Blending the Backdrop

This is always the tough part.   How do you blend a 2D backdrop into the 3D foreground without the dreaded ‘backdrop slam’?.  I used a number of visual tricks and it seems to have worked quite well.

The first trick is to work under layout lighting.  I used a work light that was positioned where the final layout lighting will go and adjusted the backdrop colour along the seam line to blend as best as possible with the foreground water.   Some minor blending adjustments may be required to adjust for the intensity, position and colour of the final lighting.

The second trick is to blend the colour of the 3D water onto the backdrop in a series of ascending streaks.  I used a steel rule as a guide to get the initial parallel lines and then freehand painted the rest.   The blue-green streaks get progressively thinner and closer together as they ascend the backdrop. This gives the illusion of distance as well as allowing a a less obvious transition between the sky blue colour of the distant backdrop water and the blue-green colour at the join with the foreground scene.

The third trick was to add white reflection bands ascending up the backdrop and  a drybrushed reflection band onto the foreground scenery water texture.  This seems to pull the eye away from the actual seamline where the backdrop joins the foreground water surface.

Acrylic Gel Water

This weekend was spent creating the water surface for the Peace River scene.  I had decided against pouring an Envirotex epoxy water surface, opting instead for a technique using blended paint shades and an acrylic gel to simulate water depth and water texture.

The masonite river bed was painted blue-green to a dark blue-grey as it transitioned away from the backdrop.  Different subtle shades of green, blue and grey were dry brushed over the main colour to add more depth and variation.

I used liquitex gloss acrylic gel medium (http://www.liquitex.com/Products/gelmedglossgel.cfm) to add the water texture.  I applied the gel liberally over the painted water surface and use some old large stiff paint brushes to stipple the gel into a rough surface.   Then i took a small brush and stippled on more gel to create rounded peaks that simulate undulations and small waves.   Upon application, the gel is white and opaque, but it dries hard and transparent. The gel can be tinted with acrylic paints which is another option for adding even more depth to water scenes

Some final blending of the water colour along the backdrop scene is still needed but overall this scene is coming together nicely.

Bridge Progress and Photography Fun

Bridge progress continues steadily.  I decided against casting additional bridge piers and decided to carve them all out of balsa wood.   Piers are basically finished apart from some additional filling and sanding.

I put some time in on the transitional spans at each end of the bridge, installed and roughly painted the masonite river base and began installing and painting the front fascia panels.

I had some fun with photography too.  I was playing around with low light / flash settings to try and get some dramatic effects.   It was also an excuse to take some close up shots of the SD40-2s that I detailed and painted over the summer.

Bridge and Backdrop Progress

Bridge progress turns to the challenging task of making the very distinctive support structures.    I am attempting to build a master out of balsa wood with the intention of creating a mold and casting the final structures in either resin or hydrocal.  The prototype bridge supports have complex curves so it was quite a lot of work to produce even this rough balsa wood version.

The balsa wood model needs a lot of cleaning up and sealing before any molding and casting is performed.

I also put some time in on the backdrop hills on the north side of the Peace River valley.  The main change was adding lots of trees into the various ravines that run up to the ridge top.

Bridge Construction Progress

Kitbashing continues on the total of 10 Central Valley Pratt Truss Bridge Kits.  2 kits make one span of the Peace River bridge.  The main bridge elements are essentially complete at this point.  Next step is making the bridge supports.

The final bridge model will be four full spans with two short transitional spans at each end. This is one full span shorter than the prototype, but when combined with a completed backdrop and foreground vegetation the effect should capture the overall feel of the real location

Backdrop Painting and Bridge Construction – Peace River Valley

A major blizzard and an absurd deep freeze made for a couple of weekends inside working on the backdrop and the first bridge span.

Two Central Valley truss bridges were successfully kitbashed into one box girder span for the bridge.  A mix of kit parts and strip styrene was used for the diagonal bracing struts.  A few more parts are needed to finish this span.  I have eight more bridge kits on order to complete the remaining spans.

So.. apparently I never got the memo that the backdrop should be ‘understated so as not to draw attention away from the trains.’   Due to the small overall size of my layout I wanted to compensate by having spectacular backdrops.   The only downside is the many hours required to paint the detailed terrain and vegetation.

This week I added shadows and reflections to the water along the far (south) bank of the river, and began to paint in the soft clay hills and grassland on the north side of the river.

Backdrop Painting and Bridge Construction – Peace River Valley

Work continues on the backdrop for the lower level Peace River scene.  Midground and foreground painting was completed on the far side of the river.

Work also began on constructing the bridge girders for the final scene.  I am kitbashing two of the new Central Valley 150′ Pratt Truss kits to form one single box truss span for the Peace River bridge.  I have eight more kits on order to complete the other spans.   The Central Valley kits are the closest affordable option for the bridge.  They have excellent detail and can be formed in to box trusses quite easily with minimal cutting or extra parts.   The resulting spans are about 80% of the dimensions of the prototype.   This works in my favour as I will be able to fit in the five full spans across the river – an acceptable trade-off for losing some of the size of the prototype bridge.

Info on the Central Valley Pratt Truss Bridge can be found at

http://www.cvmw.com/1900/1810.htm

Backdrop Painting – Peace River Valley

Here are some photos of the progression of the backdrop scene at the Peace River bridge. This is my first attempt at backdrop painting and although I have some existing artistic talent, I credit these very pleasing early results to Mike Danneman’s  “Painting Backdrops for your Model Railroad” (One of Kalmbach’s Model Railroader How-To Books). This book takes you step by step through painting mountain, farmland and desert backdrops.  I merely applied the book’s techniques to my backdrop after taking time to refine the viewing perspective for the scene. In addition I printed off lots of photos of the real location for reference.

The Peace River bridge scene is a challenge because it is only 6″ deep.  It is also the lowest part of the layout with a track height of 36″  The real Peace River curves  in such a way to as to make it easier to extend onto the backdrop.  However blending the painted backdrop river with the modelled river surface will still be tricky.

I use acrylic paints for backdrops.  Liquitex has a ‘Basics’ line that is more affordable than the premium artists line. I purchased a wide variety of colours including Hookers Green, Chromium Oxide Green, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Titanium White, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna.  I also bought a variety of brushes including pointed, flat and filbert in various sizes.

With the help of some 3D mapping software I mapped out the equivalent ‘real world’ eyepoint from where I plan to view this scene the most and rendered and printed off some terrain images from that vantage point.  I used mapping software i have access to at work, but you can also use Google Earth.  With Google Earth you have to ‘eyeball’ the real height and viewing angle that would correspond to where your eyes are with respect to your backdrop, but it is better than just guessing.

With 3D terrain images printed, It was then a matter of carefully marking out the hill profiles and Peace River banks on to the backdrop.  My strategy for painting the hills is to start from the most distant hills and work forward.  I mix a quantity of the blue used to paint the sky with small amounts of dark green, grey and red.  This results in a muted blue-green hue with very slight purple notes.  This mix is used to paint only the most distant terrain features.

To add some atmospheric depth I mist a very fine spray of white across these painted hills.  I used a small can of white enamel spray paint I had kicking around.  A quick misting pass across the distant hills is all that is needed.  Nearer hills are painted with a mix of hookers green, black and grey. The profile of these nearer hills stands out dramatically against the background hills thanks to the misting of white spray paint previously applied. Depressions and folds in the landscape are simulated using darker and lighter shades of green and blue

I have chosen to model the late spring period when newly-sprouted aspen trees have a vibrant light green that stands in dramatic contrast to dark coniferous forest.  The long ridge feature that dominates the mid-ground was painted to simulate the sporadic bright green crowns of spring Aspen in an other wise dark coniferous forest.  Liquitex chromium oxide green is the perfect shade for reproducing these bold spring tree canopies. Simply stipple the paint in and around the darker green shades in descending lines following the terrain. Increasing the size of the light green patches towards the base of the ridge helps give depth and perspective to the scene.

The next steps are painting in the vegetation along the far river bank, painting the river surface and completing the foreground areas

Trains 2009 Photos

This past weekend, I drove out to Vancouver to attend the Trains 2009 show in Burnaby.  The main purpose of the visit was to meet with other modellers of the British Columbia Railway and its predecessor, the Pacific Great Eastern.

We all contributed display boards and models illustrating various eras and areas of the original PGE/BCR network.   It was great to spend the weekend with other talented finescale prototype modellers.   The quality of models was inspirational and I have lots of motivation to continue working on my layout and showing off my progress at the Trains 2010 show.   Here is a selection of photos from the BCR/PGE display area.

Backdrop Painting

I am working on the lower deck backdrop before installing sub-roadbed and track.   I am using a pale blue colour called ‘Alice Blue’ that gives the feeling of warm hazy summer skies without dominating the foreground scenery.   As tempting as it was to pick an intense dramatic blue typical of the big skies in that area I did not want to draw too much attention to the backdrop.

In order to increase the impression of depth I blended the blue with increasing parts of white towards the horizon.  The basic technique is to apply blue and white in parallel bands and then very quickly blend them with a wide brush.  This is quite tricky because latex paint dries so quickly.  This will provide a basic gradation between blue and white however.

I then applied the white horizon haze using dry brushing.  This helps to feather the transition between blue and white.  I simulated distant cirrus clouds by spreading small amounts of white in horizontal bands slightly above the horizon line.

On this level the scenery will extend quite high on the backdrop so most of the rougher blending areas lower down the backdrop will be covered with foreground scenery and painted backdrop hills.   There should still be a subtle gradation from a paler to darker blue along the top of the hills however.