How I build Dioramas part 2.

I have started a new thread over on The Aerodrome.com on building basic wood structures for dioramas.It is intended to be for modelers of all kinds who are not familiar with working with wood.
I will in the future also put it up here as well ,when I get all the bugs worked out.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/models/53240-basic-wood-structures-dioramas.html

Before going off to war,I am sure that one of the last things that our young airman would do would be to secure down his airplane.I have gone over this in my mind and thought what would he have done to accomplish this task.Would he have put the whole thing under tarps to protect it from the elements or would he leave it open and hope for the best?
Ideally he would have stored the whole thing in the garage but then we wouldn't have nothing to look at would we.The other option would be that they knew that he was on his way home and as a surprise his family took the tarps off.I could show the tarps rolled up and put off to one side to suggest this scenario.
The ropes as shown in the pic are home made linen line from my shipbuilding days and is a little fuzzy.A little wax run over the surface should cure that problem.This fuzz could also be removed prior to installation by lightly running a flame over it.

Cart made from old Ford Model A truck bed.

When chipping away at the landscaping trying to dig a hole for the wheel/grass areas ,I came to realize just how strong this sand/glue or earth/ glue mix really is.
Anything that you would want to build for strength or that you would want to look like real cement ,such as sidewalks,cement blocks etc..this technique would be worthwhile experimenting with.
For example ,when making a cement block you would make a simple form,it could be wood or something else and then insulate the form and the cement from one another using wax paper or other water impervious material so the two will not be glued together and the block could later easily be removed.The properties and color etc..of your materials can be chosen to represent real thing.(Landscaping suppliers have lots of choices)Fancier molds could also be made for miniature statues etc..
Check your piece that you want to represent for color ,texture etc..(sand and real earth are available in different textures and colors) and then mix up a batch as follows.
It is a good idea to sterilize anything that you take from nature so heat it up in the oven or BBQ until hot to kill any possible critters laying about.The longer you heat it in a BBQ and depending on the temperature you heat it to, the sand/earth can be made to vary in color from natural to black.
Cool and then take your baked earth/sand and mix it with alcohol (75%) until it is the consistency that you require or you could pour the dry material into the mold and then use an eye dropper to apply the alcohol until it is thoroughly damp.Take another dispenser,(I use a small plastic squeeze bottle for this) and then drip by drip thoroughly wet down your sand/earth/alcohol mix until it is wet with another mix of 75% water and 25% white carpenters glue.This mix could also be colored using water based acrylics.Let dry,remove it from the form and you will have imitation cement.Have fun!

pic courtesy of Achime Engles

100 years later,some things never change !

Please note:

The title of this piece has been changed to better reflect the real storyline line.I now call it "The Road Taken".
The poem written by Robert Frost "The Road Not Taken." was the inspiration for this piece.It is an old story told many times before, in many different ways ,about how we make changes in our lives,sometimes on the spur of the moment,that continue to affect us way down the road .
Our young aviator ,in my diorama,is standing at the crossroads,the same crossroads that he stood upon years earlier.He is now reflecting upon how that decision he made way back then is affecting his life now and how it will continue to affect his life in the future.
The underlying theme here is one of loss,loss of the innocence of our young aviator but also the loss of innocence of aviation itself.

At the end of one of his choices of roads to take, sits his homes garage.The sign could of been put up by his kids or his mom or even his dad.I wanted the sign to be really subtle as if someone took some glue and cardboard or paper and just pasted it there.I don't want it to be too obvious, more to catch the views eye on maybe the second pass over the scene.A kind of " Oh Look " moment.

Please note: the unusual shape of this garage door is because it used to have an arched doorway to a stable for horses.The addition of the later siding squared it off to unusual proportions.

A large scale diorama can be built for taking pictures of all types of models.They can be built expressly for that purpose or as in my case as a temporary backdrop before I ship it off.This backdrop was originally made for my airplane diorama "The Road Taken".The airplane has been temporary stored in my home and can be re-installed back in the diorama in as little as five minutes.Actually I have more fun taking pictures than the actual modeling and in some cases I like the pictures better than the model or diorama.Storyboarding using your own pictures is also a lot of fun too when using them in a picture book or album.In my case the storyboard albums will be for members of my family and friends because the real thing will be gone to a better home.
This thread is about ideas not a specific type or genre of modeling.Website owners please feel free to move it or delete it at your own discretion if you feel that it does not meet the standards of your site.I don't mind,honest !

Warning!! the next picture that you see may be disturbing to some viewers, yes it is a car. I used it here only for information purposes.Airplane,RR,figure guys etc...will just have to try to avoid looking at it ! Please let me explain.

The pic below depicts a car of course but it really could be anything.The point here is the backdrop and how it was used to create a little vignette within the larger diorama.
Here I have taken a 1/18th scale car and put it in a 1/16th scale diorama.By using camera angles,lighting,focus,forced perspective etc... I was able to create the illusion that it is all the same scale.
I deliberately selected a very shiny new car right out of the showroom for this example. Using proper lighting I was able to control any excessive shine which would otherwise only serve to make it look toy like.This is especially true of figures.You have to learn how to control the shine.Even in this picture it is still quite shiny but you should see it if I didn't play around with it a bit.
My technique is very simple, I just experiment and shoot lots of pics using different kinds of lighting.I have no professional equipment and I use a point and shoot camera.(In the old film days ,I wound be broke by now.)If you get 1 in 20 that looks good you will be lucky.Don't spend a lot of time and money on fancy equipment,you just don't need it.Most of my pics that I am taking now of an outdoor scene I just bounce the light off a white ceiling and use a hand held clip on light with a 60W bulb to produce shadows.Don't be afraid to keep moving the light around by hand until you get what your looking for.Sometimes an accidental shot will be the best of the bunch.
For my indoor shots in hangars etc.. I usually set up overhead lighting controlled by a rheostat especially when I am using figures to take advantage of the shadows that this produces, which is usually better than anything that I can paint on by hand.Simply underpaint only and play with the light to bring out the detail.In a controlled light setting this works very well.My figures for example look best indoors and in artificial light.Outdoors I have got to work a little harder but either way I am no Shep Paine with painting figures,that's for sure.

To make the scene look like it is all one scale there are a few things that can be played with.Camera angle is one.Low angle shots worked best in this case as it distorts the scale.Out of focus background also helps.Take shots that don't give it away.For example anything that is of readily known proportions like figures in the foreground or windows in the background must be used very carefully.In the above pic for example the fence can come in various sizes in real life but everyone knows the approximate size of a standard door or window from that era.

to be continued.......

pics above
Pic 1
-two guys standing in the door is an example of indoor overhead controlled lighting.Of course the painting could be better,especially the faces,but when viewed at a natural viewer distance in its protective case it looks just fine for my purposes.
Pic 2
-special lighting effects for photography can easily be set up.Here for example,the overhead hangar lights have been shut off and I simply shone a hand held light through the door and windows and moved it around to create interesting shadows.

I like to use colored loghts too.. Blue is especially effective for night scenes.

The facade lighting is from the empty space in the back of the diorama that is normally covered with plywood.Here I am just just a 60w bulb to see if any light is still shining through the bricks after I painted the other side black.
The rooms with closed drapes or blinds with be painted various colors on the board in back.This should give each room a different color glow when lighted.The open windows will either be covered with wallpaper or painted ,with maybe a picture or clock hanging on the wall for added interest.I will have to experiment a bit here with the colors and the intensity of the light.
Would my dollhouse friends who follow my posts have some good ideas on this ?
Maybe using LED's ?

Well guys and gals after ten years I have finished up my fourth and last aircraft diorama for the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.I will be closing my thread "How to Build Aircraft Dioramas" as that part of my modeling career is now behind me.I have accomplished the goals that I set out for myself all those years ago and I am very satisfied with the way things turned out.
I will be moving on and actually going back to my roots 65 years ago when I got my first electric train set, except this time the new thread will be "How to build Railroad Dioramas ".
It has been a lot of fun and I have learned a lot but there is no sense in keeping this thread alive.To wrap things up I will post some pictures later in a new thread of my stuff on display in Ottawa.
Your not going to get rid of me completely though, as I plan on still lurking around and will soon start a new thread on "How to Photograph Your Dioramas and Vignettes" .
Cheers! John.

Maybe using LED's ?

Ain't a "Dollhouse guy", but I lit a HUGE number of houses and stores back in my model RR days...

LEDs will give you plenty of light, but don't forget that you'll need to tie in 1/2-watt resistor... They WILL burn out if they too much current... But they last practically forever, otherwise... Grain-of-Wheat and the even smaller Grain-of-Rice bulbs will give a softer, yellower, more "room lamp" lighting effect though...  Trouble with those though is that they A; burn out eventually, and 2: are hard to replace unless you really plan ahead with the fixtures...

While the LEDs are easier to maintain and last longer, I still prefer the softer light of GoW and GoR bulbs for room-lighting....

Don't over-look the mini-lamps on Christmas lights either... They're a fast source of cheap lighting... They can be mounted with their sockets, or pulled out and soldered right to the wire.. They also work well for fiber-optic light-sources..