Trial and error backdrop painting

[FJ and G]

The first two photos show the endeavors of painting by my daughter and me over the weekend. She did the sunset and I the mid-day cumulus clouds as an experiment:

http://davidvergun.tripod.com/index3.html

We plan to paint over the entire thing soon and repaint the sky black, orange and purple, to simulate a very late-in-the day dramatic look. Then repaint the mountains purplish red.

(sorry if you can't log on to the site but you will in one hour after it's less busy).

There's a question that I have for you.

Has anyone ever tried doing late evening mountains that are backlit as well as creating a darker forground?

I'm thinking of painting the earth tones a very dark color to simulate dusk.

I know that most modelers simulate dusk with lower level lighting, didn't know if anyone actually paints night on the layout.

Dave Vergun

[Anonymous]

Dave:

Those pictures are awesome!

Stupid question: Why paint dusk on the layout? What happens if you decide you want to simulate daylight someday?

Tony

[FJ and G]

Tony,

I was looking thru pictures and haven't yet decided what I'd like, but here's an idea:

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGallDetail.asp?photoID=17911&catID=24&style=&contestCatID=&rowNumber=651&camID=

I want to paint dark objects and mountains with hints of colors; a very mysterious feel.

For daylight, I'll simply repaint everything in a year or so if I get bored with the mood.

[daan]

Just a stupid question; why don't you make backdrops on replaceable boards. Personally I think it's a pity if you take a lot of effort to make such beautifull backdrops and then repaint them.. you never get them back after repainting.
Besides that, your layout looks amazing!

[FJ and G]

daan,

It was just several hours worth of work; I mean fun.

Thx for compliment, though, on the layout.

Hoping to try a lot of innovative ideas.

For instance, alongside the fascia, I'm going to develop whole industries on styrofoam that attach to the sides and can be taken off (using a couple of clips that attach to the fascia. That way, I actually can change out industries.

Also, if you look really close, you can see that there are 2 layers underneath the shelf that could hold layouts, via a helix. On one of them, I'd like to create a moonscape on a late November day with spooky leafless trees.

[daan]

On the train show where i went last weekend they used even a smoke machine to make clowds and stroboscope's for lightning. I must say it looked very special..
Good idea of interchangeable industries..

[Roger Bielen]

The method I used was to take photos, slides, of mountains that looked interesting, in my case the western side of the Colorado Rockies in Oct.. I selected a few typical scenes for color and had them printed to 8X10. I then borrowed a second slide projector and by using 2 projectors I projected the scenes onto the wall matching pairs that looked good together, I then sketched in the scenes using a charcoal pencil and then started painting using the prints as rough color guides. I used acrylic and latex paints. If I never paint another pine or aspen it'll be too soon.

[FJ and G]

Roger,

Sounds like a lot of hard work getting all those trees. I used a roller and drywall sponge on my sky and clouds, whereas my daughter used a variety of brushes on her sunset.

Daan,

Another technique I used, not apparent in the photos, is to leave about a half inch or so of space between mountains and backdrop. It REALLY makes a difference in that they look 3-d rather than flat and contrived.

[daan]

Leaving the space between backdrop and hills in front is a good trick too. It gives depth to a very small area. On an english layout (English are very very secure with these things) they used a row of houses to hide a track. The houses where cut about half an inch behind the top of the roof and that also gave the idea that the houses stood completely loose from the background.
I'm thinking about using cardboard MFF backdrops, which look really good and it saves me the painting on the hard to reach walls.

[FJ and G]

daan,

I know that a lot of people like the cardboard backdrops, but they usually look too 2-dimensional for me, although there probably are ways to make them appear more 3-D, perhaps with trees or mirrors.

Reg. those hard to reach walls, have you considered taping your bru***o a broom stick? I'll bet you can get some paint back there.

[daan]

Painting is not my best side, certainly not with a brush on a broomstick. I could also make removable boards and put them as backdrop after being painted.