Thanks Ross! I will try to explain what these pics represent,starting from the top pics 1 thru 10.
pic 1: I usually start with a basic floor plan.In the case of my Albatros dio the size of the floor plan could easily be expanded to accomadate all the elements that I wanted to include but in the case of the Nieuport I wanted to confine it to the limited space of an old TV cabinet.
Once the basic size of the floor plan is worked out I take the plan view of the aircraft and position it where I think it will look best considering the angle or angles it mat be viewed from.Then I will arrange where the other elements of the dio will go including the workbenches,cars or trucks, figures etc..etc.At this point nothing is written in stone but it will give you a starting point.Next I will decide where I want the doors and windows and access panels.The Nieuport once it is installed in the cabinet is viewable only from the front but I have designed it so that it can still be taken out of the cabinet for maintenance or the taking of pics thru the access panels.
pic 2&3:Shows the basic structure.There are no windows in the piece because I wanted to experiment a bit with the lighting from both inside and outside the hangar.I left slight gaps between the boards and painted them black on the reverse side so that I could light up the interior thru the boards as though it was sunrise outside.Because of the confined space I could light up only one side and still fit the aircraft in the hangar and in the confines of the cabinet.For picture taking outside the cabinet I can light up the whole thing.For decorating the walls try to find something of interest as a focul point.For this piece it is the aircraft indentification chart on the back wall that seems to grab the most attention.You will notice that the interior has been weathered with only some final touches left to the end.
pic 4&5:Same views with the lights on.The interior lighting for this piece is quite simple.I used those Christmas type lights that they use to lights up those toy villages.I confined them in a box overhead at center stage and played around with the wattage until I got the right intensity(you can also experiment with clear or amber or other colored bulbs for different effects)
pic 6
verall view of the complete stage like setting awaiting its contents.
pics 7-10:these out of focus pics(funny they looked ok the night of the party) give you a blurry idea of what the finished piece will look like.I plan to have the green doored Albatros dio, turning at 1 Rpm, on a walnut base atop the cabinet.
The exterior view shows the wiring ,bulbs,and aluminum reflector plates etc...
I will send more pics in the future of the finished dio with the various lights turned on or off giving the different effects that can be achieved through lighting.Fun huh ! Cheers! John.