Posted on by Kumar Desai

Backdrop prints arrived

Just got back from Europe having been delayed a couple of weeks by Covid. It’s great to be back at our house and our daily routine: I missed my various activities such as drumming and especially modeling.

While we were away my printed backdrop arrived. I ordered two copies of the same print which at $15 per print is not cheap enough to print too many times. However I do intend to make changes to it so another couple of prints will be ordered for the final model. I intend to swap out the sky for a new sky with fewer colors – just white clouds on a clear blue sky. My theory is that fewer colors on the diorama make color matching easier and the final model more pleasing to look at. I also may move the mill over to the left so that the user has an unimpeded view of the works.

I ordered two prints of the same backdrop. One for use on the diorama and one to work with on the bench for color matching the road, the grass and other elements so that the foreground blends nicely with the background.
I did a loose fit of the backdrop before sticking it down. It came with a lower white border which needs to be removed. The road on the diorama needs to be matched with the position of the road on the backdrop. By doing this loose fitting I was able to mark the base with two lines to help me position the backdrop and the diorama road that still needs to be built.

I used an Xacto knife to cut away the lower border. The base of the model needs to slide under the backdrop while allowing the backdrop to curl around the corners
The backdrop has been stuck down. I used spray glue and it took a couple of attempts to get the positioning right. I used Elmers spray glue but may change the glue to another brand as I may need to reposition the print before it sticks too hard – something what was difficult to do with the Elmers glue.
The diorama base needs to slide under the backdrop at the corners. I marked the curves on the base to make sure to not model over them. If I did that then the base would not slide so nicely. Another thing to note is that I don’t yet know the height of the road and so I cannot yet match the road on the diorama to the road on the backdrop. Once the diorama road is finished I will have to reposition the backdrop road to make a better match – another reason that this backdrop is not the final version.

The corners are effectively hidden by the curve in the backdrop.
The diorama as it currently stands. All good so far, no major hiccups and time to start modeling. I will also start tinkering with the backdrop this week probably starting by swapping out the sky.