Model Railroading > Evolution of a modeler 2011 to now

After working 48 of the last 96 hours on various aspects of my new layout, these are still areas that are being worked but things are much improved over my last layout.  I was inspired by IAISfan's ability to blend his layout in with his backdrops.  I feel this is much improved over my last layout, but still a long way to go.  I wanted to show the difference from the 2011 layout to the one currently under development.  Thanks for the inspiration and support!  -James (JLWii2000 on YouTube)

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/15 20:02 by JLW2K.

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Great detail and great photos.

One more comparison for now:

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Great work. B

Posted from iPhone

Those scenes look great James!  Really well done.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

James, looks very good.  Nicer than the first one..

Gary B.
Waverly, NE

That looks Excellent!  Great work, James!!

Cheers,
Harry

Ikea stools!

Thanks all!  Still a lot to do and improve upon but I'm glad to be moving out of the beginner realm.  I really didn't realize how bad my last layout looked to me until I was able to produce these results.
-James

Excellent work, really a big difference!

I have discovered, as you did, that things have come a long way when it comes to backdrops.  It's hard to argue with the effectiveness of the photo backdrop versus the old paint methods, except for cost - painting is dirt cheap compared to getting photos printed to fit a scene.  The challenge with the photo backdrop is blending that in to the scenery.  Joe does a great job on his IAIS!  I have yet to dive in to the photo backdrop on the Onondaga Cutuoff, but have decided that for my eyes, it is the most effective way to simulate distant scenery.  

Coming this winter will be my first foray into the photo backdrop, and it will be an interesting process for me!  Stay tuned :-)

~RGDave
www.onondagacutoff.blogspot.com

 

Thanks Dave!  I'm just copying techniques that others have pioneered.  I remember seeing photo backdrops on a Rio Grande layout in MR maybe 15-20 years or more ago.  Never realized the day would come that we could do them ourselves so easily.

> It's hard to argue with the effectiveness of the photo backdrop versus the old paint methods, except for cost - painting is dirt cheap compared to getting
> photos printed to fit a scene.

If it helps, you can print them at home yourself and maybe save a bit.  Used copies of Photoshop Elements (which you'd likely need regardless of how you print) can be found on-line for much less than new.  I found my copy of a used early v2.0 on Amazon for $4, and it still works with Windows 8.1.

I don't like the seams every 11" from doing the printing myself, but from what I've seen of how challenging it's been to determine the location of objects on the backdrop vs. their counterpart 3D scenes, I don't know how people do it with the long prints.  Even doing 11" at a time, in some situations, I have to print each page, apply it, then measure for the details on the next page and adjust in Photoshop before I can print that.  The seams can be dealt with through the placement of poles, trees, etc., or at least touched up with cheap craft paint if the other options aren't workable.  I still need to do most of them on my layout, but was waiting until all the backdrops are in place so I don't have to re-mix the colors multiple times.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd