Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat

[Cathead]

5 hours ago, Keith Black said:

once you have the town and foliage in place then decide.

I partly have to decide sooner, since once I've placed trees in front of the backdrop I'm not easily going to be able to remove them again or get behind them to redo the backdrop.

 

1 hour ago, kgstakes said:

With a fall scene it is really hard to make it look convincing with painted trees in the background.

I agree, but I also relish the challenge and the distinctive look! Your photos look awesome.

 

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

It is always a good idea to hide the line between the background painting and the 3D-foreground with some 'props' such as trees, hedgrows, fences etc.

Yes, this is the general plan in most places. The most exposed seam will be where roads go directly into the backdrop and I have yet to decide if I'm going to try and have them blend into the distance or just go blank. The problem with a town scene in which most of the town is just behind the backdrop is that it feels all or nothing; if I paint on a receding road, there needs to be receding buildings, too, and I'm not sure I'm up for getting that right. Something that looks wrong is often worse than something just not being present, since the eye and mind will fill in missing detail but will notice wrong-looking detail.

 

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Somehow, I have the feeling that the cliffs left and right continue as painting on the background - perhaps you can continue with the same style of painting as on the 3D-feature for a few inches and then let the cliff details become increasingly faded?

That's what I did...the bare bluffs receding on both the left and right sides use the same paint/pastel mix as the foreground plaster rocks. I'm pretty happy with how those transitions turned out; at the very least I don't think I can improve it.

 

Another challenge in such backdrops is that viewers see them from so many different angles that there's no one "right" perspective. Viewed from one angle, a receding bluff line or creek can look great, and viewed from another angle, can be at an awkward angle. Very different from a true "flat" painting in which the perspective more or less stays the same no matter how it's viewed. For better and worse, I've mostly tried to orient the perspective from a trackside view, such that certain things look a bit "off" when viewed from a normal standing angle.