06-17-2010, 11:16 AM
Gary, I remember an article in Model Railroad Hobbyist E-mag about using photo back drops, but looking through the table of contents of each issue, I couldn't find it just now. Since you are modeling from the prototype in your area, just take pictures of the specific streets that you want to model. Then crop the picture where the modeled scene ends and the back drop begins. Save the picture to a disc or jump drive and have it printed professionally at the size you need for a backdrop without any border and in a flat rather than glossy finish. Most photo developers will print "poster" size prints in vertical or horizontal formats. A photograph will give you better detail and the appearance of 3-d than any painting most of us amateurs could do. I would take the pictures when there are no cars driving on the street, since I think an empty street with cars parked on the side is more realistic than a street with a car on it that seems to be going some where but never moves. You could even shoot pictures of the sky at the same location and time to use above the picture to complete your backdrop if you are concerned about blending in the photographed sky and the painted sky on the backdrop. The other method that I've seen used is to carefully cut around objects so that the sky is removed from the picture and only the painted sky backdrop is seen. The same method can be used for hills, buildings, or other background features.