WOOHOO! Good weather = time to build

[cnw1961]

Gary, like biL I think that you are absolutely on the right track with your backdrop. The backdrop should support your modeling and not distract from it. So making it too detailed is not desireable and not just because you think your painting skills are not up to it. There is a guy (MikeC) on The Whistle Post forum who is paintig his backdrop in a fashion you’d rather expect from a piece of art that you hang on your wall than using it as a backdrop for your model railroad. He is not painting any details at all, but his backdrop is fantastic and helps to create the right atmosphere for his layout that is set in winter. A photograph with lots of snow and all the details could not have such a convincing effect. Unfortunately I can’t find some of his best pics, but these are good enough to show the effect of the backdrop:
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