How I Build Dioramas(step-by-step)

I just found another good reason to use foamboard.You can build your doors and windows to the exact size of the cutout that you use as a template, and then after it is sheathed on both sides ,you can easily recess the foam with a file and then fit in the wood edging.It makes for a super fit.
Cheers! .Happy New Year ! John.

Foamboard construction before sheathing and framing of walls.Note:the start of the foamboard workshop.The car gives a sense of scale(1/16th).Wall panels are screwed together at the corner posts.

Why not start a dorama today!
I would like to share with you the following.I found it shortly before starting my latest diorama.

Until one is committed,there is hesitancy,the chance to draw back,always ineffectivness,concerning all acts of initiative (and creation).There is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:that the moment one definitely commits oneself,then providence moves too.All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.A whole stream of events issues from the decision,raising in ones favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would come his way.Whatever you can do or dream you can,begin it.Boldness has genius,power ,and magic in it.Begin it now.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Cheers! John.

The above pic was taken about 11/2 years ago.Note how the roof trusses fit into the wall panels,the sheathing inside and out and wall framing.The office module has not yet been thought of.Do not glue trusses to side panel if you want the roof to be removable

Yesterday I put the hardware on the office door,hinges and door knobs.They are 1/12th scale exposed,strap type brass hinges but look great in 1/16th and are very easy to install.
Most of the office furniture is scaled down 1/12th stuff as well.The desk was reduced by removing the bottom 25% which was easy but the chairs require more work.Old style working lamps ,cabinet type radio and telephone are all within scale.The rest ,shelves etc... I will scratch build.
This idea of finishing off the modules first makes for a much more interesting build and is a great incentive to carry on.Most of the boring ,repetitive jobs are done so now it is mostly a lot of fun.Its all fun,it is just some parts are more fun than others. Cheers! John.

This is the only pic that I could find of the roof trusses peak blocks located between each truss at its highest point on the roof.Also visible are other blocks located between the trusses.These are glued in to create a one piece removable truss assembly.
The steel plates at the mid point of the horizontal beam  are actually made of wood,painted black and weathered to look slightly rusty(burnt sienna).The bolt heads are actually pins.The wood was painted nimbus grey with raw umber washes and then weathered with black , grey  and burnt sienna pastels.

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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)

Weathering wood:
I have found that using pastels is reall y the way to go when weathering wood to look like old barn siding.I use basically 3 colors.Black,medium grey and burnt sienna.
I prepare the raw wood(usually birch stir stiks)with a couple of thin washes of nimbus grey acrylic paint .Then a couple of washes of raw umber letting most of the original wood pattern show through.
I then do just about all my shading with the subtle use of the pastel colors.I like to shade in areas where dust and crud would gather such as in corners or between the boards.Here you will have to uyse your imagination or take examples from real life.
I am using small pins as nails for the battens on the roof that I am presently constructing ( see: http://www.wwi-models.org Galleries,JohnReid) I paint each nail head with a dot of burnt umber gesso followed by a coat of burnt sienna(for the rust)over that I use a subtle amount burnt sienna pastel for a rusty wood look.
Take your time,be subtle in your shading and you should be able to achieve great results.Cheers! John.

This is the completed L/H side on the roof (without weathering).There is a strip yet to add along the roof line.The garage entrance module has since been just about completed ,and the windows are now 12 individual panes instead of 4.The hanger door side racks still require some additional bracing which will be added later.As you can see the roof sign has been doubled in size.Through the garage doors you can just see the bottom of the workshops siding.The rear entrance/WC module is still in its early stages.

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The above 2 pics were taken at a very low sun angle to emphasize just how rough the sheathing is.Otherwise it would be too flat looking and not as interesting(another example of artistic licence)On the thinner tongue depressor boards, that you see here, they will warp like this just by painting your watery acrylics directly on the bare wood(do not seal the wood beforehand) With thicker woods such as popsicle stiks you can achieve the same effect by boiling them in hot water for awhile.Be prepared to lose 25% of the boards to extreme warpage if you boil them.All sheathing boards were painted prior to installation otherwise there is a great probability of the entire panel warping.What you see here is a couple of coats of Nimbus Grey.Later I will wash on some Raw Umber and begin my nail hole technique which I will explain later.This sheathing and weathering of such a large structure is long and painstaking but it is worth the effort in the end.I set aside most of one summer to do the job(cold beer helps)

The empty shell of the the hangar is now awaiting the installation of the removable workshop module, which is built up the same way with foamboard & wood sheathing.It was designed to be removable for maintenance purposes,bulb changing etc..

This pic shows the start of the workshop module in foamboard.Unfortunately ,I didnt take a pic of the base that the walls of the workshop attach to, but it is basically the same as the main building, only smaller.I planked the floor at a 45deg angle for visual interest.
Note the Jenny Canuck aircraft fuselage sitting in its building jig.One of the lower wings has been placed on the floor, on blocks, to give me an idea of clearances and where to exactly place the aircraft in the diorama.Although it is a large diorama, space is somewhat limited .I have yet to add another Jenny JN4 fuselage(with wings in racks along the wall) a airshow stunt car,a Model T Ford,2 Harley motorcycles and a airshow advertising trailer.
There will eventually be about 20 working light fixtures attached to the hangar horizontal crossbeams.The hole above the hangar door will serve 2 purposes ,one as a shuttered, fake hole for roof ventilation, and when opened up ,as a viewing hole where I will place a brass dedication plaque to my aviator father,
Group Captian J.W. (Windy) Reid, (D.F.C.(U.S.A.))to whom I owe my love of aviation.Cheers! John

Well things are slowing down to a crawl building the office module.Yesterday I made an old brass office clock out of bits and pieces I had lying around.Today I made an old candlestick telephone and put in the wiring for the telephone and some aluminium tubing for the electrical wiring.The office desk ,chairs,cabinet,table and radio are all ready for installation.
I plan to put one figure,the office manager and the dog in the office module.I think that I will have both dog and man looking through the door into the hangar to see whats going on.
All my figures, other than the central military party , will be looking in towards the action.Its not every day that you get to see a group of WW1 aces having a great time telling war stories of their days flying the Jenny!

The workshop after sheathing the walls.I thought that I would go horizontal here for visual interest.The windows are now 8 individual panes.The only finishing was a couple of thin coats of nimbus grey over the bare wood.Later pics will show it weathered with raw umber, washed and flicked on, and chaulk pastels of black ,browns and greys.

Today I hooked up the lighting in the office module.I put a ceiling fixture in the center of the ceiling and a nice brass lamp on the desk.I hooked them up to a 12v transformer and voila what a difference.Lighting really makes this type of diorama come to life.These dollhouse fixtures have screw in type bulbs which are readily available and easy to change when they burn out.I plan to make a switchboard where I can light up the individual modules or the whole thing.I am really looking forward to taking pics with the various intensities of lighting and from one area to another.I was at a miniaturists show years ago and what really struck me was a model where you could look from a dimly lit room into a brighter room and how it just gave a whole new sense of space and mood to the piece.
I am glad that I broke up the windows into small panes as it really makes for a more dramatic effect and does not obstruct the view.v

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Here is something I came across some years ago on recovering our sense of creativity.

About School:

He always wanted to say things.But no one understood.He always wanted to explain things.But no one cared.So he drew.
Sometimes he would just draw and it wasnt anything.He wanted to carve it in stone or write it in the sky.He would lie out on the grass and look up in the sky.It would be only him and the sky and the things inside that needed saying.
And it was after that ,that he drew the picture.It was a beautiful picture.He kept it under the pillow and would let no one see it.
And he would look at it every night and think about it.And when it was dark,and his eyes were closed,he could still see it.
And it was all of him.And he loved it.
When he started school he brought it with him.Not to show anyone,but just to have it with him like a friend.
It was funny about school.
He sat in a square,brown desk like all the other square,brown desks and thought it should be red.
And his room was a square,brown room.Like all the other rooms.
And it was tight,and close,and stiff.
He hated to hold the pencil and the chalk with his arm stiff and his feet flat on the floor,stiff,with the teacher watching and watching.
And then he had to write numbers.And they werent anything.They were worse than the letters that could be something if you put them together.
And the numbers were tight and square and he hated the whole thing.
The teacher came and spoke to him.She told him to wear a tie like all the other boys.He said he didnt like them and she said it didnt matter.
After that they drew.And he drew all yellow and it was the way he felt that morning.And it was beautiful.
The teacher came and smiled at him.Whats this? said she.Why dont you draw something like Kens drawing? Isnt it beautiful?
It was all questions.
After that his mother bought him a tie and he always drew airplanes and rocket ships like everyone else.
And he threw the old picture away.
And when he lay out alone looking at the sky,it was big and blue and all of everything,but he wasnt anymore.
He was square inside and brown,and his hands were stiff,he was like anyone else.And the thing inside him that needed saying didnt need saying anymore.
It had stopped pushing.It was crushed still.Like everything else.

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From an earlier post,on making leather seat cushions.
The seat cushions were made from kleenex tissues about 1/4in thick,soaked with a thin mix of carpenters glue and water.I then put them in a microwave oven for about 30 seconds until they puffed up and were dry.They were then laquered and painted.I used brown gesso and then a biege acrylic paint put on in thin layers and rubbed with my finger until they had a leatherly look.Then I subtlety weathered the whole assembly with brown,grey and black pastels.