The Empire

[Zephyrus52246]

Thanks, Tommy.  I think on the old forum 3 or 4 of us built this structure at the same time as a group build.  It was just under a three month build for me, which is record time. 

Jeff

[GPdemayo]

I remember the build, it looks great on the layout Jeff.....

[Zephyrus52246]

Well, it's been over a year and a half from the last update.  Not much has been done.  Still working on the same section.  

Looking over the layouts at the Narrow Gauge convention, I noticed that the backdrops (or lack thereof), make a HUGE difference.  My sky blue backdrop with the "stencil clouds" looks OK, but there's still something missing.

The trees do a fair job of blocking the "sky", but there's no depth. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

My "Town of Ill Repute" which I've been working on forever, the area to the right looks even worse.  I could but a fence here and a few trees, but it still wouldn't look that good. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

I've seen the Trackside Scenery backdrops on layouts and I think they look pretty good.  I ordered one to see it "up close" and it makes a world of difference in the scene.  

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Obviously, this leads to another issue.  What to do about the sky.  I could cut off the sky at the tree line.  This would look odd, I believe.  There was a layout at the convention where the owner had done this, and his wife then went back and painted all the tree tops and a bit of background clouds. In the second picture you can see the line where the backdrop ends, but from the aisle it wasn't noticeable and looked really great in person.  I don't have this kind of skill.  In fact, I'm sure all my past art teachers would say I have no art skill at all.  

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Another good thing about the Trackside Scenery backdrops is that they go up to 30 inches high.  My total backdrop is about 36 to 38 inches high.  I thought about painting the top a matching blue color, but then figured out, I could paint it black like the upper fascia.  

The town area would need either a cut piece of clouds on top to match, or perhaps, as they have a "blue sky" series, just some blue paint to match.  

There are bluffs along the Mississippi river at the area I'm modeling (SW Wisconsin), so originally my scenery would go to about eye level in most areas, but it's the other areas where I really need the backdrops.  

I've sent some questions to the Trackside Scenery site and probably will order a taller one or two to try out.  In the meantime, I'll find a building to build.  Or maybe finish one that isn't done.  

Jeff

[deemery]

You should be able to match the top of the backdrop at a paint store if you want to continue the blue sky.  I'm sure there's math/physics to prove this, but it's my understanding that the color of the sky above a given angle from the horizon doesn't change much.

dave

[Rick]

Nice seeing your layout.
The backdrop does help.
I think the taller ones would work well.
I'd wait and see what it looks like after you get the backdrops before making a decision on which way to go.

[PRR Modeler]

Jeff if you want some actual textured bluffs check out Rubber Rocks. I have a bunch of their products on my layout.

[cuse]

Looks good Dr Jeff....nice job on the coved corners. Photo backdrops are a revelation, imo. I'm going to order another one today for my HOn3 shadow box layout. I was able to salvage much of the ones I used on my short-lived previous layout, but I'm one short...I used Train Junkies. They have a great selection and my interaction with the boss was great-he would shoot me proofs and customize as needed... Shockingly inexpensive too.

I've certainly heard lots of great things about Trackside Scenery too...I believe ACL Tom used them for his extensive layout. 

[Zephyrus52246]

Dave, I might try the blue first to see how it looks.  I suspect the black top will work better. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Hi, Rick.  The pics show the only two areas of  the layout with any scenery.  I need to get the backdrop question resolved before moving on to the rest of the layout.

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Thanks for looking in, Curt.  I have several molds I used with the foam stuff to make the rocks.  I plan to match these on the other side of the hill.  

This is the next area to be done.  The bridge goes over a creek.  the existing hill will be replicated and then sloped down to the creek.  It rises again, though only enough to hide the staging tracks (where the doodlebug is).  I have a piece of green foam which doesn't even need to be that high.  This will be mostly hill with some rock castings.  

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

I think you're correct, John, that Tom used the Trackside Scenery ones.  I like that they match end to end as I have about 60 feet to cover along this section of the layout.  The trees/hills match the area of SW Wisconsin fairly well.  

I heard back from the Trackside Scenery owner and will probably order one to get the town area done and match paint, etc. and see if I can hang them myself.  If that works, we'll cover the rest  of the wall. 

Jeff