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How I Build Dioramas(step-by-step)

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  • Member since
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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, April 23, 2006 7:00 PM
Everything is back to normal, in fact the accident helped me to finally figure out how I am going to secure the Canuck to the hangar floor.
I have often seen in pics when an old airplane was in the shop getting the wheels fixed ,they often secured a temporary wooden wheel to the axle.In this diorama, I could show a simple wheel change going on, and use one of these wooden wheels to drill a hole in and thereby be able to secure a bolt through the floor.The main weight of the model is in the metal engine so the U/C will bear most of this weight .
The wing tips and tail will be fastened down with screw jacks of my own design, much like I had on the Neiuport 28.
Jenny looks so good sitting on her gear that it has convinced me to keep the clutter in this diorama to a minimum unlike the Neiuport that was filled with stuff.I will put in enough to make it interesting but nothing to detract from the airplane and main figure group.Everything else will have to go outside around the hangar and ramp area.The future engine shop will have lots of junk hanging around to make up for it and maybe a little junkyard of its own to have fun weathering.
Man I love this stuff.One day your down cuzz ya screwed up and the next your back on top again because the old girl looks wonderful sitting there in her hangar.
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
JohnReid (Aviator)
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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Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, April 23, 2006 9:07 AM
I have received a bunch of 1/16th plastic and resin figures that I will soon be painting with acrylics.I will be offering a tutorial on" how I paint figures" in the near future, when the weather gets a little warmer and I can paint outdoors.My method is based upon waterbased acrylics using artist's type paints and brushes.Dont let the word" Art" scare you as this method is actually easier than most!
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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Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, April 23, 2006 8:09 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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Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, April 22, 2006 7:36 PM
Almost on her gear!
Well I made the modelers fatal mistake,trying to rush to finish something.In doing so I tried to force something and ended up crushing one of the spoked wheels.Now I have to trade a towbar wheel for an aircraft wheel and rebuilt the other and re-paint them both. Jeez,I should know better by now.One consulation is that the gear is still level and I didnt manage to screw up the whole undercarriage.Tomorrow looks like a day of re-building.
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
JohnReid (Aviator)
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/
  • Member since
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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, April 22, 2006 12:53 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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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Friday, April 21, 2006 10:16 AM
A Day at the Races."The Calm Before the Storm"
I am now in the planning stages of a new diorama based upon the air racers of the 20-30s era.They will be solid wood models in 1/16th scale but in a diorama setting.I will be using a lot of the techniques that I learned as a decorative bird carver in a somewhat new type of construction.I have been mulling this over for sometime now and I have decided to set out in a new direction.
I have always admired the work of Syl Kill and others that I have seen in the book "Scratchbuilt" and at the Smithsonian but I have never seen them in a diorama setting.
I will be using the Williams Bros. plastic kits as reference materials for the aircraft plus whatever other info I can find.If anyone has any idea of the accuracy of these kits please let me know your opinions.
I will be doing a step by step tutorial of all this starting with the research.When the Jenny is finished in the Fall (I hope) I plan to get the actual build underway.
Cheers! John.
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
JohnReid (Aviator)
Guide my hand in your work today.
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/
  • Member since
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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Friday, April 21, 2006 8:02 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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Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, April 20, 2006 7:21 PM
I never did get Jenny out of her jig today as I got side tracked and built a wheeled towbar instead.There was a nice pic of a German towbar from WW1 in a book that I was reading, and it looked like it wouldnt be hard to build, so I took the spare set of Jenny spoked wheels that I had and made my own version.From what I have seen, in my research, these towbars would be made from materials that could be laying around any hangars scrap yard.They were of no particular design and varied a lot from place to place.Tomorrow I will paint and weathered it and then maybe finally get Jenny on her gear.
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/
  • Member since
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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, April 20, 2006 8:35 AM

Jenny's OX5

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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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, April 20, 2006 8:01 AM
Back to the Canuck
I have built a storage rack for the Jenny A's damaged R/H wing assemblies,to be put up along the hangar wall.
The A's fuselage has been set on wooden blocks and the tail raised to flying position and is resting upon a couple of old wooden boxes.
It is now time to get the Canuck on her gear and out of the jig.The airplane will have to be secured to the hangar floor via saw horses and the like because the wheels are just too delicate and fragile to be screwed down in the usual manner.The Albatros wheels were canvas covered and were easily secured.On the Neiuport I used a screwjack and chains for this purpose.Today I will design and build a combo work table-step ladder assembly to secure the airplane to the floor as well as provide for the workers easy access to the airplanes structure.
This next little while will be an exciting time to see the Canuck in its final position and secured to the hangar floor.Patience is truly a virtue in this business.
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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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 8:46 AM

Here is a couple of my Hangar Queens!

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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Posted by JohnReid on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:21 PM
I am planning to do my next diorama in 1/32 scale.It will be a mixed media piece using Williams Bros. racers.I bought all the airplanes and figures a few years ago and I think I am ready now for something different.This diorama will be either a hangar type setting or something with grandstands or the like.It will not document any particular race or event but will will be just a typical day at the air races in the 20-30s timeperiod.
I am looking for ideas ,suggestions or advice from anyone who may be familiar with either these Williams Bros. kits or old time air racing in general.Thanks!
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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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Monday, April 17, 2006 7:58 PM
Downsizing again.
After finishing only 2 wing panels I have come to realize that there is just no way that I am going to have room in the hangar for much more than I have built to date,the 2nd fuselage and 2 wing panels.If I build all 4 wing panels they will never be seen just stacked against the wall.Same problem with the huge horiz. stab -elevator assembly.The Jenny is a large airplane and requires a certain space surrouding it to look good, otherwise things will get just too cluttered.In the end I may build some of these panels and store them on the outside of the hangar in some kind of a scrap area.From what I have built already I think that the viewer will get the idea of one airplane be robbed of parts to build another.
As of right now I have about a dozen figures to go in and around the hangar .There will be 5-6 military types and the rest various civilians, both barnstormer pilots and others.
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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Posted by JohnReid on Monday, April 17, 2006 8:11 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/
  • Member since
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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, April 16, 2006 9:37 AM
You guys who have been following my thread for awhile have probably seen these pics before.
The reason that I am posting them is just to remind you who are hesitating on getting invovled and any newcomers just how easy it is to do a simple diorama.
If you can build a box you can do a diorama.This was my first attempt and there is nothing difficult here.The wood that I used is cheap and available anywhere.Ordinary pine from the lumber store and tongue depressors,popsicle stiks and coffee stir sticks.Cardboard over a foamboard core and a little plexiglass.The lighting is cheap RR stuff with a second hand transformer and brass xmas lights for fixtures.The signs are all off the internet.No power tools were used in its construction and the paint is readily available acrylics .Most of the furniture is roughly built shop type mostly with all 90 deg cuts.The subject matter is my personal choice but even some modern airplanes are housed in old hangars.The rest is up to your imagination.I only am using airplanes here as an example because that is what I am most familiar with but the whole world is open to diorama making.
Please make that first step.Get a piece of paper and write down some ideas.We all have interesting stories to tell from reality or our imagination and dioramas are a wonderful way to get it down.Remember if you dont,it will be lost forever.


The idea can be quite simple and is usually more powerful if it is.It was funny but when I went to that miniature show last weekend a funny thing happened.In amoung all the elaborate and expensive dollhouses which I am afraid all looked the same to me and quite frankly were a little boring, some one had done a simple shadow box probably no more than about 3-4 inches deep.
It was quite simply done but it struck me right away and I havent been able to get it out of my mind.It was 3 figures in an art gallery facing the art hung on a wall.Their backs were to the viewer looking at the art.The positioning of the figures and the lighting was just great and there was just something about it that drew you into the scene.I think that it was about 1/24 scale and I even recognized the figures used as commercially available.
A funny thing happened later as I was browsing around.I met a fellow artist who used to teach art with me years ago and while we were chatting she said to me out of the blue "Did you see that shadow box piece about the art gallery".Funny how good art just seems to cry out to the viewer.
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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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, April 16, 2006 8:14 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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Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, April 16, 2006 7:24 AM
The above pics of the Albatros diorama were taken through the hangar windows with my trusty spy cam The tail has been elevated to flight position thereby necessiating the use of sandbags to add weight to the tail .As you can see the rudder and elevator are metal and counterbalanced and the fuselage is of monococque type condtruction with a plywood skin, all pretty advanced stuff for its day.It looks to me that this airplane could probably sustain a lot of damage and still bring the pilot home alive for another evenings enjoyment at the officers mess.
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
JohnReid (Aviator)
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/
  • Member since
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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Sunday, April 16, 2006 6:53 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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Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, April 15, 2006 5:57 PM
Fred Christensen
Died the other day at 84.He was famous for always flying with his Black cat Sinbad through 24 victories over Axis aircraft and had a total of 107 combat missions during WW2.He flew P47 Thunderbolts and shot down 6 airplanes in one day.When a photographer tried to get a picture of Sinbad he kept leaping amoung the parachutes.That day, it was said, that all the pilots whose gear Sinbad had touched returned with air victories that day,thereby increasing the cats legend.Fred was also known to bring home animals that he found on the runway,Owls,seagulls,turtles and they would live on his porch until they were healed and returned to the wild.Sounds to me like an interesting guy.
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in
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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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, April 15, 2006 5:51 PM
Died the other day at 84.He was famous for always flying with his Black cat Sinbad through 24 victories over Axis aircraft and had a total of 107 combat missions during WW2.He flew P47 Thunderbolts and shot down 6 airplanes in one day.When a photographer tried to get a picture of Sinbad he kept leaping amoung the parachutes.That day, it was said, that all the pilots whose gear Sinbad had touched returned with air victories that day,thereby increasing the cats legend.Fred was also known to bring home animals that he found on the runway,Owls,seagulls,turtles and they would live on his porch until they were healed and returned to the wild.Sounds to me like an interesting guy.
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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Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, April 15, 2006 9:44 AM
DH4 Wings
This set of DH4 wings I find interesting for 2 reasons.
First, it gives a very good idea of how to rig the Jenny 4A double aileron wings using steel cables instead of struts.
Second, it shows one of two methods used to rig the wings .Here the wings have been rigged seperately from the airplane and were installed as a complete unit with only fine tuning of the rigging to be completed after installation..The other method was to build up the wings on the airplane itself by assembling the upper panels to the center section and then complete the assembly.
The first method was considered the better ,as it permitted the setting of the main panels at the correct stagger and dihedral,requiring less later adjustment than the second method.
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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Posted by JohnReid on Saturday, April 15, 2006 9:05 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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Posted by JohnReid on Friday, April 14, 2006 9:26 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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Posted by JohnReid on Friday, April 14, 2006 9:01 AM
Wash in-Wash out
Here is an interesting little tidbit of aviation history that you don't hear much about these days.
When rigging old biplanes and especially the old small monoplanes, prop torque was compensated for by changing the angle of incidence of the wings.
I remember first hearing of this back during the 60s when we were building the TravelAir .
In rigging the Jenny a lot off these old terms are now coming back to me and I was wondering if this term is still used by aeronautical engineers and is torque still compensated for in this way in more modern airplanes?Anyway it makes a good trivia question?
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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Posted by JohnReid on Friday, April 14, 2006 8:29 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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Posted by JohnReid on Thursday, April 13, 2006 7:46 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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Posted by JohnReid on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 6:21 PM

Dep type control wheel

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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Posted by JohnReid on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 6:03 PM
Top R/H Wing

Jenny's top R/H wing is finished and ready for fabric covering .This panel will also have wingtip damage.I have not yet decided whether or not to finish the other set of wing panels.I think that I will wait to see how much room there will be left in hangar after the vert. and Horiz. stabs, fin and ailerons are finished.
In the diorama story ,the missing wings could have been used on the Canuck although the airfoil would have been slightly different .It is more important at this point to show the radically different stabs between the Canuck and JN4A.I will post a diagram that I have of the dep type control wheel that was used in the early 4A's.
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
JohnReid (Aviator)
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/
  • Member since
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  • From: Montreal/Canada
Posted by JohnReid on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 7:30 AM
"On Miniature Wings" NASM
I picked up a great book at the Ottawa museum called "On Miniature Wings." by Thomas J. Dietz.It contains some really beautiful pics of model aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum.Published in 1995 I picked up mine for less than 10 bucks Canadian.
I was surpised but in amoung all the mostly 1/16th scratchbuilt models there was one diorama.It is a great diorama but the interesting thing is the diorama is 1/72 scale and contains 4 plastic aircraft models of the Douglas World Cruiser.In addition there are building and other elements from model RR scenery.
Most casual observers would not recognize the significance of this but as a dioramist it means acceptance of our artform by one of the worlds great institutions, The Smithsonian. Plastic airplanes in diorama settings are acceptable as works of art even though they may contain commercially available models.
I dont know about you but I would consider it a great honor to have one of my works accepted there.So my diorama modeling friends, who amoung you (especially Americans) will be the next to elevate their plastic models to the Smithsonian .Like someone said you might as well shoot for the moon because if you fail you will only land amoung the stars.
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/
  • Member since
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Posted by JohnReid on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 8:47 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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