I vote for a somewhat dark shade of brown/tan simply to represent dirt/rock supporting the landscape above (in mountain or other areas with,say granite underlayment, use dark grey - make sure to feather in colors between areas) - no root details or underground creeks or whatever (unless you're really into that), just plain brown/grey/tan etc.
(and if you have a curtain/skirt that reaches the floor, dye the bottom a neon red/orage to represent hot molten magma - OK, so that's the ultimate vertical selective compression, but it's still a fun idea)
I haven't done my facia yet but I think I'm going to go with a dark green. I model the southeastern U.S. and it fits best imho.
JaRRell
Interesting topic,
My choice is a flat, darker green, not quite OD, but close and I am using black plastic sheeting as the curtain. I've read and thought about this quite abit and rather like the shadow box effect that darker colors create. My original thinking did not include a valence, as I use track lights, but I'm certainly going to put up a temporary valence probably the same color as the facia to see if I get the shadow box effect others talk about.
Joe
I went with the museum look myself. My valence and facia are painted satin black as is the drywalled ceiling above the aisle-way. Everything below the bench-work is painted a dark hunter green. The ceiling above the layout itself (behind the valence) is painted the same sky blue as the back-drop, as is the back of the valence ....
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
Mark R. wrote:I went with the museum look myself. My valence and facia are painted satin black as is the drywalled ceiling above the aisle-way. Everything below the bench-work is painted a dark hunter green. The ceiling above the layout itself (behind the valence) is painted the same sky blue as the back-drop, as is the back of the valence ....Mark.
Likewise on my HO Siskiyou Line.
(Click image to enlarge)
I use a dark hunter green for the fascia, black for the valance and skirting. I leave the ceiling white, but the aisles don't have any lighting -- only the layout, so the emphasis is on the layout, and you can see in the above photo.
I like the museum-shadowbox look. I think it's very attractive and it focuses attention on the layout, as it should.
Joe Fugate Modeling the 1980s SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon
I like the museum look too but I don't care for the stark black so I go with a nuetral color ,dark beige.
I use a medium to dark green fascia, with charcoal gray/black skirting.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
I personally favor unpainted Masonite(r) for my fascia panels, for several reasons:
Valence panels, which will only be installed once and then left alone, will look best if flat black.
My , other opinions may differ.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in Septembeer, 1964)
My club decided to use a green. Of the 60 members, there were various reasons for the choice with blending with our NE scenery and the look with the layout in such a well lighted large space. I imagine that if we modeled Southwestern or desert a tan to brown would have been the pick.
I really like that shadow box / museum look. Nice work.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Try this:
Get three 4' strips of scrap fascia. Paint each strip a separate color. Temporarily "tack" a different fascia up and leave it up for a couple days. The one that looks best to you, go with.
BTW, I went with left-over sheets of white ice paneling...but then again, I model snow...
Hmmm, I wonder where I got the idea I wanted shadow box? Mr. Fugate, your DVDs are wonderful!
another Joe,
Joe Daddy
jfugate wrote:Likewise on my HO Siskiyou Line.(Click image to enlarge)I use a dark hunter green for the fascia, black for the valance and skirting. I leave the ceiling white, but the aisles don't have any lighting -- only the layout, so the emphasis is on the layout, and you can see in the above photo.I like the museum-shadowbox look. I think it's very attractive and it focuses attention on the layout, as it should.
Flat Black:
Definitely a dark color. I was given a few sheets of 1/4 thick plastic sign board that I used for part of my fascia. As an experiment I painted this twelve foot section GLOSS black. It actually looks good, helps repel crud and childrens' fingerprints a bit better than the flat, and cleans up more easily. Of course now that I like the look, I need another 48 feet of the stuff to finish the experiment. No rush yet though, there are still years to go in building the rest of the layout.
Karl
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
My facia and vallance are actually unpainted masonite(dark brown), but it is exagerated with the room lights off. I have seen layouts depicting the southwest with black facias and this is what I will eventually do. I do plan to lower the top/vallance so it is less likely you will see the lights when standing in front of the layout.
John
I agree with most all comments thus far...
For the true "museum-shadowbox" look, most definitely go with the flat black!
On the other hand, I prefer an "almost" to that contrast and went with a darker olive drab "Cambridge Green" from the Dutch Boy chips, for both my fascia and the valance.
But in all honesty, the big thing with what ever color chosen, at least in my mind, is that it is a FLAT finish. A flat finish will not pull attention away from your pike with its WOW of sight!
I also strongly believe that this should be the case with a backdrop. Yes, I have seen some REALLY nicely painted backdrops with both landscape and detailed scenes.....But I still feel that a flat, less detailed backdrop does not distract from the diorama. As should a flat, neutral color on fascia and valance.
What also would be interesting is the cost per foot for the various methods & materials, especially skirting materials. (I have a hundred feet of skirting to do)
My layout is all foam, the terrain shapes are mostly finished, track laying, painting, ballasting and testing has been done. At layout's edge, I added a vertical layer of 2" foam around the layout, (covering the benchwork), so I would have a more finshed "facia" (temporarilly) while final scenery was waiting to be done.
The foam has been blended, smoothed and painted, to look like an applied facia and ALL unfinished foam everywhere is painted in appropriate colors for the area, (A layout is a long term project and I got tired of looking all that pink and blue and it really gives a quick & cheap immediate improvement).
I've tried both hunter green and flat black for the facia surface. I"m also trying a couple of areas of facia with the terrain color(s). I am still undecided.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
I use landscaping fabric - not the plastic stuff, the woven stuff. It's a nice charcoal gray, and it's inexpensive. The only down side is I've only found it in 36" widths. I glued wooden clothespins to the back of the fascia to hold the landscape fabric in place.
Chuck Geiger wrote:Spidge - your layout looks awesome, need more pics or do you have a website?
Thanks Chuck, I also look forward to photos of your layout. If you look in my signature the is a button WWW that will link to my photobucket pages. There are many almost duplicate photos and a few recent additions. I added a siding and may change the small town(Victorcille) to support more volume. I also built a small engine service bay and posted photos of it. I just need to install some vents.
fifedog wrote:Try this:Get three 4' strips of scrap fascia. Paint each strip a separate color. Temporarily "tack" a different fascia up and leave it up for a couple days. The one that looks best to you, go with.BTW, I went with left-over sheets of white ice paneling...but then again, I model snow...
Interesting. What kind of white ice paneling?
- Harry
I'm using a high-gloss tan for my fascias. Lighting valence for the upper deck will probably be gloss black.
I use the gloss because it's easy to clean up.
I use the tan because it's close to the dirt color around most of my locale, and because it tends to diminish the appearance of smudges, dirt, etc.
(Sorry, no picture yet)
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Modeling the N&W freelanced at the height of their steam era in HO.
Daniel G.
I like the museum shadow-box look, but I think it only works if the lighting is set up for it...especially with contained lights in a valence. I don't have a valence. In regular overhead basement lighting, I think heavy black quickly overwhelms the scenery, especially if the fascia is deep and the layout is relatively small.
I'm going with an earth tone light brown.
On the second ,level, for a short 2 inch fascia that will line that approach, I'm going with an yellow-ish off white, the overall wall color of my basement. First, the area won't be "handled" by strangers as much as the base level, and second, I think it will make the short fascia complementary and blend with the overall wall color, thus creating ever more a sense of "separation" between the levels - that they're truly independent scenes.
I went to Lowes one day to pick a color for the fasica and ran across a color called "Aged Pine" from Valspar. I went with an eggshell finish rather than flat. The color has worked out well. Jim