Backdrops

[James Schultz]

I have a couple of books by Dover Publications that have various card stock city buildings and I was wondering if anyone has tried to use these or something similar to put on a backdrop. I'm afraid that if I use them on a backdrop it will look too flat and I want it to look more 3-d. I'm sure there are many out there who are knowledgeable in this and hopefully can help me out.

Thanks
Jim

 

[60103]

James:
Try a couple and see. Most of us probably have a flat backdrop with some low relief buildings in front of it. "Low relief" means a building modelled very shallow, usually nor more than an inch thick, sometimes a qaurter inch, sometimes all the way to the roof ridge.
Your Dover books would be a convenient way to experiment. Start with the flats and then make a few thicker ones.
Flats are a good way to stretch your dollar -- you can often get all 4 sides visible.

 

[doctorwayne]

Usually, if the backdrop is effective, the viewer doesn't really notice it. All you really need is something that doesn't visually stand out from the stuff in the foreground that you really do want the viewer to notice. And of course, the trains are usually the centre of attention. Your cardstock flats should work well if you use them as suggested by 60103.

Wayne

 

[MasonJar]

Here's a picture of a module from our club (www.hotrak.ca) that uses those card buildings as backdrop. They are about 1/2" deep, as suggested by David.

http://www.hotrak.ca/modules/trolley/trolley.htm

Andrew

 

[petey]

Jim,
Seems to me, that if you glue the walls to foam core board, you might get something you like. Also, this would allow for insetting the doors and windows as much as a quarter of an inch, if you went through the entire thickness of the foam board. This method requires cutting the outline through the board and before gluing the printed card stock, painting the foam edge. Trees could be used next to some buildings to hide the shallow edge. What do you think?

 

[Ralph]

Hi,
Here's an example of a backdrop building I made from a paper cut out book. The building was designed to be three dimmensional but I opened it up to make a longer structur along the backdrop. I mounted the paper building on some foam board to give it some depth.

http://www.the-gauge.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10586&stc=1

Ralph

 

[Russ Bellinis]

Low relief buildings look much better when viewed straight on. If you view them from above or from one side. As was mentioned above, trees can be used to hide the depth from the side. Another possibility if the building flat is going into a corner where there would be more room, is to put a full sized building in the corner next to the flat. Perhaps have a "pie" shaped building that starts out the same depth as the flat and then deepens as it progresses into the corner.