These are fantastic. Thank you.

Cheers,

Peter G

Joey, great post.

I added it to the Classroom Forum.

I just wish that the pictures were loaded directly to the forum server instead of linked to just in case the link ever breaks.

Should that happen this thread would become meaningless.

Joey - fantastic link!!

I used their great Rate Calculator, 36" x 72" is $72.00..

3 of those would do my whole Layout!!

It seems expensive, but the closest I got, was out of scale, generic images; 24 ft by 30 in - $124.00!!

This is a compelling idea, certainly better than my weak attempt at painting one myself! [:P]

Thanks Carmine and be sure to check out my recent post http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/t...TOPIC_ID=40760 where I included a link to an image folks can use for backdrop for free. I am working on a bunch of custom backdrops to eventually offer. After many conversations with modelers, I feel the same frustration that many others feel when it comes to backdrops.

If anyone is reading this and interested in backdrops, please take a few minutes to tell me what you like or don't like about backdrops you see online.

No vendor names, no "hard to navigate website" comments or cost complaints and such, I've heard all of that, so just the backdrop itself.

Would you be interested in a more "in the scene feel" as opposed to a distant view?

How about the ability to add a road anywhere you needed it at the correct perspective?

Lurking and learning.....

The "road anywhere" concept would be great.....

Thanks for sharing Joey.....

Joey, I'm thinking about photo backdrops as an alternative to painting - My first 8 feet of painted backdrop are OK, but I've really liked the look of some area-specific photo work, John Pryke's in particular. My layout is around-the-walls and no scenes are more than 30" deep. Coastal Massachusetts ranges from salt marsh to gentle hills, with a fair number of trees, so the horizon is fairly close, and "in scene" is the order of the day. But because I'm modeling specific locations, I'm probably going to have to take my own pictures and try to backdate them 50 years. And I'd better get moving, as "late summer" is just about to turn into "fall".

I saw really great whole room size backdrops out in Seattle for Convention, and they were spectacular, a photo back drop is better than a painted one, and blue sky is better than a poorly painted back drop. I think what unnerves most of us is sending off that image to the printer and not knowing what is gonna come back. Having Joey here help us along it really good.

Les

I'm definitely interested in "in the scene" backdrops!!

Thanks for the input folks and I'd like to hear more.

Gearing these questions for "O" scale here

1)How tall of a backdrop print from modeled portion of layout up? 18? 24? taller?

2)How are you mounting or how do you plant to mount the print? Wall? backboard? etc

James, you can always take photos of scenes (near your modeling area) and have someone like myself incorporate these elements into a custom made set or series of images. I do this all the time in my graphics work, ads and illustrations. Backdating would be the same idea where you can implant or remove elements. It's all part of the artwork that it is.

Les, I agree and when I switched labs for my fine art images that I sell, I had an issue with them re-sizing my prints. It's one thing to take a master image scene and reduce it to fit the format 8x10, 20x30 or such, but when it comes to backdrops - they really have to be scale specific at the foreground point where they meet the model. I have not seen anyone that offers such an easy way to incorporate the backdrop into the model and feel as if it were actually part of the scene so to speak, much less the ability to add an interactive road or stream at a specific spot in which the modeler may want it. This is what I am working on.

In no way am I knocking some of he backdrop panorama style offerings that are available, but I am talking about a more intimate, up close and interactive with the model theme.

Joey, thanks for your interest in helping us with backdrops.

For height, I'd say the taller the better.

I hate when I'm taking pictures of a layout and I get the top of the backdrop in the shot.

I'd be mounting it on a backboard.

Rick,

Tall is good, there are 2 camps, one is the modeler cuts the sky out down to the landforms and uses his own blue sky, the other is the modeler wants landforms, trees sky and clouds. I have seen both ways and they can be really good, but not for those who don't use an exacto knife well to cut out.

My requirement would be for edge blends, tall scenes, I want both Pacific Northwest trees, but I am interested in some southwest desert sort of views too. Would rather not have buildings or roads. I would use a photo mount spray to mount the image, I have experience in that so its what I would do.

I intend to take the image that Joey has nicely shared with us to make a photo dio.

Les