Wednesday 30 October 2019

The Big Building In The Next Street - A Scenic Backdrop

In my most recent post about some new Fogou Models buildings, you may or may not have noticed the big building in the rear of the scene. Check it out - the one with the blue door:


If you didn't notice, that's fine. It's just a simple scenic backdrop that I quickly put together to stand behind my street scenes.

The backdrop was thrown together from a sheet of foamcard and a few detail element. I started by cutting out a rectangle of foamcard and cutting out three small windows. I then took a second, smaller rectangle of foamcard and cut out a door. I used masking tape to cover the exposed foam at the edges, then glued the smaller piece in front of the larger piece. This got me roughly to the point below:



The next step was to add some more depth and texture. I took some lengths of a BBQ skewer and added them at approximate ceiling height for the closest building (thanks for the suggestion Asslessman). Then I skimmed the whole piece with ready mixed filler, and textured it with a washing up sponge. One dry, I painted with an off-white emulsion paint. Which gets me roughly here:



Next, I added some details - a door made from a few scraps of plasticard and some little resin detail elements, again from Fogou Models.



A bit more paint and the whole thing was coming together:


The final step was to add some more visual interest in the form of some trailing cables. Following Suber's example on his fabulous troglodyte settlement, these are simply some black thread glued into place.


And it's done - a nice scenic backdrop to add some variety to my pictures:


29 comments:

  1. Nice backdrop. It is very effective.

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    1. Thanks! Hopefully it's detailed enough to add interest without being too distracting.

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  2. Huh, so simple, yet it looks great. One day I'll attempt something similar.

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    1. Thanks Dai. Well worth giving it a crack!

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  3. Very effective, particularly with the different textures imparted by the different materials. I have thought about a backdrop for miniatures (and indeed I made one, and a card mockup of a larger one) but for terrain... genius.

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    1. Thanks! I was aiming to evoke 3D terrain whilst still being effectively a flat board.

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  4. I really like that this is just a facade, and not a giant cube of a building that you have to plonk down at the back of your set ups. Makes the modelling hobby feel so much like set design for movies.

    ROLL CAMERA!

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    1. Thanks Curis. Space is the key factor really - for every day photography I'm limited by the depth of the desk, so functionality and illusion were the watchwords here. Which is what they do in the movie business I guess!

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  5. Such a great idea, and nicely executed!

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  6. It really works. It adds a sense of full atmosphere, I love the whole thing.

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    1. It owes a lot to your inspiring build, even if it is hugely simplistic in comparison!!

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  7. For those of us with little matt painting abilities, this is a great solution and you've proven it's effective.
    What size is the frame ?

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    1. Yeah, my matt painting attempts were pretty poor really. Even printed images weren't ideal.

      It's approximately 30cm square - it just happened to be that height, and the width matches up with the scenic board I made previously.

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  8. Very effective and essential to raise the bar of your scenic pictures.
    As regulary, it's a great work. Cheer!

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    1. Thanks Nico! I really need a selection of different scenes for variety, right?!

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  9. Loving the buildings, reminds me very much of the good old days!

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    1. I don't mind a bit of gothic, but a lower tech more functional aesthetic is my preference!

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  10. The textures on the walls look great.

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    1. Thanks! Amazing what you can do with a bit of filler!

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