Level and dive bombers would not get low enough to be relevant for a diorama... which leaves torpedo planes, strafing fighters and kamikaze, and kamikaze was basically a 1945 thing.
For torpedo attacks, the optimal setup was the "Hammerhead", performed from ahead of the ship from two directions at once, say from 45 degrees off the port bow and 45 degrees off the starboard bow. Properly executed this almost guarantees a hit, either way the ship turns she will end up broadside-on to a brace of torpedoes. Not turning exposes her to both salvoes. Of course, whether a destroyer would be worth such effort is debatable, and it might not always be possible to coordinate the attacking planes well enough to achieve the full hammerhead. But attacking from ahead of the beam was preferred.
That said, I think the pilots would prefer not to get closer to an enemy ship than they could, once the torpodoes were away. Even a 0.50 inch AA gun can get lucky if you get close enough and fly pretty much straight at the ship. A possible close-up scenario would perhaps be a torpedo plane or planes crossing close ahead or astern of the destroyer while doing an attack run on a larger ship?
Strafing fighters could approach from any angle. But again, getting too close only plays into the anti-aircraft gunners' hands. If fighters are planning on dropping bombs (or rockets - not relevant in your scenario), attacking from directly astern gives the better chance of a hit. But again, if you are dropping bombs at anything you are probably too high up to show up in a waterline diorama... dropping explosives from a very low altitude is an excellent way of blowing your own plane's tail off. It's why retarded bombs were invented, but that is post-war.
I have a feeling that the most realistic setup of a plane directly attacking a waterline model is a kamikaze. They actually have a reason to get that close, other attacking planes frankly don't. Attacking from the stern would be easier, but that goes both ways (AA gunners have it easier that way too!) Broadside-on is a bit trickier but AA has a tougher time of it. Bow-on attack is tricky. Kamikaze attacks are preferably done at a pretty steep angle for speed.
As an aside, anti-aircraft guns tend to shoot at planes flying towards the ship. Once it's flying away it is no longer a threat and shooting at it is only likely to distract you from something that is.