ACME LATEX CO

This is were the ACME LATEX CO scene is at present. 

John Allen......

.... wrote the book on mirrors. Kalmbach printed a book about the Gorre and Daphetid that had a whole chapter about them. Main things to check when using them is:

1- make sure you do not see your own reflection on them.

2- find a way to disguise the side edges (easy) and the top (not so much).

3- have them at reasonably accessible spots for cleaning.

4- if used to expand a structure or road make sure they are set exactly perpendicular to them, A crooked reflection is no good.

5- take pictures of your proposed settings. You can fool your eye but not a camera..... or the nitpickers!.

Have fun!. Jose.

Having fun With Mirrors

I have been experimenting with Mirrors on our club layout. They are a great way to make a space look bigger. Jose above brought out some good points. I would like to add that if you run track up to the mirror it also has to be perpendicular or the crooked reflection will ruin the effect. Things that I have learned is that it does not take much of an angle to ensure you don't see yourself in the mirror, and that the top edge is hard to hide.   

Using your example above with the ACME LATEX Co. I would place the mirror as flat against the wall as I could. It appears that the bench work goes off to the left for a while and unless the view leans way in, it is unlikely that they would see themselves. If flat against the wall does not work than it should only take a degree or two. If so you will need to turn the track and buildings a degree or two to square with the mirror. This would not be a bad thing either as structures and track not parallel to the backdrop adds interest.

To hide the top of the mirror I would put a elevated walkway or a pipe conduit between the two buildings. I would place it at the third or fourth story level so it appears the train cars can pass under it. It will look like the track goes between the building.

On other note: The two loading docks look a little too similar. People may believe they are mirror images of each other. This may help or hurt the illusion, I cant tell without seeing it in person.

On a funny note be careful with auto spell check. My title almost became having fun with minors. Not exactly the message I was trying to send.

Art    

Another source

Here is a link to another blog here discussing the use of mirrors:

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/using-mirrors-in-scenery-12187898

In that blog is a discussion of the use of a mirror by Joe Fugate in his Siskiyou layout also cover in the Model Trains Video DVD series (sub set Ten Mile Creek).

In Person vs Photos

I've never been to a layout that uses mirrors in person, so I'm not sure they are that effective when you are standing right there.

In a photo, you can crop it and have it show the scene with the mirror exactly the way you want it to. In person you'll have a wider field of view, and probably be moving so there will be many more cues that what you are looking at is really a reflection in a mirror - as the comparison between your 2nd and 3rd photos show.

It may just be me because I have been legally blind in my right eye since birth so some optical illusions just don't work for me (For example, I don't bother wasting money going to see 3D movies!)

I think the best use of mirrors is in small scenes with tightly controlled viewing angles. Subtle is the word I would use here.

George

Mirrors

I’ve used two mirrors on my layout so far.  One is behind a stub ended staging yard way back in the corner of the room.  Hiding the top and edges was not a big concern because it is 8 feet away from the viewer.  The upper level hides the top and the left edge is not highly visible. It has fooled quite a few people on first viewing.  If you look just right it reflects the Windsor beet factory so I tell folks it’s the Eaton beet factory which is prototypically to the east.   

The second mirror is located at the end of the Welty branch.  It is placed behind the northbound half of the I-25 freeway overpass and the reflection creates the southbound half as well as extending the branch to the west.  It is close to the viewer and the front edge, top and rear edges are very visible. Because it reflects the backdrop as well as the overpass, I had to use a “front silvered mirror”.  A regular mirror has two major problems:

1. Since the light rays pass through the [non-optical quality] glass, reflect from the silvering on the back and pass through the glass again, the light is dimmer and colored by two passes through the glass.  The backdrop was obviously different in the mirror.  This can be observed in the staging yard above.

2. Due to the same affect, the rear edge against the backdrop is doubled in size, becoming very prominent.

I was able to find a 12” x 12” front silvered mirror at a reasonable price ($40) at http://www.firstsurfacemirror.com/. They offer an acrylic version or a glass version. The glass has a more perfect backing for the silvering so offers slightly better optical quality for a whole lot more money.  And is much more breakable.  

The back edge is still visible so I created a street light post to hide the corner at a certain viewing angle. I’m also working at a mirror image truck picture to put on the far side of the northbound truck to give the impression of a southbound truck.  I still need to add scenery and fix the crooked support.

Another vote for John Allen

I have an MR article compilation book from Kalmbach called "Scenery Tips And Techniques", it has a yellow cover with a picture of an old time " Jerome Southwestern" steamer on it. I give the description because I think there is a newer version out there under the same title with different articles. Anyway, it has an article by John Allen on mirrors. I'm a huge G&D fan and biased but still take my word, this article is the most complete treatise on using mirrors there is. John was a photographer by trade and he knew what he was talking about when it came to visual effects like mirrors. If you are interested in mirror usage and you can buy beg or borrow a copy of this book or find the MR the article appeared in it will serve you well.

Michael

Good idea to use pipe rack

Mirrors

I used a mirror on a module backdrop to add depth to the scene.  A two-lane highway was ascending the side of a hill on the backdrop and turned into the hill and through a tunnel. By placing the mirror on the back of the tunnel it gave the illusion of the highway and tunnel continuing to curve into the back ground.  Since travelers often turn on their headlights when going through tunnels, I put lights into two vehicles and placed them in front of the mirror.  In order not to see the two cars either about to have a head-on collision or appearing to magically have just passed through each other and going in opposite directions, I sliced through the cross sections of the vehicles and glued a front half to a front half and a rear half to a rear half and placed each in the appropriate highway lane.  Of course, micro lamps were placed where the vehicle lights should be  and the wires run through the roadbed under the cars.  I used a red marker to color the tail lamps.  It made it appear that two vehicles were entering the tunnel and two vehicles were exiting the tunnel with lights on.  It was a nice effect and added some action to an otherwise static scene.

John Moran, Bradenton, FL

mirrors

Mirrors in scenery

The museum in Rochester, Kent, UK, 30yd from where I live, uses mirrors of various types in some of its displays.

The most dramatic is that you go through a door and find yourself on the deck of a prison hulk of the Napoleonic era. Soft sea sounds are played with seagulls and the creaking of the timbers and it almost seems to move. Some washing is hung on a line over a group of barrels from a substantial timber mast . Actually the mast is in the corner of the room and one of the barrels has been sliced in half on the line of one mirror and one of the other two barrels is a reflections of the other. The washing hides your reflection except for the legs below the knee and the second mirror is mostly high up over a deck house.

Another display uses half silvered mirrors to give the impression of endless rows of hammocks at uniform spacing of 18" or whatever was allowed. The hammocks swing gently with the motion of the ship. I've never been able to determine whether there's 1, 2 or 4 hammocks in fact.

A third again uses a half silvered mirror to show a man of war becoming a prison hulk. There are obviously two models and when the lighting on the model of the man of war is dimmed the reflection of the model of the hulk takes its place.

There are exhibits on subjects from Roman times and before, there are remains of the Roman walls as well as the Norman Castle and Cathedral, but the above are the exhibits which use mirrors.

The most important need with mirrors is to disguise the way it is being used. Seeing yourself in the mirror is a major give away but framing mirrors with bridges or trees or buildings are obvious ways. The mirrors needs to be perpendicular to lines nearby but any errors are going to be obvious, a mirror is a good way of checking that track is straight and regular, so it should be easy to adjust the fixing.

Archie

MSMRC ETHONAL TANK MIRRORS

This picture was taken 8-2014 great job by some really good modelers.

BEST ONE JOHN PARKER'S BNSF FALL RIVER DIV.

This is the best mirror scene I have seen is my recent travels.  

Blueridge & Southern Mirrors

At the 24:30 min mark in this video you can see another great use of mirrors.

Low Cost Front Surface Mirrors

The old style projection TVs had a decent sized front surface mirror in them.  Should you stumble across one for free you might consider disassembling it. (We did that for a dummy TV when staging our condo for sale). Still have the mirror (a trapezoidal shape).

IMHO using a mirror behind/under an overpass is a good use and avoids visible edges.