BACKDROP MATERIAL IDEAS

It is quite possible to hang a continuous strip of heavy-duty paper like a curtain. Buy a roll of white "butcher paper" and paint away. Staple the top to furring strips and attach to the ceiling. You can also staple furring strips to the bottom to prevent curl. I did this with a 30' long panoramic image that I printed on a large-format printer.  Cheap, works great, and is non-destructive.

If you live near a Hobby Lobby, they have "cloud" paper roll. 12ft x 4ft for $8.00.

https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art...aper-Roll/p/80890672

Charlie

I did backdrops using Photoshop by montaging photographs that loosely represented Arizona for a set of modules I used to operate on.  I printed them in color on a large format printer, cut them out and glued them to masonite board painted sky blue.  I like the effect.  It certainly adds an element of depth to a short 2' deep module!

@cpowell posted:

If you live near a Hobby Lobby, they have "cloud" paper roll. 12ft x 4ft for $8.00.

https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art...aper-Roll/p/80890672

Charlie

And it comes in several different patterns.

I bought a roll of Fadeless Designs “ Wispy Clouds “ in a 4ft x 50 ft roll. It may be manufactured by Pacon Corporation, Appleton, WI

I think I bought it from Hobby Lobby, but maybe had to get the 50 foot length from Amazon.

No splices needed. I hung it from 1x 2 boards along the top edge.

I typically get panoramic photos that are copyright free and royalty free off the internet and then have them printed in large format.  There are many places that do this online and I believe Target and Walmart do it too.  It's fairly inexpensive.

I try to find shots that go well with my scene and can transition with little effort or can be hidden easy.  I also cut away any sky and clouds.  I painted my wall sky blue and painted my own clouds with spray paint and templates that I cut with scissors.  There are threads on OGR on how to do that.

This is actually two photos with a tree strategically placed to hide the seam.  The lichen bushes also hide where the layout touches the wall.

This one was simple.  The photo is an Iowa cornfield.   But I'm trying to pull it off as Lancaster County in PA.

There should be a tractor here harvesting this crop.  I had to take this scene apart and am still putting back together.

This is actually a photo over a photo and will be the next scene I work on... a campground.  When I cut out the sky, I use a black sharpie to hide the white edge of the paper.  It also helps provide some separation and the illusion of depth.

These next shots are the same scenes, but show the seam hiding techniques or view breaks.

As you can see from Ron045's pictures the panoramic photos printed in large format provide beautiful backdrops for rural scenes.  It can also be done for urban areas but if your planning to use building flats along the wall those Clouds and Sky rolls from HobbyLobby work well for a sky backdrop behind structures or flats.

There is another material, in addition to butcher paper.    It is sold in Wallpaper shops and probably other home improvement places.     It is a slightly off white heavy paper that is used to fix up old drywall or wallpaper damaged walls.   It comes in rolls like wallpaper.    When we did it on my Friend's layout, he cut it in 20-25 foot lengths, and then cut one side in a rolling shape like hilltops.    Then another friend painted it for PA hills and mountains.   He also glued pictures of houses and other buildings on it and worked them into the painted pictures.    then as with the butcher paper, we stapled it to the walls, and touched up the staples to mostly hide them.

Great pain job on that wallpaper.  You can see where it was cut to make the hills.  Gives it the illusion of depth.