Nice Work!

Very nice work on the backdrop, and I have to agree, the color is just about perfect! I used "sky blue" on mine but it looks a little too dark.

-George

at the window

Thanks, George.  My wife gets the credit for the color.

The window was a problem.  My LATW (Lovely and Talented Wife) and I have been trying to figure a way to have a backdrop at the window, while maintaining it for functional ventilation and as an emergency escape route when the room is used as a sleeping room.  We thought about portable drop-in panels, or a roman shade, but...

The ah-haa came last night:  We'll just paint the vertical blinds the same color as the backdrop.  Sure, we'll still see them as blinds, but as something in the background, we think that it will be acceptable.  After we get it finished, I will post a photo.

How about a 'plug' for the

How about a 'plug' for the window made out of Gator Foam painted your backdrop color.  Easy to put up when operating and tear out for emergencies.  As for ventilation, my basement layout stays pertty much 70 degrees plus or minus 3 degrees year around to keep the track from expanding and in a wet climate, I don't want the moisture and in a dry one I want to keep what I have.

My bet, the blinds will not look right. I base that on just how fine your craftsmanship is on that spline roadbed and the highly over engineered (superbly I might add) coved corner. You be a bit of a perfectionist from what I see.  

Joe

That's an Idea

Joe,

Great idea.  I've got some 1/2" foam-core in the garage that just might be the right size.  And it'll take care of the problem of a "sky" with vertical discontinuities in its continuum (Hey, what can I say:  I've also been a Startrek fantrekker)

Thanks for the comments.

Portable scenery idea

Well, I see it's been two years since I touched this corner.  Once the track was laid and tested, I went on to other projects in the train room.

But, I am now back onto scenery, so I would like to pose a question.  I have this corner (second photo, behind the spline S-curve) that is a 36" reach, so I constructed a plywood base with cardboard back that just sets in, between the back track and the curved painted back drop.  My plan is to cut the cardboard to my hill contour, then take the whole thing out into the garage and construct the hill side and rock cut.   Other than being heavy with the weight of plaster the one or two (or 3 or 4) times I would lift it into place, this seems to be better than draping myself over the foreground benchwork to try to do a decent job.

Has any one tried this, and what are the +'s and -'s??

Don, I've got an entire

Don,

I've got an entire side at the back of my layout that I constructed/landscaped just as you have described.  You can easily work on that back corner and get it the way you want.  Once you feel you are there, you drop it back onto the layout and use the track ballast for the back curve to blend the corner into the overall layout.

I used thin styro as a base - you can see the corner here (back right of the photo):

and here is a clearer photo of the area blended in a year later:

I think it's a smart way to build - good luck on the landscaping...

-bill

Good ideas

Thanks, Bill, for the confirmation that I'm on the right track.  And I like your seam that is cut at an angle.  It will be much easier to hide.

I also didn't think to use styrofoam.  I used the ¼" plywood because, in my scrounging in the garage, that's what I found.  I do have styrofoam (foamcore), I just have to remember where I stored it.  It would have been in a secure location where it wouldn't have gotten bent or broken.

Thanks again.

That's how we did it

This scene from the WRMRC Sudbury Division was difficult to scenic as well, so we used a similar idea.  The entire scene is recessed between backdrops on either side, and the rear backdrop is a 3 foot reach back.  The scenery on both sides of the track was built on pieces of styrofoam and designed to drop into place after they were completed elsewhere.  All we had to do was finish ballasting the track to fill the gap between the track and the scenic sections.