Here Are Scenery Backdrop Examples With Tips
On How To Create Them On Your Model Railroad.

Let's start with a novel idea for a scenery backdrop I saw on
the CARM 2008 layout tour.

clouds painted on ceiling

Why add a backdrop?

• Frame the scene.
• Hide distractions such as pipes, columns and benchwork.
• Act as a divider to separate elements and layout sections.
• Provide a background for photography.
• Give depth perception from foreground to horizon.

When to create a scenery backdrop?

Artists advise you to erect or paint the backdrop before building the benchwork and laying the track. I'm not smart enough to do that. I can't visualize the scene well enough, so like most model railroaders, the scenery backdrop comes afterwards.

The main problem in installing the backdrop first is not getting paint and glue all over the backdrop when you build the foreground scenery later. The problem with installing the scenery backdrop after scenery is in place is being able to reach the area without destroying work you've already done.

If your layout is freestanding or is a module, you can sometimes put it together at your workbench and then install it.

Whichever way you decide to do it, keep in mind these points:

Horizon

You need to establish the point where the scenery meets the sky. This is your horizon and affects the vanishing point. This is easier said than done in practice because we are all a different height and the benchwork height varies.

For example, I am over 6 feet tall and my lower benchwork is at 38" and the upper is nominally at 48". Therefore I am looking down at scenes on the lower level and upper scenes are more at eye level. My rule of thumb is do whatever looks and feels right for you.

If you have others who come over to play with the trains they may or may not see the scene in the same way.

Shadows

Give consideration to the lighting you will use. Can you orient the lights to shine in the same direction? Which way should shadows fall in your backdrop? This is more important if you are using commercial background scenes like "Realistic Backgrounds" or if you are using cut-outs or photocopies from magazines. If you are painting your scenery backdrop you can plan ahead.

Perspective

This is another form of "selective compression". I have seen excellent results where a modeler has used an N scale or Z scale building or railroad car in the background of a scene. John Allen was one of the first to use this trick on his famous Gorre and Daphetid ("gory and defeated") model railway. He used it for a town high up in the background.

Street receding into backdrop

What to use for a scenery backdrop?

• Use commercial backgrounds as I have done here on my Utopia Northern RR.

A "Realistic Backgrounds" commercial background
forms the basis for this backdrop.

Photographing commercial backdrops can be tricky because the colors don't alway show well. Note that I have cut out the sky that comes with the commercial background and mounted the industry scene on black foamboard. This gives it a 3D relief effect. The backdrop is affixed with 3M Spray Mount. You can affix it as permanent or moveable for repositioning. I prefer the second method.

You can build the backdrop with tempered masonite, styrene or paint and affix directly to the drywall or wall. I usually use masonite cut from 8-foot sheets. If you know someone in the billboard advertising business you can try the styrene panels that are used on buses or transit shelters. Often these are thrown away after the campaign is finished. You can also buy sheets from a plastics dealer but this can be expensive.

Background trees painted directly
on cinder block basement walls.

Or you can paint directly on the wall. I've seen a lot of this done lately. I guess people have decided they aren't moving anymore! Gord Baverstock of Owen Sound has painted his backgrounds directly on the basement's cement walls. Have a look at his HO scale layout.

Background trees painted directly
on cinder block basement walls.

Gord also combines colored photocopies and pictures cut from train magazines, the National Geographic, and any other magazines that have interesting photos and glues them to the wall and to each other. The effect is quite stunning. Gord resizes pictures on a color photocopier to creative perspective making scenes appear much further away.

Station glued to wall

Resize photos to get the effect you want. You can "force the perspective". This works in any scale. The farther away, the smaller the picture. Thumb through old magazines. Keep the pictures that might work even if the size looks wrong at first. Keep an eye on the direction of the shadows. My camera didn't do justice to Gord's work due to the incandescent lighting.

Cutouts provide industrial destinations
without taking up space.

I remember from school the poet Wordsworth's comment about "the willing suspension of disbelief." Another way of saying this is, "We see what we want to see." Our brains fill in the blanks. You don't have to create a perfect representation.

It is possible to make the familiar unfamiliar. Most of us have seen these commercially available city backdrops. Gord has built up layers by gluing them on top of each other. You can also create a 3D effect by mounting some of them on cardboard, foam core, or styrene.

Gord's city backdrop is made with overlapping commercially available backdrops.

You'll notice in these photos that Gord doesn't have a lot of headroom in some of these layout locations. Commercial backdrops can sometimes be used "as is" if the size is right for you. For example, the Realistic Backgrounds sheets are 13" X 38".

If you have room, or a greater separation between deck levels, it is often preferable to cut out the sky because the colors are difficult to match and you'll have a seam line to disguise. Vertical seams between panels can be covered by chimney stacks or buildings (unless you have filled them with drywall compound or putty and sanded them smooth), but a horizontal seam can be more troublesome. If you're lucky enough to have a bridge or track running at the seam line you can get away with it. Otherwise, paint your own sky.

Painting sky and clouds

There are a few basic techniques to do this. Go outside and look at a cloudy sky. The clouds are further apart directly overhead and get closer and closer as they approach the horizon. Their bottoms are in shadow. The sky is bluer overhead and gets progressively hazier and grayer as it gets to the horizon.

How do you duplicate this effect? I can tell you what I've tried with pretty satisfactory results. Find a light blue that looks right to you under the lighting you are using. Then find a lighter gray. Bring home some paint chips from a paint store. Get your self a scrap of drywall or masonite. Use a 3" paint brush and apply the darker blue in horizontal strokes from the top to about halfway down the sheet. Then while still wet apply the grayish white paint in horizontal strokes from the bottom up into the blue paint. You want to blend the two colors where they meet.

It is best to work in approximately 3-foot sections so the paint doesn't dry on you.

Once dry, I used Mini Premier latex low lustre paint with built-in foam brush to create the clouds. These are small containers for testing paint color that decorators use. Another brand I've used are labeled Debbie Travis from Trileaf Distribution in Toronto, Canada. I found mine at Canadian Tire and Home Depot. Check the paint department where you shop. they'll have something similar.

Some people use jagged cutout cloud-shaped templates and spray paint the clouds while moving the template. This is an old photographic technique for dodging to avoid sharp edges. I prefer the foam brush technique for blending the colors. Don't forget to add a few birds flying with a little black paint.

Gord's city backdrop is made with overlapping commercially available backdrops.

My cloud painting using sponges.

These are my cloud-painting results using foam brushes, sponges and test paint containers.

Trees for background scenery

My first attempt at painting pine trees on a background

I have found in my travels on layout tours that often the best effect is created by restricting the detail in background painting. Unless you're a very good artist, it is safer to keep your backgrounds muted so they don't fight with the foreground models. As the scenes recede there is less and less detail and the air gets hazier and hazier. Some modelers overspray the backgrounds with a light gray wash of paint. With this in mind, try painting some trees. If you don't like the effect, paint over everything with a light gray paint and start again. You can't hurt anything. Just keep the strokes light. Pine trees are easiest to simulate. Here is my first attempt at painting background trees.

Here is an excellent example of fall foliage painted on a background photographed on the CARM 2008 layout tour.

Another very effective technique is to combine a painted background with low relief buildings. This works well on a narrow shelf where there isn't a lot of room.

Side view of 3D background buildings on a narrow shelf from CARM 2008 layout tour.

This layout also used narrow foreground buildings on the aisle side.

Here's a clever backdrop divider I photographed on Bill Scobie's layout during the Niagara Frontier Region (NFR) 2008 convention in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Painted backdrop divider

These two painted backdrops were on Dave Primeau's layout on that same layout tour.

Painted autumn foliage backdrop

Note the perspective here with the building on the hilltop in the distance.

Tom Hood's fantastic layout had some terrific painted backdrop scenes. Many of the ottawa modelers painted directly on the walls.

Painted mountains on backdrop

Other painted mountains on backdrop

Another painted mountain scene

For more ideas, browse other model pictures and scenery backdrop photos accessible from my Train Photos Overview page.

Learn about building terrain

Need to make some trees?

Methods for modeling roads and streets.

Catch attention with mini-scenes.

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