Disguising Your Scenery-Backdrop Joint

Seamlessly blending your backdrop into your model railroad scene can be tricky at times. Tony Koester offers some helpful tips for blending streams, rivers and roads with the backdrop.

To help avoid situation where the scene intersects the backdrop and forms a 90 degree angle, Tony recommends using a photo backdrop; buy them commercially or go take your own photographs.

Tony shows off a pair of photographs he took himself for use on his scenes. He recommends being mindful of the colors in the photographs, especially when photographing water. Shadows on the water help create colors that you’ll want to use when painting your scene.

To blend a photograph into your scene, Tony recommends strategic placement of trees or using plaster to eliminate the gap between the photograph and the scenery.