Videos & Photos Videos Layouts Project Railroads Thin Branch Series: Backdrops part 2B – The river

Thin Branch Series: Backdrops part 2B – The river

By Angela Cotey | September 19, 2013

| Last updated on December 1, 2020


Email Newsletter

Get the newest photos, videos, stories, and more from Trains.com brands. Sign-up for email today!

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page

Painting backdrops involves trial and error, even for professional artists. In part 2B of our backdrop series, Jay Smith shows you how he painted the river from start to finish, including changing colors “midstream” several times to get the right look.

6 thoughts on “Thin Branch Series: Backdrops part 2B – The river

  1. Helpful video. It's always nice to see that even professionals have to go back and revise their work 🙂 That makes it a little less daunting for the rest of us. I appreciate Jay's comments about getting the backdrop colors to match or compliment the colors of the modeled scenery.

  2. Ok now be frank, how many hours were spent on the river alone. It does end up looking very convincing on my screen at home and to see the transition from first dablings ( what I would generally achive after 6 hours ) and your end result is enough to have me throw my brushes at you. Amazing what talent and experience can do with trays, paints and brushes.

  3. Jay's style of explaining is both informative, and fun. I agree with what John wrote, it makes it less of a drama to get started on a first attempt. Thank you very, very much!

  4. Hi Jay,
    Seeing you work on the backdrop in this series has been very informative and gives me the courage to attempt this on my new layout. Thanks much for passing your knowledge on to others and please keep more videos like these coming in the future.

You must login to submit a comment