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  • Home
  • Planning
    • Planning/Options
    • Mounting Backdrops
    • Samples
  • Backdrops
    • Gallery
    • Most Popular Backdrops
    • Z S G Scales
    • Holidays >
      • Halloween
      • Halloween II
      • Arctic
      • Christmas North Pole Village
      • Christmas North Pole
      • Fresh Snow
      • Sierra Winter
      • Winterscape with Moon
    • Mountains >
      • Above the Clouds
      • Adirondacks
      • Alabama Hills
      • Alaska Range
      • Alaska Range II
      • Dolomite Mountains
      • Donner Lake
      • Donner Pass
      • Donner Pass No Snow Sheds
      • Early Valley Winter
      • Eiger Mountains
      • Fall Mountains
      • Fall Mountain Snow
      • Feather River Mountain
      • First Snow
      • Flagstaff
      • High Sierra
      • High Sierra 2
      • High Sierra 3
      • High Sierra 4
      • Jurassic Park
      • Lake Tahoe
      • Lake Tahoe Winter
      • Matterhorn
      • Mount Shasta
      • Mount Shasta 2
      • Mountain Spring Snow w trees
      • Mountain Spring Snow no Trees
      • Rocky Knoll
      • Rocky Mountain Fall
      • Rocky Mountain with Clouds
      • Rocky Mountain with Blue Sky
      • Sierra Mountain Divide
      • Sierra Range
      • Spring Pasture
      • Vermont Fall
      • White Pine Lake
      • Winter Pines
      • Winter Storm Approaching
      • Yosemite
    • City-Industrial >
      • Alaska Mine
      • Big City Skyline
      • Big City 3
      • Big City 4
      • Big City 5
      • Big City Dallas 1950s
      • Big City Midwest
      • Big City Sydney
      • Big City 9 Kansas City
      • Big City 11 Detroit
      • Big City 13 Seattle
      • Coal Power Plant
      • Concrete Factory
      • Derelict Industrial
      • Fall City
      • Feather River Main Street
      • Intermodal Terminal
      • King Street Station
      • Lumber Mill
      • Main Street America 1
      • Main Street America 2
      • Main Street & Big City
      • Main Street From Behind
      • Mountain City
      • New York City
      • New York City Fall
      • New York on the Hudson
      • Oil Refinery
      • Processing Plant
      • Refinery
      • Residential Hill
      • San Pedro Seaport
      • Saw Mill
      • Seaport
      • Seaport with Ship
      • Silos
      • Steel Mill
      • Suburban Hill
      • Transition Era City
      • Truck Stop
      • Union Pacific Yards
    • Sky-Clouds >
      • California Sunset
      • Just Clouds 1
      • Just Clouds 2
      • Just Clouds 3
      • Just Clouds 5
      • Just Clouds 6
      • Just Clouds 8
      • Just Clouds 10 Tropical
      • Just Clouds 11 Sunrise Sunset
    • Desert >
      • Arizona Desert
      • Big Thunder Mountain
      • California Desert
      • Desert Fall
      • Echo Summit
      • Goblin Valley
      • Mojave Desert
      • Monument Valley
      • Monument Valley 2
      • Southwest
      • Southwest with Waterfall
    • Forest >
      • Alaska Trees
      • Autumn Trees
      • Florida Forest
      • Georgia Forest
      • Golden Fall
      • Hudson River Palisades
      • Just Trees 1
      • Just Trees 2 Pines
      • New England Fall
      • Pine Forest II
      • Pine Forest III
      • Rocky Mountain Forest
      • South Florida Forest
      • Tuolumne Meadows
    • Rural >
      • American Farm
      • Appalachian Foothills
      • Appalachian Valley
      • Black Mesa
      • Blue Ridge
      • Blue Ridge Fall
      • Central Valley Field
      • Clear Cut
      • Clear Cut II
      • Continental Divide
      • Copper Mine
      • Fall Meadow
      • Grassy Hill
      • Great Plains
      • Heartland Farm
      • Highway 1
      • Hillside Village
      • Just Corn
      • Just Corn II
      • Just Corn III
      • Midwest
      • Misty Farm
      • Northern Plains
      • Old Faithful
      • Old Western Town
      • Patchwork Farms
      • Rocky Bluffs
      • Southwest Farm
      • Tehachapi California
      • The Big Valley
      • Tuscan Hillside
      • Tuscan Hillside 2
      • Vermont Fall Farm
      • Wheat Field
    • Rivers >
      • Columbia River
  • Custom
    • Custom Backdrops
    • How We Create a Custom Backdorp
  • OTHER PRODUCTS
    • STREETS & ROADS
    • WALL DISPLAY TRACK
    • PORTALS
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • The WP
    • Feedback
  • Photos
    • User Photos
    • Videos
  • View Cart

Options

Planning your backdrop

When building a model railroad, Christmas Village, or slot car layout, you need to put on your Hollywood set director's hat and view your scene as through it were going to be viewed in a movie.
Things to keep in mind:
  1. Perspective.   What is the audiences point of view?  What do you want them to see and what don't you want them to see?  Example: I have three layouts.  The first is an On3 that runs around my office, 12 inches from the ceiling.  The audience's point of view is from below, looking up.  From the vantage point, the viewer can not see the track... so I used Kato HO snap-track.  No need to do lots of ballast work since no one can see the track anyway.  I also have an HO layout that is at eye level (if you're 60 inches tall) and wraps completely around a 14 X 16 foot room (my barn).  For this layout detail is very important up front, but gets lost towards the back.  And my third layout is an N scale that is two feet below my HO layout.  The view point of the audience is looking down, so the background detail isn't as important as the track and landscaping are.  Get my point?  Backgrounds are just that, backgrounds and should add depth to your layout, but not the reason that someone is looking at your layout.
  2. Focus.  Next time you watch a movie, notice that the background in usually not in focus.  This is intentional.  Movies are shot this way so you focus on the actors, not the scenery.  The same consideration should be given to your layouts.  What do you want the audience to see, your trains, village, cars or the background.  In my world, its my trains.
  3. Media.  What is the backdrop printed on.
  • Matte:  A backdrop with a dull finish.  If the backdrop is not what you want the audience to focus on, this is recommended.
  • ​Vinyl: A backdrop printed on banner material.  If your layout is going to be subjected to climate, such as an outdoor layout, you might want to think about having it printed on vinyl.  Also, if you have a portable layout that you pack around and put up and take down often, then vinyl would be a good option as it is much more durable than paper.
  • Back-lit film: There are times when you want a sunset to really shine through, then a back-lit film might be perfect.  Mount the backdrop to opaque Plexiglas backing and shine light through it.   Spectacular!   Think, the SP Daylight, on the Southern California coast at sunset...
TrainJunkies offers the following:
  1. Matte Paper: Coated matte photographic paper: (90lb) -  Perfect for when you want the background to almost stand up by itself!  Very stiff.
  2. Self Adhesive Vinyl: Matte, perfect for those layouts that might be subject to high humidity or a backdrop that might get a bit of wear and tear.. such as portable layouts or one where the grandkids play.
  3. Back-lit film: Very thin plastic film - Perfect for sunset/sunrise dioramas. (email us for special pricing)
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