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How to Build Aircraft Dioramas


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Sorry to hear of the RR diorama problems..shame that all that hard work wil go unseen by others thta have not seen it...

is there no where where it can be housed ..

And your tips on how to do the leaves is great .

good work.

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The Hand of the Small Scale Modeler.

As you guys know I don't do small scale WW 1 models, mainly because I gave it the old collage try and flunked.

But here is an idea that I would love to do if I could, so I am passing it on to you guys for your consideration.Maybe it has been done before but not to my knowledge and surely not in the WW1 genre.It would only really work in small scale.

You could sculpt the hand or much simpler modify an old mannequin hand and paint or bronze it to suit your purposes.Rest the airplane upon the upturned palm and viola you have an interesting piece.It would not only give real meaning to the small scale but also be a testament about what a small scale modeler can accomplish with his hands.

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More on modules.

A few posts ago I mentioned something about building layouts and large dioramas using modules.

I was back in the same hobby store yesterday and made some more inquiries .Evidently,they had two scales on display there "N" (very small scale) and "H" (larger).Someone had the foresight to do the "N" scale in modules and they moved it out in a single morning.Unfortunately the "H" scale will have to be busted up.They are going to try to preserve portions of it if they can.

With all the modern electrical fixtures ,quick dis-connects etc... there should be no excuse for this in the future.With a little planning in the beginning this hassle could have been avoided .

On a more personal level I am sure that a lot of families would love to be spared the agony of putting Uncle Joe's or Grandpa Jim's layout in the garbage because it is just too big and difficult to move.A lot of these decisions have to be made quickly at a very bad time in people's lives and some very fine work and in some cases real artwork is lost forever.

Modules could be built as separate dioramas each with its own little story and complete scene that when put together makes for an even bigger story.

Take nice overall pics of the huge layout as it once was and then create a picture book for your each modular section that could go with it to its new home.Even museums could make a very nice display of your work and put it in context for the viewer without have to find space for the whole thing.

Maybe it is because I am going on 71 now and these things have become more important to me.We all get old some day and faster than you think,believe me.This may not be important to you now but maybe someday it will.Do your family a favor and plan ahead.

Someday layouts will be as rare as old baseball cards are today and probably just as valuable.Lets face it we are in the golden age of modeling when old farts like me are realizing their boyhood dreams and have the money to do so.What I could buy with my allowance as a kid is history now.Times change rapidly today and a lot of stuff competes for our attention and money.

Personally I don't do large layouts but I do large aircraft dioramas in modular form and donate them to Canada Aviation Museum.Even if there comes a time that that they no longer want them chances are the airplane models themselves will survive as historical examples or maybe in a future collectors home.I feel good to at least have given my stuff a survival plan.

Nothing is forever but humans have since ancient times loved models of all kinds and probably will continue to do so.Kids never change and future imaginations will thank you for it and so will the memories of future older folk too .

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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.

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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.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have been giving this whole tarp thing some thought and tried to think how I would go about trying to protect my airplane from the elements.

The first thing to do would be to secure down the aircraft at at least 4 different points.Nose wheel,tail and wingtips ,as well as support those long fragile wings.

The wings could sit on saw horses with large tarp envelops covering them,same thing for the tail and nose assemblies.In this way they would be isolated from the damp ground and the grass would still get enough light to continue growing under them.It is only under the engine area that I could leave things a little muddy.Luckily the airplane is standing on sloping ,well drained terrain.

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I have decided to put the cart in the background out of the way.Whenever I see the airplane sitting there it seems to have a surprising amount of movement built into it already.therefore I don't want to physically tie the aircraft to the ground in any way and spoil the illusion.A few properly placed ropes and stakes etc.. should be enough.

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I think that I have found the easiest solution to the landscaping problem.

I will simply put a few tufts of long grass around the wheels and a small bare earth area under the engine/radiator area.

My reasoning is as follows,if the wings, tail and nose areas were covered with envelope type tarps then grass would grow and could still be maintained (cut) under the aircraft.Only the wheels would be difficult to cut around . That solves two problems ,one how to maintain the illusion of movement and two how to make it look like the aircraft has not been moved for some time.Even one blade of tall grass hitting a wing would spoil it.

An old type push lawnmower could be maneuvered in such a way as to keep the grass trim while our hero was away or it could have been cut in anticipation of his arrival home.There will be a "welcome home" sign somewhere that will indicate that he was already expected to arrive that day but they just didn't know when.

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