdrop scene, put in 1/2 buildings in front of the flats and backdrop, finally, put in the full buildings in the very front...it will look like a very large city scene in just a foot of space..to inhance the building fronts you may want to build curbs, sidwalks, and streets out of styrene sheet plastic , paint, and weather it, add people, mail boxes, animals, streetlights, cars, ect...signs and billboards on the buildings help a lot too...chuck

[jon grant]

Try altering the height of the baseboard surface. I cut the baseboard away and lowered it at the viewing side so the buildings did not look like they were built on a football field.










Apologies for the blurred pictures, but you get the idea.

PS, my layout is only 18" wide


Hope this helps,


Jon

[cheese3]

Jon, great pics! Thats what im going for, Thanks. Anyone have more suggestions?

[orsonroy]

1) add a foundation to the layout. I like Balsa, since it's cheap and forgiving. I also use a lot of large dimensional styrene. Size isn't important, so long as the material is wide enough to allow the building to sit on it completely. As for height, that will vary according to the terrain it's on. Once the foundation is down, sand it completely smooth on top (this is critical) and paint it "foundation color"

2) sand the bottom of the building completely flat. It's easiest to lay a large piece of semi-coarse sandpaper (80 or 100 grit) on a flat surface and start sanding the whole building on that.

3) if you want the building to be removeable (which is sort of recomended), add corner uprights to the inside of the foundation. Height isn't an issue, so long as they don't snag anything on the inside of the building. The key is to have something that will grab the inside of the building, keeping it from sliding around.

4) Add the building to the foundation. ALL buildings have some sort of foundation, which is why this makes the building look like part of the scenery, instead of just hovering on top of the scenery. If your sanding went well, there shouldn't be a gap between the bottom of the building and the top of the foundation, which is what kills reality for most layouts.

5) blend scenery around the foundation. Grass is the easiest to do, but pavement and sidewalks can be done effectively with a little practice. Blending the foundation into the scenery adds a LOT of realism, for little cost.

[cheese3]

great tips orsonroy, thanks