How to Build Aircraft Dioramas

[JohnReid]

the rear entrance in foamboard

[JohnReid]

from the other side,the foamboard rear enterance,WC and coal storage area

[JohnReid]

Garage door opening

[JohnReid]

Main hangar doors

[JohnReid]

Interior workshop through front hangar doors

[JohnReid]

view through garage doors,past the workshop to the office module front wall.A distance of about 5 feet!

Edited October 17, 2005 by JohnReid

[JohnReid]

series of unfinished heads giving you an idea of the effects of proper lighting

[JohnReid]

series of signs yet to be weathered

[JohnReid]

this is what happens in Canada if you dont pass your flight school

(WW1 U.S. Army uniform)

Edited October 17, 2005 by JohnReid

[JohnReid]

Looks like the St. Valentines massacre.

These are a few of the bodies about 90% finished.It gives you an idea of the effect of overhead lighting.

[JohnReid]

WW1 RFC uniform

[JohnReid]

Last pic for now,same guys front view.(before they were asked to turn around)

Edited October 17, 2005 by JohnReid

[JohnReid]

This is my Toronto airport reference

[I.Illes]

John, this is ...wow?! Amazing work! Thanks for sharing! ;) :lol:

István

[JohnReid]

This is a lot of fun to do.As far as I know ,I am the first one to take what the doll house guys and gals(miniaturists) do, and the dioramists and shadow boxers do, and bring them both together to create something like a 5 sided shadow box in one self-contained unit.

I got the idea after attending a miniaturists show many years ago.The larger scale appealed to me and the fact that you could put many years work into just one piece working in all of the details.

It is almost like building the real thing.Years ago someone told me that the secret to all of this was, to concentrate on the single piece that you are doing each day as it was a sculpture in and of itself.Then when you put all these little scuptures together into one big piece, you will be happy with the results.Sure there are some parts that are really boring to do, but I have talked to other artists who do detail work, and they complain about the same thing.Wildlife artists paint each hair ,bird sculpturers carve,texture ,burn and paint each feather.(one of my former hobbies).For all the boring jobs however, there are those moments that we all live for when we have a new idea or a new way of doing things.The very act of creation is what ,in the end, keeps you going.In fact ,after awhile you cant live without having this creativity in your life.

I figure that I have about another year to go to complete this project.This is the fun time now when you start actually putting things together for the final time,knowing that anything you add now will be staying there.It is also a time when you really have to concentrate on composition.(That is why my figures will remain headless until I figure out their final position and how they will relate to one another.)Often I will just sit back and try to figure out where everything will go.Then I will try this or that and sometimes hours are spent just on re-arranging things.In the end, it is the little things that make all the difference.(For example the spilled nuts and bolts on the floor of my Neiuport diorama, which came about purely by accident.)These planned ideas or" Happy Accidents" are what gives a piece that magical quality.Guilding the lily so to speak.For me,this quiet time alone concentrating on composition is more productive than all of the actual building time.

Cheers! John.

Edited October 18, 2005 by JohnReid

[JohnReid]

The figures in the pics are all by The Model Cellar.They are great 120mm figures ,very clean and with super detail.They specialize in WW1 fiqures and offer other scales too.They come in pieces and are not painted. They can be adapted to different poses using epoxy putty.I used them as is, except for the barons figure, which I converted to a 20s barnstormer by modifying the uniform and using the helmeted head.

I painted mine using Jo Sonja acrylics over thinned down Liquitex gesso.

Their email:

http://www.modelcellar.com

Cheers! John

[JohnReid]

For all the latest pics go to

http://www.wwi-models.org/Images/Reid/index.html

Cheers! John. :D

Edited October 21, 2005 by JohnReid

[JohnReid]

In the belief that a little cross-fertilization is good for us all,I have joined the Railroad Line Forums.This is a super resource for anyone doing dioramas,scratchbuilding or modeling in general.These guys are masters of the scenic diorama and have been doing it for a long time.There is much to be learned from the RR guys.

In regards to my present project,the hangar doors are finished and I have begun to paint them green ,the same color as the trim and main doors(Pine Green).

I changed my mind and decided to add more visual interest ,by sheathing the doors both inside and out with popsicle stik boards.The exterior was divided horizontally into two sections and the boards placed at 45 deg running in opposite directions, as you often see on barn doors.The interior boards are laid horizortally so that they direct the eye towards the interior of the hangar.

The next step will be to permanently fasten down these garage doors to the module and fake the hinges.I will also have to decide the final position of the model T and provide for it to be fastened down to the module.

Cheers! John.

"The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."

Francis Bacon.

T

[JohnReid]

Maybe I am carrying this cross-fertilization thing too far but if you guys would like to see a diorama that took me 15 years (about 6000 hrs shoptime) to build go to :

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/mi...ctory-main.html

Cheers! John.

Edited October 25, 2005 by JohnReid

[JohnReid]

Hi guys! I thought that it was a good time to post the Victory pictures in that it is now 200 years the other day ,since that epic battle took place.It was probably the most decisive battle in naval history and ended Napoleons plans to conquer the world.

Indirectly it was this battle that got me into modeling.When my dad was off to war for 5 years ,I was raised by my grandmother who was a late Victorian and always spoke of the sea,Nelson and the sun never setting on the British Empire.She would take me for walks along Lake Ontario's shores ,in a city that is filled with naval history ,Kingston ,and that is how I fell in love with the sea.

Thirty years later,I passed a hobby store window and although I was ,at the time ,almost totally immersed in aviation,I just had to build the HMS Victory that I saw there.At the time I knew nothing about old ships but I was soon to learn.

I think that I will post a new thread on what are your earliest memories that may have sparked your future interest in modeling?I am sure that there must be some interesting stories out there.What or who sparked that interest that made you the modeler that you are today?

Cheers! John.

My Stuff:

http://www.wwi-models.org/Images/Reid/index.html

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/mi...tory-index.html

This post has been edited by John

[JohnReid]

I am presently finishing off the garage door/Model T module.Everything in wood has been weathered using my standard method of acrylics followed by pastels .

I made up some wheel chocks and will drill some holes in them that will provide for a black wire that will run down through the floor to secure the Model T to the module.

The garage doors are finished and awaiting final positioning, these will be secured to the module floor with small dowels.The only other thing that I will add to the module will be a couple of posts to hitch the swinging doors to.The door hinges will be fake as they are not operational nor are they even attached to the hangar.

I am undecided about if I should weather the car now or leave it until final installation.The cars left front tire has been left hanging over the sloping ramp so that no jack is required to change the tire.I may leave a wrench or two in this area if it is not too distracting. There is lots of room around the car for sight lines into the hangar, and the doors sort of act as a shadow box reveal, inviting the viewer to look inside.

Cheers! John.

"And let's get one thing straight.There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator.One is a technician;the other is an artist in love with flight."

E.B. Jeppesen.

[JohnReid]

I am publishing new pics of all my dioramas over in the Classis aircraft section.

Cheers! John.

[Wing_Nut]

I'm soooo surprised there aren't more responses to your postings . . . . they are nothing short of brilliant Mr Reid!!!

I've recently been "looking over the fence" at other "related" hobbies, two of which you mentioned above, model railroading and ship building. By looking into these, for me, it's as if a veil has been lifted and i can clearly see what the potential of this hobby truly is. I was so tunnel-visioned on just plastic aircraft models that i unconsciously excluded all the other techniques available to us in different forms. You've definately got the right idea and i'm just starting to dig in and couldn't be more excited about the potential.

Your work is very inspiring and i, for one, am grateful that you take the time to share this information freely with the rest of us.

B)

[JohnReid]

Yeah Brian ,it seems that the aircraft guys are the hardest to get invovled in dioramas.When they think of dioramas it usually is limited to the base or how to show the aircraft in the best possible way.But dioramas are so much more than that.I am hoping that through my postings that I can raise the awareness of my fellow modelers in what I consider an artform.Thanks for your kinds words.Cheers! John.

[Wing_Nut]

I've been coming to that realization recently, but your postings and that of others in this forum is reinforcing it. I've got sooooo many ideas right now that i just need to grab a hold of one and run with it.

The Railroad Line Forums you mentioned is fantasic, especially the Startin' From Scratch category.

And your HMS Victory . . . insane I visited Mystic Seaport last year and there are some amazing model ships in and around the museum and having seen them first hand, i can appreciate the superhuman effort involved in completing the rigging. Bravo!!