ScaleScenes

Dear Mike,

It's not _free_ but the excellent content from https://scalescenes.com/ is a cost-effective "buy once, print as many times as you need"  situation. Check their "builders Yard" and "textures/surfaces" sections for concrete wall fodder and similar.

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Sources of free model railway buildings

Hi Mike

Google for "free model railway card buildings".

Regards.

Check this link for a bunch

Check this link for a bunch of free buildings you can download

https://www2.illinois.gov/dnrhistoric/Preserve/Pages/construct_mainstreet.aspx

Have some on my site

Hi there Mike,

Have a number on my web site   https://sites.google.com/view/stagnesrailway20  and subsequent pages... there will be more but I am actually busy writing an article for a new Australian freebie magazine with buildings. Check out  http://www.railmodelleraustralia.com/index.html as well as  http://www.nscale.org.au/nsm which has a few ideas you can use.

Also  http://www.wordsworthmodelrailway.co.uk/ for a range of buildings, brick papers and landscapes

Also have you tried taking screen dumps from either Google Earth or Trainz?  Trainz would allow you to construct your own mountain range!

Cheers from Australia

Trevor

LARC

Try Larc Products

http://www.larcproducts.com/

http://www.larcproducts.com/railroadgraphicscd.html

I have their entire set of CD's and you print out what you need on a color laser and stitch them together. It's very cost effective, I tried to find "free" stuff on the internet and for the amount of time you'll spend this is going to save you a TON of time and headaches.

To make the backdrop/false front buildings "3D"

If you have a series of building fronts, you can trace around them onto foam core sheet, cut out the outline, paint the edges of the fronts black or gray/grey, then mount the image on the foam core before attaching the foamcore to your backdrop. 

You could also do a similar mount to the buildings for any pics of hills and mountains you have before adhering it to your sky backdrop

Hope this helps

Regards from Australia

Trevor

All copies

I used this background for my port Allen in N scale

I made numerous copy of existing Walthers instant horizon and some other I have on hand.

With the copy I can use again and again the original and make my own designed backdrop  building; some were repainted and some advertissement were glued to change the name of some industry.

I cut them and glued them on a hardboard with an already painted sky and clouds.

When the background was finished, I spray the whole thing with a flat artist fixator to dull everything and mix all the building together.

The fore ground 3D building are all scratchbuild using leftover pieces of kit I have build rearanged to make some 3D good looking flat.

Looks great

That looks great and i have acquired some of those Walthers backgrounds and will look at doing something similar to what 

WOW, Marc

You did a marvelous job. I want something like this for my Baltimore City backdrop,..in this corner

I will have to get back to you when I get to that stage.

BTW, did you ever provide individual window lighting in any of those background business buildings?

Clever Models

http://clevermodels.squarespace.com/

I have used Clever Models.  These are cardstock models that download in O scale but come with instructions for resizing to other popular scales.  The instructions will also show how to layer to get a 3D effect with cornices and windows.  While most are full buildings, there are some backdrop designs.  A couple of these are modular allowing for some easy custom work.  

  This is S103 The Philly Modular Flat, still awaiting the layering process.  Mounted on black core Gator Board.

Kits S116, S50, S49, S43 and S19 are good candidates for flats/low relief structures.  Of course, many of the others are suitable for unfolding or customizing into flats.

I have also had success unfolding DPM and Walthers kits to create flats.

Bob

Walther's Instant Background Buildings

 So, because I am using these buildings in a condensed format they do not really blend in well with existing structures. I applied some Vallejo Black Shade Wash to an extra piece and it does tone it down some. I would love to get some additional input on what could be used on them as mounted to get away from the surreal comic book look.