Backgrounds?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking at backgrounds for my recent layout and have been looking at ones from:

- Walthers Instant Horizons
- SceneryExpress

Are there any others out there?  Any experience(s) with either one of these?

[ARTHILL]

I am going through my digital pics of places I have been and using a free program called Huge Picture Slicer, I am printing them to size. I cut off the sky and fasten to the wall. It works fairly well and I get familiar and memorable scenes. TRhis spring I plan to experment with a city scape made up of pictures of the Twin Cities.We will see if it works and if it is fun.

[el-capitan]

I traveled to NM to take backdrop photos of the actual towns that I am modeling. My camera software has a panaramic feature that blends several photos into one. I am doing the backdrop last so when it is time I will take the photos to a print shop to be printed on waterproof and UV safe paper. The largest is 50'x2' so it will probably not be cheap. I have some samples that I ran on a CAD plotter at work and they look fantastic.

Depending on what size you are doing, you may be able to find some on the net and print them on an inkjet. Backdrop warehouse has a good product but would cost me in the thousands.

[loathar]

ARTHILL-Do you have a link to that Huge program your talking about? I Googled it and couldn't find it.

Thanks

[HHPATH56]

  I have used both of them, and have been very satisfied.  The Scenery Express provides a series of background scenes that attach to each other. eg. Sierra Tall trees, and Gold Rush Boom Town, join together. I needed the waterfall section of one of them for a ravine scene, and was able to cut it off and the remaining sections joined together to fill another part of the background. In both cases, I cut away part of the light blue sky, to hide the transition in blue color with my painted sky. I dabbed in clouds with a round ended brush, and used a nearly drybrush technique.    I bought Walther's Instant Structures,(which come 2/pkg) First glue to pictures to heavy constuction poster paper, with rubber cement. Then, carefully cut along the vertical edges of buildings.  I glued the two pictures next to each other (slightly raised). Next, I placed Background Buildings in front of them. This gives the illusion of distance.                     My present project is to mount a (slightly raised) N scale Mainline, behind the HO scale 24 ft. mainline, next to one wall. The two ends of the 24ft. N scale mainline disappear into tunnels at each end, and form extended reverse loops, so that another entire hidden N scale train can then emerge, (by using either a block system, or DCC controls).  To enhance the forced perspective illusion, I placed flat cutout trees and 2-d buildings between the two tracks.                                              Bob

[ARTHILL]

loather, I tried to find it last week and couldn't. Someone on the forum suggested it about 18 months ago and I found it then and downloaded it for a couple of bucks. If anyone can find it we need to bookmark it or something because it is pretty cool.

[Tracklayer]

I'm looking at backgrounds for my recent layout and have been looking at ones from:

- Walthers Instant Horizons
- SceneryExpress

Are there any others out there?  Any experience(s) with either one of these?

I painted my own on poster board using sky blue spray paint for the sky and flat white and flat gray for the clouds. I then cut stencils for the hills in the background and painted them tan (the same color as the surface of my layout), and wa la!. If memory serves me right it cost me about twenty bucks altogether verses $75.00+ for a professional background...

Tracklayer 

[Anonymous]

All great replies...  I'm going to try my own first on a posterboard...  Will post pictures when I'm done.