How I Build Dioramas(step-by-step)

JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, July 30, 2006 4:36 PM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, July 30, 2006 11:10 AM

The following was posted on a site that Paul Ondeck the owner of Model Celler Productions has recently joined.

Thumbs up Thanks Guys!
Paul Ondeck, I dont know who the artist is that developed your Billy B. and Eddie R. figures but he may like to know that those two figures were what inspired me to do the "Memories of Flight School " diorama.When I saw the Billy B "thumbs up" and the laughing Eddie R figures I just had to build a storyline around them.
As a dioramist I owe so much to those mostly unsung artists who contribute so greatly to my dioramas.Without them I wouln't be able to do what I do ,as miniature sculpting of the human figure is an artistic challenge that I have yet to take up.After I get this diorama thing out of my blood (if ever) I hope to join the ranks of miniature figures carvers using wood as my medium as that is the material that I am most familiar with.Anyway thanks again and keep those great figures coming as we dioramists need all the help we can get!
Cheers! John.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, July 30, 2006 9:45 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, July 29, 2006 3:28 PM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, July 29, 2006 11:15 AM

The Bonnie figure now has her arms.Her left arm was used as is but her right one required a little surgery.Neither arm has been permanently glued at this point.
As you can see ,I cut the right arm at the elbow and extended it .I sanded the joint and shaped it to conform to this new position.Because this arm was twisted as well as bent,I have had to change the musculature a bit.This new joint was drilled and pinned and then crazy glued together.Same procedure for the hand.
Now ,in order to sculpt the musculature I will use 2 part epoxy paste.I will over-build the areas that I want to sculpt and leave it to set for 24 hours.Because the arm is still free from the body this should not be too difficult.Also the hand requies some final shaping .
I will post a new pic after I have applied the 2 part epoxy .
Cheers! John.
The modeling is going a little slow these days as my 11 year old next door neighbour (he is like an adopted grandchild) is helping (?) me .He is a fast learner at modeling and flying computer games.He is already flying the Flight Simulator 2000,Concorde and all!

-----

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, July 29, 2006 10:33 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Friday, July 28, 2006 9:21 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Friday, July 28, 2006 9:09 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, July 27, 2006 5:04 PM

Well I can understand Clyde being a little ticked off at Bonnie's sudden departure but the scowl on Bonnie's face and especially the cigar will have to go.
I already have a rough idea of how I want to position them in the diorama but nothing is final yet.
I have already worked on Clyde's body and have begun painting it.I will simply replace the gun with a rope or chain that he will be unloading from the back of the truck.
Bonnie on the other hand is going to require a little work.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, July 27, 2006 4:19 PM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, July 27, 2006 4:12 PM

Well it's back to figures for awhile.The first of the above 2 pics is a figure of John Dillenger by Legends and Lore.The 2nd pic is of Mr. Dillon my office manager.
As you can see the machine gun was replaced with a large ledger(a little distorted by the scanner but you get the idea)His other hand holding the hand gun was cut at the elbow and dropped to his side and the gun was removed.Very little else had to be modified other than colors.
The next pic that I will put up will be of Bonnie and Clyde the famous bank robbers.I will try to explain how I will go about modifing them .Clyde and Bonnie will have split up and she has become the barnstormers girlfriend.(Ah, those dashing pilots always get the girl don't they) Clyde will become the truck driver unloading a rope or chain from the back of the truck.I am doing these figures now as they will be placed in or around the red truck that I am presently weathering.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, July 27, 2006 3:46 PM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, July 27, 2006 3:35 PM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, July 27, 2006 9:38 AM

The above 2 pics are of two great dioramas the subjects of which contain the same basic elements :airplanes,ground equipment,,figures and even horses but are at the opposite ends on the activity scale.The flying model diorama in 1/32 scale by Per Olavlund is an action filled scene of trench warfare in WW1.Very dramatic and well executed. The second diorama, in 1/72 scale, is by Karen Rychlewski.It depicts a picture taking session during WW1 and is totally believable because all activity would be expected to be stopped for taking this shot especially using such old photo equipement.
These are 2 wonderful examples of the dioramists skills.
Cheers! John.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, July 27, 2006 9:11 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, July 27, 2006 9:02 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 7:42 PM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Monday, July 24, 2006 2:17 PM

The above 2 pics show some of the plastic brass painted parts from the kit.The first pic of various parts are as they come out of the box.To age brass I simply airbrush a fine mist of thin black gesso on the bare parts.I use gesso because it sticks to about anything and dries to a flat finish.I wouln't attempt doing this with anything else other than gesso.
The bottom pic shows the windshield/firewall assembly weathered in this manner.The firewall has been aged more than the windshield frame.You will have to experiment a bit here to please yourself.If you put on too much take a wet paper towel and remove it and try again.
For those of you who do not have an airbrush,take an old toothbrush at dunk it in a thin mix of Gesso and distilled water and finger flick(my term) a fine spray of this mix onto the part.Start by finger spraying onto a plain piece of paper and when the spray is fine enough start spraying the part.If you are careful and patient this will do the job as well as any airbrush.It will just take a little longer.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Monday, July 24, 2006 9:39 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Monday, July 24, 2006 9:27 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, July 23, 2006 2:28 PM

I am sorry guys if I don't get much of an opportunity to get more involved in the day to day conversations on the individual websites that I try to make a contribution to, on almost a daily basis.I really would like to get more involved with each site but that is not possible and get any building done too.I try to answer any questions I receive as soon as possible.I am sure that you guys understand that my primary interest in all this is promotioning the building of dioramas.
Because I contribute to airplane,car,figure,RR,diecast and ship modeling sites some overlap in generes is enevitable but most posting are usually of some interest to modelers in general.
I dont expect a lot of replies because of my lack of invovlment in the day to day threads but I do know that you guys are out there by the increasing number of hits that I get on the various websites.But my best reward is seeing the rising interest in dioramas of all kinds and to have known that I have had a small part in that.
Cheers! John.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, July 22, 2006 2:05 PM

Diecasts or Plastic?

Somewhere down the road I plan to build another showcar from a plastic kit.At that time I will review my methods of weathering on plastic.I have done both and really dont prefer one or the other as they both have their pluses and minuses.
There is a little more work involved in breaking down a diecast into its various pieces and keeping a track of how you did it(recommended) but usually all the fitting problems have already been done for you.There is seldom any need for filler except for the odd casting line.You dont need a lot of glue except for the plastic parts as most diecasts are put together using screws.On the other hand you have to be willing to screw up that nice shiny surface ,the one that you try so hard to obtain on the plastic kits.
Diecasts are now made in many scales besides the usual aircraft and car scales.You can find 1/24 and 1/16th fire trucks from 1914-75,Trucks of all types in 1/53,motorcycles in 1/10 and 1/12,Tractors in 1/16,construction equipement in 1/50,Municiple trucks in 1/34,Heavy trucks in 1/16 from 1940-75 and so on.Even Zamboni ice machines! And the list is growing every year.
This is great news for dioramists of all generes.

___

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, July 22, 2006 9:26 AM

This works well for either aircraft or car rubber wheels.

The above 3 pics are of a wheel that I weathered this PM.Thie first pic is of the untouched wheel.The second was after using a burr and painting with a mix of Matte medium mixed with a little distilled water and a little touch of raw umber in multiple coats.The last pic is after using black ,grey and burnt sienna pastels.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, July 22, 2006 9:16 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, July 22, 2006 9:09 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, July 22, 2006 9:03 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Friday, July 21, 2006 10:06 AM

Here are some of the burrs that I use for very fine sanding of the enamel surfaces of diecasts.On wood they are used as polishers.I think that they are abrasive/rubber of some kind.They are available at most stores that sell Dremel tools or from woodcarvers supply.You will need to experiment a bit here but usually the finest grit works best on enamel.The last burr on the right is a ruby burr of fine grit used to quickly remove some rubber on the tires ,also available at woodcarvers stores.
The 2nd to last burr was used to polish the rubber and remove fuzz.The final step is to use a #11 xacto on edge as a scraper to remove any fine residue.Wash with soap and water and you are now ready to paint.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Friday, July 21, 2006 9:41 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Friday, July 21, 2006 9:22 AM

Weathering rubber tires

Those nice new white rubber tires will require a little weathering to bring them up to standard which by 1925 was a greyish-black ,I think.
The top 2 tires have been worn down using a ruby burr and polisher in my rotary tool.The same thing can be accomplished using sandpaper but would take a lot longer.
Now I have a choice of either painting the tire with black gesso and then lightening with grey pastels or painting them with grey gesso and darkening with black pastels.In this case if I paint the tires black and then lighten them with various shades of grey pastels it should give me more options of coloration.I can even drybrush a little acrylic on the treads for emphasis.

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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JohnReid

Member since
February 2004
From: Montreal/Canada

Posted by JohnReid on Friday, July 21, 2006 8:53 AM

Guide my hand in your work today.JWRR. My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. My Photoshop: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

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