Holes in the Wall

[Philip H]

[jaw hits floor]  That's a GREAT paste up there! [/jaw hits floor]

[Flatrat]

That looks really excellent. Should look very believable.

Scott

[nkalanaga]

A great idea!  I never thought of using a photo to continue a bridge through a wall...

[PAL_Houston]

well, I appreciate the encouragement!  I have now done 5 iterations and I still cannot get the sky on the photo to match the sky on the backdrop well enough.  Of course, even photoshopping (is that a word?) the color from a photo of the backdrop doesn't work because the printer kind of re-interprets what is on the monitor in Photoshop....

I am sure someone has some good advice on how to color-match photo-prints to paint....
Please give me some suggestions.... after I get the sky matched I think I can patch the greenery better also....

[wazzou]

Cut the sky out of the photo, best you can.  Trim out the bridge and trees so only the painted backdrop remains.

[Zox]

Have you given up on running the track through the wall, then?

If you cut out a big enough hole in the picture for a train to go through, you're going to remove almost the entire bridge. Perspective can fool you--remember, the hole has to be the size of the actual model, not the model-at-apparent-distance.

I'd try putting a tunnel-portal-sized piece of paper over the tracks, and see just how much of the image remains, before committing to this approach.

[nkalanaga]

OR, find a sky color that looks right to you, and get a can of paint mixed to match that. 

[PAL_Houston]

OR, find a sky color that looks right to you, and get a can of paint mixed to match that.

Well, that is the source of the current sky: it is a blend of asky blue and white, and it is proving a challenge to match photo colors and printed colors to the actual paint color!

...probably doesn't help that I am color-blind either. 

[Flatrat]

I agree with Bryan that taking a sharp xacto knife and removing most of the larger areas where you see the sky through the girders in your printout would give you the most believeable matching to the backdrop color.

Are you cutting the portal in the wall the same size as the smallest opening of the bridge girders at the other end? How large an opening will that make in the wall?

Scott

[arbomambo]

Hello...
upon hearing of your idea of a bridge to hide the 'hole in the wall', I assumed that you meant to use a highway or road bridge over the trackage to form a visual 'tunnel' that would carry through the wall...
I would not have advised using the truss bridge/background photo combination that you had in mind....
...yet...I have to say, upon seeing your mock-up with the backgound photos overlayed, that your idea, not only is plausible, but really effective, and VERY innovative!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know if you plan on continuing the same scenery and topography 'through' and on the other side, but this would be a great method for 'blocking' a layout...creating natural looking 'bookends' to scenes that may be completely different on either side of the wall...
for example, if you wanted to model another section of the railroad on the other side, you'd 'hide' the 'hole in the wall' completely differently, but still as effectively...if your modelling a 'continuation' of the scene, then I imagine you're going to use the other part of the truss bridge and duplicat your efforts on the other side...
However you decide, yours is a very innovative and effective solution!
Well Done!!!!!!!!!
Respectfully,
Bruce

[fredmoehrle]

I  had one of those Detail Associates background where I trimed the images as close as possible( background buildings and trees) and mounted them on a piece of foam core painted with the same blue paint I used on the backdrop of my layout.  The foam core gave it some releif from the backdrop (as the buildings where closer) and blended the white edges of the cut paper with a colored pencil.

[PAL_Houston]

Cut the sky out of the photo, best you can.  Trim out the bridge and trees so only the painted backdrop remains.

I tried this when I got home this evening and I think it's going to work fine.  Pix will be forthcoming...

[PAL_Houston]

Have you given up on running the track through the wall, then?

...

Zox:  thanks for your comments.  I haven't given up on the hole in the wall, I just haven't decided what I am going to do about staging yet.  The hole in the wall is one option, and I may do it eventually.  Since this bridge approach seems to be working, I may be able to adapt it by cutting a rectangular hole in the wall large enough to ram a hole bridge through, although obviously I will have to develop that idea a bit more if I want to retain the coup d'oeil (sp?) effect of a through-going bridge.....

So: Keep those ideas coming, folks!

[Zox]

Since this bridge approach seems to be working, I may be able to adapt it by cutting a rectangular hole in the wall large enough to ram a hole bridge through, although obviously I will have to develop that idea a bit more if I want to retain the coup d'oeil (sp?) effect of a through-going bridge....

I hadn't considered the notion of actually running the bridge structure through the hole. Hiding the hole by putting a full 3-D distraction right through the middle of it is a unique idea as far as I know, and seems like it would stand a good chance of working. I'll continue watching this thread with great interest.

Oh, and I think the term you're looking for is trompe-l'œil .

[GaryHinshaw]

I like the idea of putting the whole bridge through the hole.  How about framing the structure with a mirror so you see the outside of it in reflection, but then have over-grown river-bank trees growing close to the bridge, so the mirror is not too obvious.  The sides of the mirror would be hidden just fine, but the top would be exposed.

The current setup is a coup de grace: you think there is a whole bridge there, but there's no hole.  BAM.