Happy accident with translucent background

Great accident.  Looks wonderful.  

I don’t think I had ever seen this tip before. Great idea!

In the 1940s Lionel published a booklet that described scenic effects for model RRs.  In it, they suggested using a mix of red, white, and blue bulbs situated just below the surface of the layout to achieve sunrise / sunset sky effects on a nearby background.   In another article, they described using a rotary switch with momentary contacts to create flashes of lightning. Today, these effects could be further enhanced by digital sound recordings, triggered on demand.  (Think crickets or croaking frogs, perhaps the hooting of an owl for a peaceful sunset.  And thunder sounds for the lightning storm!)

I'm not a big scenery guy, but I always liked the "night pageant" at display layouts like Roadside America (RIP).  I'm also a fan of backdrops / scene dividers, I think they go a long way toward giving a train layout a sense of place.  I hope I have a chance to eventually build something like you did.  Thanks for sharing!!

And here I thought that it was the Aurora Borealis.

Excellent accident! Thanks for the tip.

Really interesting!!

Perchance could you post a photo of the same scene in normal room lighting for comparison? I'm as interested in your artistry on the panel and would like to see your brushwork!

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I had to laugh when I read of your white plastic corrugated panels in this application.  Our LHS has some shelving provided by Woodland Scenics for stocking their white beaded foam sheets in various thicknesses, packages of track risers, etc..  The basic 'shelving' consists of these white plastic panels.  Well, when I was working there and doing my stint at the checkout register, I would often find a customer bringing one or more of these shelf panels to the counter for purchase!!  Of course, they weren't price tagged, so the customer would ask what the price was.  I explained that they weren't intended for sale...they were part of the store display fixtures.   (We never explored the idea of stocking those panels...if we could find a source!)

After the customer left, I'd take the panels back to the aisle whence they came.  On one occasion the customer had brought probably 6 or more of these pieces of 'shelving' to the counter.  I was rather chagrined to find he had taken all of the WS stock items and stacked them on the floor in order to retrieve the supporting panels!!  Ah, well,...so it goes on some days in retail!!!

But, I digress...sorry.

KD

@John's Trains posted:

Incredibly beautiful scene John.

This is one scene that absolutely deserves to be put on the   ' Imagineering in O Gauge Photography ' thread John. 

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Incredibly beautiful scene John.

This is one scene that absolutely deserves to be put on the   ' Imagineering in O Gauge Photography ' thread John. 

Thank you for the kind words, Dallas. Although this was on my HO layout, at some point I do want to recreate it on my O gauge layout, except by design and not accident.

John

@dkdkrd posted:

Really interesting!!

Perchance could you post a photo of the same scene in normal room lighting for comparison? I'm as interested in your artistry on the panel and would like to see your brushwork!

KD

As requested, KD. Although we might apply the word "artistry" loosely in this case. My brushwork consists mostly of dabbing the brush on the plastic while squinting my eyes until it looks almost passable. But once I turn the lights out my artistry gets lot better, and I imagine it's on a par with Claude Monet's impressionist work in his garden at Giverny.    In case you have a question about the two switchers that look squeezed against the background, they're AHM engines that I abused in my misspent youth in the early 70s. The drive gear on each is destroyed, so I sawed them in half and glued them to a section of track that I also cut in half lengthwise. They're "background locos."

Thanks for that great story of your work in the hobby shop!

John

@PRRMP54 posted:

And here I thought that it was the Aurora Borealis.

You're right, it does kinda look like that.

John

@Ted S posted:

In the 1940s Lionel published a booklet that described scenic effects for model RRs.  In it, they suggested using a mix of red, white, and blue bulbs situated just below the surface of the layout to achieve sunrise / sunset sky effects on a nearby background.   In another article, they described using a rotary switch with momentary contacts to create flashes of lightning. Today, these effects could be further enhanced by digital sound recordings, triggered on demand.  (Think crickets or croaking frogs, perhaps the hooting of an owl for a peaceful sunset.  And thunder sounds for the lightning storm!)

I'm not a big scenery guy, but I always liked the "night pageant" at display layouts like Roadside America (RIP).  I'm also a fan of backdrops / scene dividers, I think they go a long way toward giving a train layout a sense of place.  I hope I have a chance to eventually build something like you did.  Thanks for sharing!!

I like that Lionel idea, and your suggested enhancements!

@John's Trains posted:

As requested, KD. Although we might apply the word "artistry" loosely in this case. My brushwork consists mostly of dabbing the brush on the plastic while squinting my eyes until it looks almost passable.

Thanks for that great story of your work in the hobby shop!

John

You are WAY too modest, my friend.  This is EXACTLY the type of backdrop artistry that I'm after!

The photographic backdrops...IMHO...put a burden on everything before it.   IOW, the fidelity captured in the photo backdrop...things/details far away...seems to dictate the (even higher) fidelity of what one should create in the foreground.  And that's really hard to do for many of us., Typically, the farther things are away from us, the less defined they become.

Then there's the horizontal brush/roller strokes that have no 'texture' whatsoever for a backdrop, simply defining layers of horizon.  Too simplistic for my tastes.

IMHO, again, your backdrop artistry takes nothing away from the principal items in the foreground, but rather complements it very well!  I'm re-encouraged to tackle it myself.  (Sadly, my aching joints and the relentless march of time aren't cooperating very well the longer I put this off!!)

And, as you showed in your first photo, when back-lit for a twilight scene...it's awesome!!

Bravo!

KD

What an interesting scenic panel and the additional "bonus" lighting effect.  Indeed this is the first time I've ever heard of a backlighted painted panel for this type of application.   

A great accident indeed as are many such things we use today that were discovered "accidently". 

@dkdkrd posted:

IMHO, again, your backdrop artistry takes nothing away from the principal items in the foreground, but rather complements it very well!  I'm re-encouraged to tackle it myself.  (Sadly, my aching joints and the relentless march of time aren't cooperating very well the longer I put this off!!)

KD

You have a very analytical and philosophical approach to this subject, KD. Please do tackle it if you're able and then let us see what happens.