[JohnReid]

You know I have been wondering why more budding dioramists who have only very limited time to spend on their hobby(all too common in this crazy world of ours)dont consider using diecast airplanes in their dioramas.The RR and Auto guys do it all the time.
If our primary goal as dioramists is to "tell a story" ,to create a slice of life in a miniature setting ,why not use whatever we have at our disposal.Those who find pleasure in scratchbuilding can do so making scenes for their dioramas.
With a little modification or weathering some of the higher quality diecasts can be made to look quite good.The airplane really should be just another prop in the telling of our story,an important prop but a prop nonetheless.
I know as model builders it is sometimes hard to get our minds around something beyond just making our airplanes look as real as possible.But dont you think that we should have more of a "been there,done that" attitude and strike out to conquer new artistic territory.
If diorama making is really the artful placing of objects in a creative way, why not use diecast airplanes if we want to.I am sure that a lot of modelers give it up because they are striving for perfection, with limited time to devote to modeling and give up in frustration.I think that the RR guys have the right idea where "the build" is just one aspect of what they do to have fun.
That is what I like about diorama making.As I have said before you dont have to be the greatest builder,painter or whatever to do great dioramas.In fact proper lighting,composition,balance,creating a certain atmosphere,stage construction etc ect...all exciting and creative new skills come into play.Instead of worrying about the exact color or how many rivets, why not put the emphasis on your skills as an artist to raise emotions in the viewers of your work.Sure accuracy is important but is that where we all want to be headed? Where eventually we have a table full of perfect Spitfires all looking the same?where only judges and a few insiders know the difference? I suggest that this gets very boring after a while for most modelers and especially the viewers of our work.If we want to attract new and creative people to our hobby(especially the young) we will have to get beyond seeing table after table of nicely done (but dare I say somewhat boring)airplane models sitting in a row.Aviation in general just doesnt have the exciting aura that it used to .We see this even in other aviation artforms.I am afraid that we will all have to work a little harder as craftsmen/artists if we dont want to slip into irrelivancy.Just my 2 cents,climbing down from his soapbox.Cheers! John.