Duckunder Terminal Rwy - FINAL SUFFOLK SCENE PHOTOS

Try as I might, I cannot spot the mirrors. Great work!

Bill,

Mirrors are shown in the attached photos.

Also the Duckunder Air Force taking aerial photos of potential industry sites!

Those are fantastic shots Will. A great layout indeed.

Thank you, Graz.  It is a lot of fun to operate, too.

Will Allen III posted:

These are the last pictures we will post for awhile of the two Suffolk scenes.  

George Lasley repainted the backdrop for one end of the East Suffolk scene after mounting it on the curved extension which shows off the scratch-built prototypical coaling tower, scratch-built water tank, and scratch-built cinder pit and sand box. Note how George painted the walls and LVL support in matching sky blue with clouds to smooth the visual transition around the room's typical squared-off construction contours.  It really works!

The extra sky background also camouflages that end of the scene when looking into the mirror at the opposite end of the scene. Most places the mirror placement is unseen, but there is one angle where the ceiling support could be seen. No more, though.  This is another example of George's genius.

Also notice the painted silk behind the Lipton Tea tower.  George was able to continue the blue color and white/gray clouds seamlessly between the wall (which is painted onto foam core) and the window hidden behind the silk.  In addition, when sunlight streams through the window, the effect through the translucency of the silk is startling realistic.  I included a couple of photos of him perfecting the silk paint.

The mirrors and their locations within both Suffolk scenes were my idea, and I had them cut to fit the spaces at a local glass shop.  One is fairly large.  George and I had to then figure out how to make the edges of the mirrors disappear into the overall scenes.  If you look closely, you can see how George painted the two of the mirrors with blue sky and clouds in irregular circular patterns around the tops and edges of the mirrors so that the eye tends to see the mirrored glass as an extension of the scene without calling attention to the straight lines and hard corners of the glass, which of course is the reason for placing mirrors in scenes. (The third mirror is in the back of the Planters factory tracks and thus didn't need hiding.)

Also take a look at the Webb's Transfer trailer receding into the distance in the Lipton Tea scene. George scratch-built the tail end of the trailer and sign as well as the fall colors in the distance to enhance the look of the vehicles on the road.  Webb's Transfer was and is a real Suffolk outfit, a very successful company founded by Bill Webb's family.

I am sure George will reply, too, with lots more detail.  George Lasley is a genius!

All are welcome to visit any time you are coming to Raleigh.

Thank you for looking.

Fantastic, not much more I can say.

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments.  The plane started out to be the VGN airforce but lack of an HO decal set put that on hold.

I think the translucent sky idea bears more looking into.  I used to be in the stained glass business so thought along those terms.  The silk is for silk screen use and the paints are the same latex stuff I used for the rest of the backdrops.  The silk must be stretched tight to work.  I used clouds to cover some drips and runs which didn't show up till it was dry.

It is amazing how much a few clouds can help to cover a right angle it the backdrop.  That section of wall and the beam coming out are what hold up the second floor of Will's house.  The beam is two 3" thick, 15" deep LVL's back to back spanning 8-10 feet.

The coal dock shows up much better now.  As I said in a previous post it, the water tank and the sand house are all based on VGN structures at Morgan, Va (a mile or so west of Sedley).

If you have more questions I will be glad to answer.

George