Backdrops: discuss.

[Nick G]

2 minutes ago, eastglosmog said:

 

My biggest problem has always been disguising the vertical corners in the backscene

 

 

The beauty of using Foamex it will bend round the corners.

[Karhedron]

14 hours ago, eastglosmog said:

My biggest problem has always been disguising the vertical corners in the backscene, not the horizontal join with the baseboard. 

 

Curving the backscene works pretty well. I just curved the corners slightly on mine but it is enough to disguise the "corner in the sky".

 

 

A fully curved backscene like the one on Vale of Oxbury is even better but the layout needs to be designed with that in mind from the outset.

 

[Traintresta]

15 hours ago, Nick G said:

 

 

The beauty of using Foamex it will bend round the corners.

I’ve just researched this and it sounds like very good stuff!

[Reorte]

16 hours ago, Nick G said:

 

 

The beauty of using Foamex it will bend round the corners.

What I like about that is that it's not the usual sunny skies. Different weather backscenes can really change the feel of a layout. There was one I saw once at an exhibition, alas all I can remember is that the setting was somewhere in Wales, that had a dark stormy sky and I found it incredibly atmospheric.

[The Johnster]

Changing the general cast of the lighting to evoke different weather conditions is one of the advantages on not having a backscene as such and modelling a representative portion of a !,500' foot mountainside as I've done on Cwmdimbath.  My lighting setup consists of 3 LED anglepoises purchased at Maplins, but I'm sure similar lamps can be found.  They can display cool or warm lighting, or a mix, at 3 different power levels, and being slightly off to the front of the layout provide the sort of side lighting that is most common in the British Isles even when it is sunny; even in midsummer the sun is never directly overhead as it is in the tropics.  IMHO a common fault with many layouts, even exhibition ones where some thought has been given to presentation, is overhead lighting, which highlights white coach roofs.

 

I am modelling the South Wales Valleys in the 1950s, partly from memory of visiting rellys up there.  It seemed to rain a lot, as you'd expect in a mountainous area, and with the mountains shutting out what little light filtered through the clouds, which sat low on the mountainsides, a dull day could be very dull indeed.  Max Boyce's song 'Rhondda Grey' describes this very well!

 

I do find the 'summer day in the glorious countryside' approach a bit cliched, but most folk seem to adopt this as default.  Everything it bright and sunny, skies are clear, visibility is good despite the amount of pollen and dust that should be in the air, trees are fully laden with greenery.  I think this loses an opportunity; imperfect visibility, haze or mist, is very useful for conveying depth and perspective.  I like the backdrop on Arun Quay, a really miserable looking day that makes you want to retire to the shunter's cabin for a cuppa.

 

Real railways work 24/7 in some pretty poor light and foul weather conditions; this comes with the territory.  But where are the models?  Passengers never wear raincoats or look huddled against the cold, nor by and large do railway staff, Modelu excepted.  Where are the turned collars, the hunched poise, the pulled down hats?  Where are the sheep sheltering from the worst of it behind a stone wall, heads down and looking miserable?  The track gang are always in shirtsleeves; most would have been dead of pneumonia in a week if they went to work dressed like that most of the time.

 

Global warming is real; even as recently as the 70s you could wake up to a sharp frost any time between October and April, but it's rare nowadays.  Modern image modelling must allow for warmer winters, and leaves appearing sooner/lasting longer into autumn.  Rainfall averages are falling; this has an effect on streams and rivers.  

Edited July 4, 2019 by The Johnster

[D9020 Nimbus]

2 hours ago, Reorte said:

What I like about that is that it's not the usual sunny skies. Different weather backscenes can really change the feel of a layout. There was one I saw once at an exhibition, alas all I can remember is that the setting was somewhere in Wales, that had a dark stormy sky and I found it incredibly atmospheric.

Agreed. The backscene that's impressed me the most recently is on Arun Quay. The misty effect is quite impressive and IMHO adds a lot to the layout.

[PMP]

There’s nothing wrong with overhead lighting, you’ve just got to understand it, suggesting everyone models glorious summer reflects I’d suggest the exhibitions you’ve been too. There’s far more atmospheric modelling variety than you allude to, the best shows for that sort of modelling are generally the ‘expo’ type.

 

[Nick G]

3 hours ago, Reorte said:

There was one I saw once at an exhibition, alas all I can remember is that the setting was somewhere in Wales, that had a dark stormy sky and I found it incredibly atmospheric.

 

 

Funnily enough my back scene was photographed in North Wales.

[Nick G]

4 hours ago, Traintresta said:

I’ve just researched this and it sounds like very good stuff!

 

 

It's wipe clean too!

[eastglosmog]

23 hours ago, Nick G said:

 

 

The beauty of using Foamex it will bend round the corners.

 

I'm getting out of touch, as I've never heard of it before. Seems very useful stuff.

[Giles]

You can also get "Bendy MDF' which has a multi-slotted reverse face, intended for curving (in one plane).

 

I used this on The End of The Line, with a gloomy over-cast sky

 

 

 

2017-10-03_02-14-32 by giles favell, on Flickr

 

2017-10-03_02-15-42 by giles favell, on Flickr

Edited July 5, 2019 by Giles

[Chris M]

It's about what looks right to the builder. Various very different ways can work. In the photos below the first two are where a photo of the area was taken and printed and the scenery leading up to it was made to fit the photo.  On the third photo the scenery was built and the backscence painted with a general non detailed look afterwards. Very different but both work for me. The important thing is to blend the actual back board and the scenery in front of it together.

 

[Reorte]

A Hawes Junction layout? I wasn't aware of that one, got any more pictures? I do like a good bit of Settle-Carlisle.

[TEAMYAKIMA]

On 04/07/2019 at 15:30, The Johnster said:

I do find the 'summer day in the glorious countryside' approach a bit cliched, but most folk seem to adopt this as default.  Everything it bright and sunny, skies are clear, visibility is good 

 

 

I tend to agree.

 

Let me say that I have no problem with 'bright and sunny' per se, but it is not an approach I have adopted myself.

 

I model overseas railways and if I was modelling Cuba in the sugar season the layout would be bright and VERY sunny! But I am modelling central/northern China to represent the China I knew when visiting to photograph steam (mostly in winter) and there were several locations which I visited several times and never saw bright sun - I saw cloud and pollution!

 

So my layout doesn't have overhead lighting at exhibitions - it's dull and overcast - just like the prototype. Advantages include my lit interiors show up well.....

 

 

As you can see my layout has a plain grey back scene - partly because my layout is urban and there is no way that I could replicate that. BTW apologies for the visible join in this early photo (copyright PECO)

 

But I would go further and say that I think a backscene is like the frame of a painting - it defines the edge of the scene. To me my grey backscene is 'the void' and to illustrate the point, although you can't see it clearly in this photo, the yellow car is half in that void - it is cut in half the front has disappeared into 'the void'.

 

Not everyone's cup of tea but it works for me!

Edited July 8, 2019 by TEAMYAKIMA

[Traintresta]

20 minutes ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

 

I tend to agree.

 

Let me say that I have no problem with 'bright and sunny' per se, but it is not an approach I have adopted myself.

 

I model overseas railways and if I was modelling Cuba in the sugar season the layout would be bright and VERY sunny! But I am modelling central/northern China to represent the China I knew when visiting to photograph steam (mostly in winter) and there were several locations which I visited several times and never saw bright sun - I saw cloud and pollution!

 

So my layout doesn't have overhead lighting at exhibitions - it's dull and overcast - just like the prototype. Advantages include my lit interiors show up well.....

 

 

As you can see my layout has a plain grey back scene - partly because my layout is urban and there is no way that I could replicate that. BTW apologies for the visible join in this early photo (copyright PECO)

 

But I would go further and say that I think a backscene is like the frame of a painting - it defines the edge of the scene. To me my grey backscene is 'the void' and to illustrate the point, although you can't see it clearly in this photo, the yellow car is half in that void - it is cut in half the front has disappeared into 'the void'.

 

Not everyone's cup of tea but it works for me!

This is a very fresh approach, I like what you have achieved. 

[The Johnster]

I have voiced an opinion regarding TEAMYAKIMA's layout before; IMHO one of the most convincing layouts on the circuit, and the best use of DCC sound.  The greyness and general concrete grimness of industrial China in the grip of a Siberian winter is evoked wonderfully well; it's gritty, dirty, and a long way from the Celestial Palace.  The framing and lighting plays to this, and the apartment blocks that the backscene consists of perform much the same role in much the same way as my mountain; there is no real need for a pictorial backscene behind them.  

[Waverley West]

It's photo backscenes all the way for me. The colouring has to be right though and it's important to make sure they blend in with the layout in terms of both colouring and perspective. They can give a feeling of depth and of a world outside the layout, and they can also be used to represent buildings and so on which there would otherwise simply not be space for.

 

Here, a backscene has been used above The Mound tunnels to represent the National Gallery in Edinburgh. On the other side of this backscene is the other tunnel entrance with a photo of the other side of the gallery on it, saving about several feet of layout without, I would argue, too much loss of realism...

 

 

Here, the backscene has been used to represent the whole of Princes St., Edinburgh, not a realistic proposition to model, for me anyway...

 

 

While here, the backscene has been used to give a feeling of depth and "the world beyond"...

 

 

I think other types of backscene have their place and a beautifully painted backscene is a work of art in its own right, but for me, well-executed photo-realistic backscenes can contribute a huge amount to a layout, no matter what the size of layout.

[Reorte]

7 minutes ago, Waverley West said:

Here, a backscene has been used above The Mound tunnels to represent the National Gallery in Edinburgh. On the other side of this backscene is the other tunnel entrance with a photo of the other side of the gallery on it, saving about several feet of layout without, I would argue, too much loss of realism...

 

That picture really looks good but it's not just the backscene there, it's also demonstrating the impact of lighting, the light looks very natural and realistic (as does everything else!)

[Traintresta]

18 minutes ago, Waverley West said:

It's photo backscenes all the way for me. The colouring has to be right though and it's important to make sure they blend in with the layout in terms of both colouring and perspective. They can give a feeling of depth and of a world outside the layout, and they can also be used to represent buildings and so on which there would otherwise simply not be space for.

 

Here, a backscene has been used above The Mound tunnels to represent the National Gallery in Edinburgh. On the other side of this backscene is the other tunnel entrance with a photo of the other side of the gallery on it, saving about several feet of layout without, I would argue, too much loss of realism...

 

 

Here, the backscene has been used to represent the whole of Princes St., Edinburgh, not a realistic proposition to model, for me anyway...

 

 

While here, the backscene has been used to give a feeling of depth and "the world beyond"...

 

 

I think other types of backscene have their place and a beautifully painted backscene is a work of art in its own right, but for me, well-executed photo-realistic backscenes can contribute a huge amount to a layout, no matter what the size of layout.

I have never been a fan of photo backdrops because of the glossy look they all seem to have. Except these ones. I think you’ve achieved a very good look here. 

[PaulRhB]

You can get backdrops printed on Matt vinyl, I’ve used it on three layouts. 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by PaulRhB

[Traintresta]

So Like any good politician, I’m going to make a U-turn on this subject. I went to operate my Dad’s layout last week: no backdrop; no DCC; locos didn’t even have lights. It was the most fun I’ve had playing trains and made me realise that a backdrop isn’t even required. My eyes were focused on layout at all times, following a prototypical switch list and driving the train. 

[Ruston]

I made my own backscene by taking photos of trees and printing them on plain paper. I cut them out and glued them to the plywood back, which had been brush-painted with white/grey/blue emulsion. The whole lot was blended together by airbrushing black over it, which dulls the colour and makes the backscene trees appear to be further away. It also represents the kind of air pollution that would be coming out of the pipe works and mill chimneys.

 

[CF MRC]

I’m quite a fan of back scenes.  I have always incorporated one into a layout. 

 

Tim

[rob D2]

On 02/07/2019 at 15:28, Karhedron said:

Sometimes the issue can be designed out if the railway surroundings themselves form part of the backscene. The classic Minories trick of modelling in a cutting is a great space-saver. 

 

 

Where’s that bottom picture if you don’t mind me asking ?

[Karhedron]

On 16/09/2019 at 07:59, rob D2 said:

Where’s that bottom picture if you don’t mind me asking ?

 

That is Barbican in London. The tracks on the right are the Circle and H&C lines while those on the left are the now-severed branch to Moorgate. Not quite Minories but definitely the same part of London and has the same sort of atmosphere. Here is an earlier shot when the line was still taking DMUs from places like Bedford.