| The purpose of this clinic
is to assist fellow modeller’s to create background scenes for their layout.I
will endeavour to show how scenery detail can be improved by the use of
personal or borrowed photographs, calendars and printed photographs from
books and magazines.
When I started to look at background scenery for my layout I first went to hobby shops and bought Walthers Instant Horizons background scenes. These were fine if you want your background to look the same as other modellers who purchased the same scenes. Not having the talent to paint my own background scenes I looked at other alternatives. At an NMRA convention in 1997 one of the clinic presenters used black and white photocopies to trace the scene straight onto the backboard. I tried this and was unable to see any of my attempts looking like it should. BUT noticed the scene that I was attempting to copy had a lot of depth of field to it that I was unable to create. It was at this stage that I decided that colour photocopies was the way to go. Colour copying the scene on to A3 sheets gave me 600mm of background scene for $6-7 a sheet that is a reasonable cost for a prototypical background scene. So I did some research into the prototypical areas that I am attempting to create on my layout, I am not creating a layout of a specific area but I am using prototype material to give the right effect, and found some startling facts. The similarity between certain areas of America and the rest of the world is startling. An article in a book on the Union Pacific Railroad in Montana has a photograph of a large rock formation. Similar formations can be found in Gorges Du Verde Province in France and near Lake St Clair in Tasmania. Well enough of the preamble, to the main reason
of this article.
After the photographs or other subject source has been decided we need to have them colour copied. Firstly find a company who can spend the time to help you to determine the correct amount of enlargement you will need. A good time to approach them is 8.00am as they haven’t started into the hectic work routine and are more likely to give you that bit of extra attention you will need. The company I use are Click Printing Shop 2/34 Campbell Street Blacktown Ph. 9831 1727. If you tell them the height of the building or mountain etc. that is required they have a calculation, which gives the best result on their machines. Photocopies printed by them has not faded in the 5 years they have been on my layout. This is due to the ink being oil based and soaks into the paper. I have been told it is virtually fade resistant. The following is a list of material required:
2 A spray can of photo fixative adhesive, I have used several brands of adhesive, one from Crazy Prices for $5 if to much adhesive is sprayed on it soaks through the paper sheet and attacks the foam leaving hollows in the finished Scene.The other adhesive is 3M Super 77 spray adhesive purchased from the Graphic suppliers for $20. This product is designed for this application. Of the two I prefer the $5 adhesive as with practice the correct amount of adhesive can be applied. The 3M product remains tacky and aerated on the surface of the unused section of the foam board making it unusable. 3 A long metal rule or straight edge. Crazy Prices sell a 600mm rule for approx. $5 4 A stanley knife for cutting straight cuts and a sharp pointed hobby knife 5 A soft lint free cloth or a soft rubber roller 75-100mm wide 6 A cutting board, flat surface large enough to cut and glue the foamboard and photocopies on. 7 Water-based paints for the blending of the edges of the foam board into the scene. 8 And most important the selected photocopies.
Applying the photocopies to the foam board 1 Firstly place the cutting board at a comfortable height. I found the best height to be where you can stand and lean over the top of the board. 2 Lay out the photocopy sheets on the board and trim any unneeded paper from the ends of the sheet. If the scene required more than one sheet of photocopy, overlay one sheet on the other to the correct scene alignment. Place sticky tape over the joint, not over the required scene. With a sharp blade and using the steel straight edge cut through the bottom sheet, the cut to be in line with the edge of the top sheet, ensuring that the first cut is the only one required. 3 Recheck alignment of the cut scene and re- sticky tape. Then with the straight edge and sharp blade cut the bottom of the two or more sheets. This is where the 600mm rule is used to best advantage. Remove sheets from the cutting board and place on a surface, which keeps them flat. !!! When using spray adhesive follow the safety instructions on the can !!! 4 Cut the foamboard sheet to a size that the that the jointed photocopies will fit on. Using the spray adhesive give the foamboard an even coat of adhesive. Spray the back of the photocopy with adhesive. Carefully lay the paper on to the foamboard starting at the bottom of the sheet and carefully flatten the sheet out preventing any bubbles or creases. This is the most critical stage of the process as any bubbles or creases will ruin the scene. Carefully with the lint free cloth or rubber roller rub the sheet to remove any trapped air bubbles. It is possible to use a pin to pierce the paper to allow air to escape. Repeat process with the second sheet except this time the alignment is the more critical. Repeat previous steps. 5 Allow to dry overnight keeping the foamboard flat. 6 Lay the foamboard flat on the cutting board. When the scene is of a building using the straight edge a preferably a stanley knife cut through the photocopy and foamboard along any straight lines on the scene e.g. the roofline of the building. Using a sharp pointed hobby knife trim around any minor detail on the scene e.g. tanks, pipework and chimneys. 7 Colour the exposed edges of the foamboard with water based colours similar in tone to the adjoining scene. To give more depth more depth to the scene detail such as pipework, chimneys etc. can be substituted with scale plastic pipework, chimneys etc. Remember not to use any replacement detail any larger or smaller than the original size on the photocopy. 8 Where the scene is of a mountain range the hobby
knife is used to allow the cut to follow the contours of the mountain peaks
and ridges. Paint the edges of the foamboard with the paints. Small clumps
of suitably coloured ground foam can be glued to the edges of the scene
to give further depth of field. If the scene is of a closer range of hills
showing individual trees trim the unwanted sky or detail leaving the treetops
and trunks visible. The trees can also have ground foam glued to the surface
of the scene to improve the appearance. the use of foreground fences
or trees will assist in gaining the effect of depth.
Some traps I have found to look out for. The spray adhesive if too much is used will soak through the paper covering on the foamboard and attack the styrafoam. I have had the joins on the large mountain scene shrink at the vertical joins I am not sure of the reason as the same adhesive was also used for the building scene. I recently found an article in the Model Railroader
(American magazine) November 2000 edition called “Making photographic backdrops
“ by John Pryke this article is more suited to the computer literate (not
me) as it describes cutting, enhancing, redrawing and pasting using a P.C.
If you have the opportunity to acquire a copy of the article it is excellent
and worth tracking down a copy.
Yours in modelling,
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