the old train man I see your point but remember my layout is way smaller than yours and I figure if the blue is higher than my tallest building then that will suffice. thanks for input great layout you have.
I see your point but remember my layout is way smaller than yours and I figure if the blue is higher than my tallest building then that will suffice. thanks for input great layout you have.
The size of the layout is less important. The backdrop will enhance the look of layouts of many size and having one of sufficient height is more visually appealing; at least that is my take on it having looked at many layouts.
SeeYou190 ANY backdrop is effective. ANY backdrop is so much better than not having one.
ANY backdrop is effective. ANY backdrop is so much better than not having one.
Any beathable air will keep you alive and is better than no air. Point being, it's obvious and goes without saying.
The only time height becomes a concern is in photography. If you want pictures of big sweeping trains, you will need a taller backdrop, and more scenery in front of the train.
I disagree. Having looked at a lot of layouts at train shows in person, the ones with taller backdrops look MUCH better than those with short back drops. It's obvious and no contest.
If you want it for taking pictures, you're fine with 6".
You'd have to get very close for 6" to be enough for a photo - and have the camera set for macro!
Is the idea to get away with the absolute minimum height no matter what or is it to have an effective back drop?
dknelson Ideally the backdrop should go all the way up the wall and then with a gently coved corner, continue on to the ceiling above you. Someone somewhere has that. Lucky them.
Ideally the backdrop should go all the way up the wall and then with a gently coved corner, continue on to the ceiling above you. Someone somewhere has that. Lucky them.
Yet despite having the ability to do just that, I've seen a lot of people paint the wall blue up a couple feet and then white or cream above that with a straight line as if it was masked off. I scratch my head and wonder why did they do that? Why not just roll light sky blue up to the ceiling? It's a scooby doo moment for me. Rhhhuh?
I think 6" to 8" is a bit low. After all that is the height of a pretty short tree! Most of the portable layouts I see at train shows try to have backdrops in the 18" to 24" range.
Yes, 18 to 24 inches is a good rule of thumb for a stand alone backdrop.
A more interesting question perhaps is, how high should the horizon be on that backdrop. If you have access to MRVP, Ken Thompson's Burlington Northern Peoria Division is a good example (the same layout is in Great Model Railroads 2019). He handpainted his horizon and sky but came to feel the entire horizon at 6" to 8" above track level was too high and conveyed the idea that there was a 90 degree angle between benchwork and wall (which of course there is but that is what a backdrop is supposed to make you forget) -- that part of Illinois is rolling hils and farmland. He lowered it to a couple of inches and the improvement in realism was dramatic. He mentions this on the video. Dave Nelson
Dave Nelson
There are a couple of considerations. For the most basic, a sky blue back drop helps immensely behind a train scene. In general, when you look at the horizon, the sky will be a much lighter, paler shade of blue or have a haze or white cloudy appearace. As you look up higher, the shade of blue will become a bit darker and deeper toward overhead. Some who hand paint will mix in some white down near the lower horizone area and transition to bluer above.
If you are really frisky, do something like Rob Spangler and paint a landscape back ground at the bottom which represents hills or farmland or mountains, etc. with more color and definition in the foreground and more faded and less definition representing distant features. Rob has learned the art of landscape painting very well and a few others too.
Another option if hand painting isn't your forte, you can use photo back drops ordered from companies which offer them in many scene types and fix it to a back drop or wall. When done well, they can look quite good as well. One person who has done it to good effect is RGDaves Onondaga Cutoff layout.
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,4755459,4755469
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Purely for photography purposes you can build a portable backdrop that is as high as you want, if there is a place to put it in front of the regular one.
Cardboard from boxes is cheap enough -- free, ideally -- and maybe that and some blue poster paints could give you 8", 12", 18" and 24" heights to ponder and choose from.
A more interesting question perhaps is, how high should the horizon be on that backdrop. If you have access to MRVP, Ken Thompson's Burlington Northern Peoria Division is a good example (the same layout is in Great Model Railroads 2019). He handpainted his horizon and sky but came to feel the entire horizon at 6" to 8" above track level was too high and conveyed the idea that there was a 90 degree angle between benchwork and wall (which of course there is but that is what a backdrop is supposed to make you forget) -- that part of Illinois is rolling hils and farmland. He lowered it to a couple of inches and the improvement in realism was dramatic. He mentions this on the video.
The scale doesn't matter much for backdrop height. What does the backdrop provide? If you want it for taking pictures, you're fine with 6". I would shoot for something about 24" for having people over. You don't want a sizeable amount of space (if any space) between the top of the backdrop and the ceiling to convey a sweeping skyscape.
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However, Photoshop fizes both of these problems.
For normal viewing, any backdrop is good.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Think of it this way, if you are taking a picture to show us and you can see whatever is above the blue sky portion, that tends to be jarring and break the immersion. So to me 8-inches is way way too short for a back drop. To me even 18 inches isn't tall enough.
For my purposes, anything that is along the wall will get sky blue to the ceiling. I'm getting ready to paint these walls sky blue (ceiling will be suspended and white)
For mid-room area's where I may have a back-drop divider, I haven't designed it but want it to be pretty high, well above eye level. I'd guess if my track is at 50 inches, for example, I'm guessing 2' (24 inches).
I've seen a lot of back drops that to me or way too low. But you have to please yourself.
Working on the background for the ho scale and wondering if 8 inches is high enough if Im building an n scale shelf layout above it and also could I get by with 6 inches for the n scale background height?