Backscene support structures

[Sweetling Park]

Whilst I am in the process of planning my first layout I thought I would turn my attention to backscenes and their supporting structures, as I will need to take this into consideration during the baseboard build process and eventual track laying.  I appreciate that track laying would probably come first before thinking about backscenes, but due to space and access constraints I will need to have the support structures in place first or at least provision for them.

 

My layout will be 2.85m (approx. 9' 4") by 2.22m (approx. 7' 3") and located in a spare bedroom; the room depth is slightly larger but the extra space is required for access.  The baseboards have a depth of 760mm (approx. 2' 6"), with the exception of one side (wide side) which has a depth of 660mm (approx. 2' 2") in the middle for 1.07m (approx. 3' 6") in width due to space constraints.  There will also be a small lift out section of 500mm by 760mm (approx. 1' 8" by 2' 6") on the opposite side (wide side) to allow access to the operating area.  The remainder will be made up of five baseboard sections.  All of the baseboards will be built in modular form to allow for easy removal in the future and will be made from 12mm birch plywood.

 

Three sides of the layout will be against a wall, but I will be unable to attach the backscenes directly to the walls.  The lift out section on the non wall side will not have a backscene either as it would be a little impractical, but the modules either side could have one.  The 660mm deep section at the back of the layout won't be able to have a backscene either but either side of it could.

 

I would be most grateful for any advice and suggestions on how best to go about creating supporting structures for backscenes, as well as how to attach them to the baseboard modules.  I would like to make the backscene structures modular, with the joins at the same locations as the baseboard joins, so that they can be removed in the future.  I would also be grateful of advice on the correct size backscene for a OO Gauge layout, as I have seen them available in 9", 15" and 24" sizes and am not sure which would be correct.

 

Thank you in advance.

[RobinofLoxley]

Remember, the baseboard isn't just the cut piece of plywood, almost everyone reinforces the perimeter with stripwood or PSE. This edging provides a mounting for backscene boards on the basis that board is cut oversize relative to the printed material. I used 6mm ply in 60cm sections for my backscene, screwed into the aforesaid PSE. I could have used 3mm it would have been just as good. Glueing the backscene to the ply has pitfalls. If you are worried about having backscene boards fixed permananently at an early stage it would be possible to replace the screws with bolts, with the nuts tightened from the accessible side.

 

Opinion will vary about the best size; ignoring those that made their own, my opinion is that for the layout size quoted, 24" would seem rather high. It depends what scenery you are planning as you dont want anything such as buildings or trees taller than the backscene viewed level. This makes 15" seem favourite.

[brossard]

My layout is designed to be exhibited, and it has done so once recently.  That being the case, the backscenes have to be demountable quickly and easily.  I chose 1x2 uprights and used cabinet magnets to secure them.

 

 

It lives in the middle of the room as you can see.

 

Velcro would probably work equally well.

 

 

Just to illustrate the backscene in place.  I want to use some photographic backscene in future.

 

John

[DirkLinton]

I have a similar situation. I want to add backscenes but the tables will be against the wall so I need them demountable. I am thinking of fixing steel strips, for example door connectors, to the table frame and covering them with Velcro to hold up the backscene boards. I have considered using magnets but I am concerned they will interfere with DCC. I would appreciate any comments on either method, or any other advice. Thanks.

[brossard]

7 minutes ago, DirkLinton said:

I have a similar situation. I want to add backscenes but the tables will be against the wall so I need them demountable. I am thinking of fixing steel strips, for example door connectors, to the table frame and covering them with Velcro to hold up the backscene boards. I have considered using magnets but I am concerned they will interfere with DCC. I would appreciate any comments on either method, or any other advice. Thanks.

 

Perhaps something like Wile E Coyotes magnet will affect DCC, but not small cabinet door magnets.

 

 

John

Edited July 10, 2022 by brossard

[DirkLinton]

I was thinking more of small neodymium magnets, which are quite strong.

[Sweetling Park]

21 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Remember, the baseboard isn't just the cut piece of plywood, almost everyone reinforces the perimeter with stripwood or PSE. This edging provides a mounting for backscene boards on the basis that board is cut oversize relative to the printed material.

 

...

 

Glueing the backscene to the ply has pitfalls.

 

Sorry, I should have mentioned that the baseboard edges are reinforced with PSE timbers around the perimiter.  The underside of the board is also braced in the centre for additional support.

 

Thank you for the suggestion of using nuts and bolts to secure the supports to the baseboard frame.  I also appreciate the confirmation that 15" would be a good choice, as that is what I thought it should be but wanted to be sure.

 

With regards to fixing the backscene to the ply, I understand that some printed sheets are self adhesive and have to be carefully aligned before fixing them into the final place.  However, if there are pitfalls glueing the sheets directly to the ply, then could you advice what would be the best way to do it, please?

 

 

20 hours ago, brossard said:

My layout is designed to be exhibited, and it has done so once recently.  That being the case, the backscenes have to be demountable quickly and easily.  I chose 1x2 uprights and used cabinet magnets to secure them.

 

...

 

Velcro would probably work equally well.

 

13 hours ago, brossard said:

Perhaps something like Wile E Coyotes magnet will affect DCC, but not small cabinet door magnets.

 

Thank you for the suggestion of using cabinet magnets or velcro, as well as kindly providing a couple of photos to illustrate the setup.  I was also a bit concerned about using magnets near DCC components, but thank you for the reassurance that their use will be OK.  I will certainly look into the possibility of using either.

 

 

Thank you once again for the help so far.

[RobinofLoxley]

I have no experience with self adhesive backscenes, but whatever fixing is used, be very  careful that there is no dust on the wood surface and none gets in, as you will then have noticeable bubbles on the surface. The same bubbles are a risk if you are glueing a plain paper backscene to plywood. The first time I made a complete mess and I thought i was being very careful with glue coverage; the problem is that you are working with large paper area which will expand as soon as it starts to pick up water from the glue, and this is going to be erratic. Hence why I cut mine down into sections later on, on a different project. The expansion leads to ripples forming and I used a cloth to work them away to the edges of each piece. I advise practicing, by gluing plain paper of similar type to a spare piece of ply to understand and see what will/may happen.

 

What I actually did was primed the wood surface with PVA (wilko quality, not the best technical glue but OK for paper to wood), allowed it to dry, then applied a second coat and laid the backscene (precut) onto it. There is still some rippling but I then laid a tea towel over the paper surface with books to weight it down, over the entire area. Then left it for 24 hours. Any ripples disappeared as the paper dried out, and shrank back more or less to its original dimensions.

[F2Andy]

On 10/07/2022 at 21:50, DirkLinton said:

I have a similar situation. I want to add backscenes but the tables will be against the wall so I need them demountable. I am thinking of fixing steel strips, for example door connectors, to the table frame and covering them with Velcro to hold up the backscene boards. I have considered using magnets but I am concerned they will interfere with DCC. I would appreciate any comments on either method, or any other advice. Thanks.

 

I believe even very strong magnets should be fine.  It is a changing magnetic field that generates a current, and so would be a problem - a moving or spinning magnet, or an electromagnet with alternating current in it. These are what you see in transformers and generators.

 

[RobinofLoxley]

Magnets for uncoupling are installed right under track and they don't affect anything

[DirkLinton]

Thanks to all for advice on magnets. Much appreciated.

 

[DirkLinton]

Brossard, I have just watched the cartoon. Brilliant, thanks!

[Sweetling Park]

Thank you to all for your advice and suggestions.  I very much appreciate it.