Texas Southeast Belt

[Len Turner]

Painted the backdrop Friday evening, following Lance Mindheim's suggestions for an generic and non-descript background. I was looking for that hazy mid-to-late summer sky that we see a lot of in East Texas. Most of it came out fair to good, but maybe a bit light for I wanted. Its actually a bit more saturated than it appears in the photos, but still fairly light. I'll look at it for a while and maybe blend in a little more blue on the upper third and streak in a little more haze near the middle. Unlike the sawmill diorama though, the new layout is more of an urban setting and will have a number of low relief industrial structures against or near the backdrop. The photo with the diorama piece was just to get some idea of what it may look like behind the actual layout.







I also worked on finalizing the benchwork, leveling out the lift-out section joints, filling all the gaps at the joints of the foam sheeting, and adding 45 deg fillets in the northeast and southeast corners.



So far I really like the wall-mounted HCD panel benchwork. The wall-mounts are stable and sturdy, and the HCD panels are flat and square. Not having to cut and build framework and legs really simplifies the construction. Plus with no legs, there's room for storage shelves under the layout and space for the two lift-out sections.



Thanks again to everyone for looking & commenting!