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Hiding roadway leading into backdrop

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  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: west coast
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Hiding roadway leading into backdrop
Posted by rrebell on Sunday, January 11, 2015 1:16 PM

I have a roadway going into the backdrop. It hits at a 30 degree angle so a mirror will not work. One side will be hidden by a building but I need to address the other side.

  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Eastern Shore Virginia
  • 3,290 posts
Posted by gandydancer19 on Sunday, January 11, 2015 5:52 PM

How about some trees?

Elmer.

The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.

(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: west coast
  • 7,670 posts
Posted by rrebell on Sunday, January 11, 2015 7:30 PM

Roadway ends at backdrop, trees will not hide (did that idea elsewhere though).

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,484 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Sunday, January 11, 2015 7:37 PM

I took this idea from an issue of MR.  I took a series of photos outside my house, and picked the one that fit best.  This one was taken from about knee high.

Bring the roadway up a bit in elevation, a quarter inch or so, about an inch before the backdrop, and then let it roll down again.  That hides the square corner where the road meets the backdrop.  Trees and shrubbery are a good way to hide the edges.  The sign draws attention away and distracts the viewer.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
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Posted by hon30critter on Sunday, January 11, 2015 8:11 PM

How are your artistic skills? I have seen several backdrop scenes where the road is painted onto the backdrop to give the impression that it is continuing into the distance or disappearing behind a hill. It might take some practise to get the angles right, but if you use the same colours for the actual roadway before the backdrop and the painted roadway on the backdrop they can be blended together quite nicely. The effect can be increased by painting similar buildings to what are on the layout along side of the painted road.

I'll spend some time seeing if I can find some examples. If I do I'll post them to the thread.

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,797 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Sunday, January 11, 2015 8:42 PM

Here are three examples of roadways that are continued on to the backdrop:

Here is another by the same modeller. Sorry, I can't figure out how to post the actual photo:

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/dgbseh/E501.jpg

And another by a different modeller. This one is very subtle. The transition is almost impossible to spot:

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Dave

 

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: west coast
  • 7,670 posts
Posted by rrebell on Monday, January 12, 2015 10:59 AM

Nice painting, might try my skills at that, did well with background trees so a blending of real and paint might work. Could also carve into the back as it is in a walkway about 2' wide.

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