The Backdrops are Up

Backdrop temporarily taped in position

Are you sure about this?

We used a balsa wood piece to smooth out the bubbles.

Lower horizon looks better

View toward the corner

After a lovely morning and a long walk, Alicia and I installed the backdrops.  I first prepped the wall by patching the small holes from picture holders. Then I touched up the paint.

Next we temporarily placed the backdrop with bits of masking tape as the directions that LARC Products suggested. We followed their directions in peeling and rolling.  We used temporarily installed pieces of ¼ inch plywood to support the backdrop roll as we installed, that helped hold the roll steady.

Alicia used a long piece of soft balsa wood to help smooth the backdrop material and to remove bubbles, while I did the peeling of the backing and positioning. The first piece went up fast and trouble free. We had a little more trouble getting the second piece installed as it had two corners to negotiate. But we got it to work well by trimming the corners and slightly overlapping the pieces.

Since we installed the back drop over a tan wall, the backdrop appears darker when the white backing was peeled away. In this case it works to our advantage as it hints at the "LA Smog" look. For a pristine mountain scene, I would make sure the underlying  surface is white.

We were both impressed with the Fab-Tex material. The strength and forgiveness were very impressive. You can pull it off if you need to reposition.

The instructions say it is a 3-person job, but we did it just us two.

I decided that I made the horizon a bit too high. So I installed the backdrop below grade by one inch. That lowered the horizon to the perfect position.

If I were to do this again, I would make the refinery on the left side a tad smaller.

With the backdrop up, it is time to finish the foam surface and the fascia. I plan to widen the layout on the left. But more on that later.

Thanks to Bill Brown and LARC Products for doing a great job printing my files.  I highly recommend this product.

Refinery on left side. I plan to widen the benchwork at the far left.