Backdrop trials and tribulations

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Some the chow hounds in Elliotts Diner were asking about my backdrops. Here's my experiences which were not all good.

I purchased faller's "Schwarzwald-Baar" backdrops when on sale in the Walthers monthly sale flyers. (I love deals.) In particular, I like the realistic sky of these backdrops.

The first panels of the backdrop were applied following Faller's instructions. That created my biggest problem with backdrops.  The directions said to use wallpaper paste, and that's what I did. I let those panels dry overnight, and returned to the trainroom the following morning.

It was horrible! The paper backdrops absorbed the waterbased wallpaper paste. Wrinkles and bubbles were everywhere on my new backdrop. I salvaged it by making a zillion slits with a razor blade, and then gluing the paper down at each slit. it was just terrible. It would have been better to remove the ruined backdrop to start over.

Next, I tried a cheap adhesive spray, and those sections fell off. Finally, the answer was good quality adhesive spray (3M Super 77). I spayed evenly over an entire surface on the backside of the paper backdrops. Then, I sprayed a little extra on each corner. Then I pressed the panels in place using care to avoid wrinkling or placing sideways, etc.

Important note: When using the spray adhesive, please protect your lungs with a resperator.

I modified much of the backdrop to be compatible with adjoining scenes. The pictures below illustrate.

The first two pictures show that I painted roads to match those on the layout. The roads on the layout near the backdrop are undersized to force perspective. Usually, I place trees to block the view of the transition of the road from the layout to the backdrop.

The next three pictures show the backdrop behind industries in Blackhawk. There is a section of real estate behind the main line that measures 2 inches x 8 feet (between the ice house and the far end of the brewery). I included a mix of building fronts from plastic kits (kitbashed) and paper buildings from Walthers. To the right of the brewery, there is more background space, and that includes downtown Blackhawk. The paper buildings are Walthers "Instant Buildings" and also I cut the sky off a Walthers "Instant Horizen" and glued it up. If you look above the GN FA1, you may see another road transitioning from layout to backdrop.

One of the diners said he used carpet tape on his faller backdrops, and it workd for him.

 

 

 

 

 

The next three photos illustrate that I'm finally getting the "hang of it". Ahead of the SD9 are some paper buildings and a landscape scener glued onto the Faller backdrop. Next, is a backdrop with more buildings and a landscape scene glued onto the faller backdrop. Some "turf' is glued onto the backdrop as well as on the back edge of the alyout.  

Last is my current work in progress. This will be the most narrow part of my layout and is only 16" wide.  That means there is little or no room for models of buildings.  I carefully selected pictures to adhere to the Faller back drop. The small amount of foreground scenery will be mostly farm fields placed between the branch line track and the  backdrop. The surfaces for the farm feilds are sloped upward to the backdrops. I have also painted onto the backdrops, and will do more of that when the scene is completed.

PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES WITH BACKDROPS. I BET THERE ARE BETTER METHODS OUT THERE.

Happy Model Railroading

[pcarrell]

Man!  I love the way those came out!  It looks like your layout is miles deep!

I went with 20" tall (it comes that high, so it was easy!), though being in N scale I could've gone less.  The height you go will depend somewhat on the scale.  18" for N scale is good and maybe getting down to a minimum for HO, but then thats just me.

Here's my vinyl flashing going up on my layout.  It's not painted and still has unsanded putty on the stapes that I used to hang it, so pardon the mess.

Here you can see the front of the backdrop on the lower level and the backside with the 1x2 framework on the upper level.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/7-22-070.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/7-22-074.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/7-22-075.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/7-22-076.jpg

I'm still sanding the putty that hides the staples holding it all up, but I'll be painting soon.  I'm doing the fall season, so grey skies with low hanging dark clouds are the order of the day here!  (Gotta dare to be different, ya know?)

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

I'll add a couple more notes. 

It worked better to keep the backdrops elevated with horizons well above track levels. Then, scenes on the back of the layout may be higher than in the front of the layout. Also, my farm fields are sloped upward toward the backdrops.

Another note: you may see that I made a variety of retaining walls under all of those buildings in my city of Blackhawk. Each of those retaining walls has its own height and depth, too. Some have fences or railings on their tops.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Nice work, Philip.

I hope others will show their backdrops and tell how they were made.

Thanks

[gandydancer19]

Hi Garry,

Your backdrops are very nice. Wish I could paint a road on my backdrops like you can. You blended them together well. Excellent job. I usually trim the sky off of my backdrops. That way there is no seam and the sky goes on forever.  But then I don't have any clouds either.  Good job.

Phillip,

It's too late now, but next time I would advise not using flashing. It's too light in weight. Try "Coil Metal" instead. That's the stuff that builders use to trim out homes when installing Vinyl siding. It comes in different widths. 24 inches may be the widest. It comes in 60 foot rolls. Some is textured, some is plain. Most is brown on one side and white on the other. It is aluminum and can be filled with spackel etc. Because it is painted already, you shouldn't have trouble painting over it. I used regular latex paint with no problems and didn't prime it, then glued paper backdrops on it. Most building supply places carry it, although you may have to buy a whole box. Some places may cut it in lengths for you. There is an old time type building materials place near me where I can buy it by the foot. I have used it for forming curves around the outside of door jams. It is not as light as flashing, it curves easily but doesn't wrinkle. I know you have a lot of work in what you have done to this point, and depending on your finances, you may want to check out coil metal before you go further. You may like it better enough to change it.  Good job on what you have done already, by the way.

Elmer.

[Anonymous]

I don't have many photos of my backdrops, but they're 1/8 hardboard painted blue, with airbrushed clouds (from the New London Industries stencils) and a few buildings glued to them. I find them mostly on Google Images, then print them and glue them to the backdrop.

I think they look acceptable to me. I'll see if I can get photos of them.

This is the best one I've got. That yellow structure is spare parts from a kit glued to the backdrop. The 2 paper ones are the edge of the tan house (not the yellow one) and the auto repair shop.

 

[SilverSpike]

Garry,

Nice to get the run down on how you got the "look and feel" for your backdrops. Thanks for posting your techniques here in the GD section.

To answer your question, I am just starting out with my backdrops and backgrounds and it is still a BIG work in progress at this stage of the game, here are a few images of what I have started out with:

Yard with warehouse on backdrop

This is an image of a Domino Sugar plant that I found on the Internet, printed it out on a 8.5"X11" sheet of inexpensive glossy photo paper and then attached that to a piece of 1/4" foam core with the 3m 77 adhesive spray. Then I cut out all the open space around the building to form the shape. This piece is just leaning and not attached to the backdrop yet, I am slowly building a collection of foam core structures. I want to move them around like puzzle pieces until I get what looks like a full backdrop of plausible structures for my era and region.

Locomotive facility 

In this instance I took another image using the same foam core technique I described above and did attach this one to the backdrop. I then added some scenery and trees to the front and right side to hide the edges of the foam core image and to help add some prespective and distance.

Eventually I want to stack or layer several levels of foam core images to create more of a 3D effect to the backdrop, hopefully I am on the right track!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Thanks, Elmer for the idea about using flashing. I never would have thought of the idea on my own. I like masonite, but that may be much better.

Tyler posted great pix along with the remarks on making clouds using stencils and airbrush. I like the Google Images idea, too.

Ryan's Domino Sugar backdrop building is a sweet idea. Looks great.

I saw the thread on clouds, too, and it looks worthwhile.

Cheers, everybody!