Easy, instant, cheap background

Great idea. BTW,  could you tell how you made the back drop buildings?
Thanks

Josef,

What I can see appears to be nice, how 'bout some shots of more background

and appearance of the clouds?  Sounds great for an alternative to the commercial

backdrops....... lightweight and portable, reusable with little difficulty.

Flash does wash it out, here's with room lighting. May show a little better up. Sorry.

Neat idea!  What brand and size foam did you buy...how thick?  Was it white and you just left areas unpainted for the clouds?

Where did you buy it?

The foam I see at the big boxes (pink or blue) is all printed with DOW or other brand name and technical specs of the product.  Thanks

These are the 1/8"X20"x30" white foam boards. I seen and bought them at Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, etc. White. I laid them on driveway and just sprayed them, leaving areas white for cloud effects. Then did some touch up to make clouds larger or smaller. The Harbor Blue color comes out great. I do this about 16 to 24 inches away.  As to the Flats. Most I got off E-Bay real cheap and free shipping. They look good to me. I also use these foam pieces for foundations and sidewalks, cut to size. For sidewalks, I spray with camo tan, then grey primer lightly.

Back when I was in HO, I used Masonite backdrops and painted them similar to Josef.   I chose Masonite simply because it came in long enough pieces that I did not have seams in it.  I had the lumber yard (no big box stores in the Oklahoma flat lands back in those days) cut the Masonite in 24 inch by 96 inch pieces and simply positioned the seams in the corners of the small spare bedroom.  Using either foam core board or Masonite or even the smooth back side of sheet floor covering (linoleum or vinyl, that can be cut with a sharp box knife and straight edge.) and painting with spray or even a brush is a simple process and even a klutz like me can do it.  And just look at the great results Josef got!  (Quite obvious that he is NOT a klutz like me,)  VERY nicely done.  I loved the way the layering of the building flats was executed.

Josef,  thanks for the shots of the backdrops and clouds.  Really look great, and IMO

better than many commercial products.

Tony,  yes, you have some very good input and ideas as the result of time into the hobby, no matter what scale.  And, along with the winds, we have the heat coming in this week end, time to dry out a little from all the rain of May and June.  Working on my O gauge layout when I can get a break from cleaning up after the storms in May.  Yep, red dirt and winds blow all the time....... near OKC

Thanks for the kind words.  I hope your experience with the May weather was not one that made the 10 o'clock news.  We seem to have gotten a lot less than the OKC metro and the folks south and southwest of OKC.

 

And fellow OGR Forum member laming lives in a neighborhood in Poteau OK that was hit by a tornado.  Fortunately, he only had some tree limb issues, but some in his neighborhood got hit pretty hard.  (I miss Gary England..."stay with TV9, we'll keep you advised.")

Very clever.  Looks real nice and it’s simple as well.  It meets its objective.  This is one of the reasons that I joined the OGR Forums.  Lottsa clever people with good ideas for me to use.

 

Chief Bob (Retired)

Great idea. Thanks for sharing.

Turned out great!   Thanks for sharing the idea.

Nice idea, came out very well.

Josef,

If you do anymore in the future or if you do a sample. You could write detailed as-you-go instructions. Take plenty of quality photos showing before and after. Maybe just maybe the folks at OGR or the other might like it enough to "make you famous".

Thanks all. But all I can say is try it, it's simple. Plus you get 2 sides to the foam boards, but doubt you will mess it up. It looks really good and improves the look of the layout.

Josef, the sky is very realistic. Clouds are sometimes not pronounced at all  and they take on a hazy look. Thanks for the neat idea.
Ray.

 

Did you use anything to screen the blue pain as you were sprayhing, to achieve the varying intensity?  or did you just sort of wave the can around, in and out, etc.?

I just sprayed across, bottom 1/3 very slightly waving. Went to center and went across in a "U" and "W" pattern, then went avross the top. Stepped back, looked, and then more defined the clouds. Breaking them into smaller, aome thicker all while spraying sometimes an oval "O".
All I can say is try it on a white sheet, be really amazed by the results, and the foam boards seem to take it better with no drips, or heavy areas. I stayed 16" away, sometimes even coming closer.

What a great idea and by the way, I've been looking at those building flats online wondering whether or not to buy them. From what I can see in your photos they're worth it. Thanks

 

Mike

Whole process takes about 20 seconds. After drying, any changes can be made if not satisfied. Which I did here.

As I've said  also, these boards make great foundations with sidewalks. Even under the Woodland buildings, kits or pre-built.

We painted the walls,  easy enough to cover over if needed.   Sky blue and modified from there.  One wall is a nice rural country scene.  The others after the blue and clouds we added false front buildings.

 

Cost of paint was the only $$ involved.   Really makes a difference in my opinion to the appearance of activity.  Depth of field,  etc............

(Please Note...I'm not trying to high jack this topic......just add to the subject)...

 

There is an "old school method"...a quick, easy and inexpensive alternative..."seamless paper"...like the teachers covered bulletin boards with back in the last century...it's still available...try craft and school supply stores...

 

Another option is rolled "gift wrap paper"...try the dollar store...

 

Also...My local staples had preprinted "sky and cloud poster board" the last time I looked...

 

Howard...