Help with painting backdrops

[puddingwrestler]

Greetings my fellow whiffers!
That dreaded and mighty man, Sir Hoodling D'Hool, lord commander of Hampton Games Club has mentioned an idea to me which I am pursuing. He thinks it would be beneficial to us to have a backdrop of some kind for next time we photograph on of our mighty battle reports.
Not being that kind of painter, I am looking for some help and advice. I'd like to have a go at a painted backdrop, but the annoying thing is that most of the model railway backdrop painting sites I have found have LOADS of text and NO pictures. Which seems REALLY useless when you are talking about something visual...

Bear in mind, the table is 6 foot by 4 foot at least, so we need a big backdrop.

[RussC]

I live for backdrops....Actually I tolerate them- would much prefer design and build of models both real and virtual, and characters in both mediums too.

I'm presuming then with a 6x4 table you want either 10', which will do two sides or maybe 14' or 16' to get three sides. In those, you get a bit of funnel effect and a narrower field of view. The height is my next question, 1' high? 2' ? 3' ?

 There are preprinted simple backdrops for railroad/railway builders, most are blue sky and either a flat rural vista or mountains or a distant cityscape as choices. Most of these are about 1' high.

 Making your own will give you more leeway into the design and subject. If you are having to outfit with art supplies, it may not offer much cost savings over pre-printed. If you have someone with the studio set-up and experience though, a lot more becomes possible.

 You need to start with a concept sketch and this can be done on paper. I can also do these on photoshop or other painting utility and make them available here for you to print out and provide to your final artisan, who may offer more ideas and changes. Actually, the more minds in on it, the better - to a point.

 Tell me broadly the look you are seeking. What is it for.

 Some good media on which to place the final art would be foamboard, not that display board junk at the craft stores that has paper faces and soft foam in it, but something like gatorfoam/gatorboard that has hard styrene cell foam in between faces of thicker clay coated paper which actually is like thin masonite panel. It can be cut with a box cutter with some scribings to make a cut-through. It is available in a black finish or craft brown or white.

http://www.foamboardsource.com/gatorfoams.html?gclid=CK2zptnxp7ACFSoZQgodDUn0ZQ

http://www.graphicdisplayusa.com/gatorfoam/substrate/

http://gatorfoam.net/

http://miniatures.about.com/od/miniaturebasics/f/gatorfaq.htm

Some of these places will send you samples so you can feel and test it. A nearer distributor would be better.

Ok, tell me what you're thinking about.

[pyro-manic]

Also prod Matrixone for some info - he did his own backdrops for his superb photos of his models, as seen on this very forum.

[RussC]

Also prod Matrixone for some info - he did his own backdrops for his superb photos of his models, as seen on this very forum.

Absolutely! And he does foregrounds too, like hangars and treelines.

[matrixone]

I just spotted this thread, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Glad to see have an interest in painting your own backdrop!
So far I have painted three different backdrops and there are some in-progress pics of the last one I painted in the in-progress and completed models forum, you might have to go back a few pages because I posted that thread close to a year ago.

Matrixone

[puddingwrestler]

Well, for the full battle report backdrop, we're talking atleast a foot high, maybe more...
I got a book out of the library on landscape painting, and it's given me some basic techniques.
I will interogate my mother (profesional abstract artist) and have a shot at a small background first, which I plan to use to photograph my terrain and models against.

[martinbayer]

Puddingwrestler,

here are a few links that may help:

http://www.sierrascalemodels.com/Art_Paint.htm

http://www.building-your-model-railroad.com/backdrop.html

http://modeltrains.about.com/od/Scenery/a/General-Tips-For-Painting-Backdrops-For-Model-Railroads.htm

http://www.housatonicrr.com/BackdropPaint.htm

http://foxvalleydivision.org/images/miniclinics/backdropclinic.pdf

http://www.trainweb.org/BackdropFigures/making_backdrop.pdf

Martin

[puddingwrestler]

It has begun. I'm quite pleased with my sky and clouds, the wooded hills in the foreground are not as good, but they're not done yet.
Just small backdrop to go in my photo booth for the moment, about 40cm by 30cm, although I think I'll be cutting some off the bottom since the trees don't need to go all the way down, and I want some sky visible from ground level.

[RussC]

Photo and post when done! 

[matrixone]

Pictures, we want pictures!

Matrixone

[puddingwrestler]

You CAN haz piktures!

Here's the backdrop before I trimmed the bottom a bit.


And here are some test shots using 15mm medieval terrain and GruntZ vehicles... because those were near to hand.

[RussC]

And there we are! Looks good and probably the first of a few backdrop types if the pattern holds.   

[NARSES2]

Looks good with the houses and vehicles 

[puddingwrestler]

I'm thinking of making a very shallow scrubby hill to hide the join at the horizon line.

[matrixone]

Great job on the backdrop!
Too bad more people don't try and paint backdrops to use when taking pictures of their finished what-if models, its so much better looking than seeing workbenches in the background or a pic of a model in a light tent.

One thing that helps when using a backdrop in pictures of built models, place them at least two feet away from the model or you will get a 'flat' looking scene without much depth, thats why I prefer to make my backdrops in such a large size so I can place them further away from the model(s) and the backdrop can remain in the frame.

Matrixone