AO8: Reflecting on.... windows

DB finally gets back to the workbench:

Just before setting sail for NZ a month ago, some grey and blue paint was slapped onto two AO carriage castings in a feeble attempt to make visible progress while I pondered a window conundrum.

The big-windows in the big big-window cars are made by the Hogwarts Glass Department. They are smokily transparent when you stare right through them; often they look black (especially if viewed from an angle); and sometimes they look like mirrors if they are reflecting something bright, like the sky, or the eye of a Newt.
A commenter on this blog suggested using mirror-tinted boy-racer window film which sounded like a good idea to me, but my schedule and that of the local purveyor of Rice Rocket Enhancements never seemed to match up.

Without this vital ingredient, I began experimenting with some clear plastic washed with varying coats of Rhys's magic Tamiya Smoke (which is a clever mix of 'clear' and 'dark grey'). I found 2 coats looked pretty decent and the slight vertical unevenness of the brushed coating makes it look a little less perfect and not dissimilar to the inevitable vertical streaks of weathering on the real thing (although it looks a little less subtle in these pictures). FYI the paint is applied on the inside of the window so it's nice and smooth on the outside when viewed from an angle, except for some panel separation lines applied on the outside with a thin-tipped permanent marker to complete the look.Now to put something behind my 'glass' since I have a solid casting. I held it up against the white resin of the coaches (too bright), I tried black paint (too dark) and various shades of smoke and grey (meh...). Hmmmm.

The very next day, I happened to flag down a passing art supplies shop and found some thick shiny silvered craft paper that could do the trick. Its almost like a mirror, but not as perfect in its reflection. A strip of this is visible in the window slot on the 56 foot car pic above and with glass in place below.

Noice. From an angle the thing looks dark and shiny, and when viewed from more side-on it has a subtle reflection. I think this low-tech (but also low-effort, low-risk and high-speed) experiment looks pretty decent and am almost at the 'commitment' stage of gluing it in place...