HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

JohnReid · 9 April 2006, 05:47 PM

Jeez,now he is on the darn roof!

JohnReid · 10 April 2006, 05:53 AM

Hi Guys! Didnt get much done on Jenny this weekend as I attended a couple of shows one was a model ship exposition and the other a miniaturist-dollhouse show and sale.
The ship modelers seem to be increasing in numbers with all the retirees these days but I still wonder about the future of our hobby as I see very few kids in the hobby stores.Maybe we are living in some kind of modelers goldenage .
The miniaturists show was interesting and a good source for me of some miniature tools but you really have to watch for scale as they are supposed to be 1/12th but vary a lot by manufacturer.Most 1:1 tools come in a variety of sizes so a lot of them work for 1/16th.
One thing I did notice was the prices!Jeez,if you think our hobby is expensive, think again.For the accuracy and quality that we demand,there really is no comparison.Some people invest thousands of dollars in their dollhouses and you would be surprised how fast a thousand buck could go at one of these shows.There must be a lot of rich little old ladies running around out there to support this hobby.They think nothing about spending $150.00 bucks for a 1/12th scale frig or stove or whatever.

JohnReid · 10 April 2006, 06:40 AM

I see a lot of poorly carved wooden and painted plastic props these days.Remember that a prop is a miniature airfoil so there is no way that a laminated prop can have a straight glueline from hub to tip.Please see an excellent article by Ken foran on the proper way to carve a prop.

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

JohnReid · 11 April 2006, 06:41 AM

JohnReid · 12 April 2006, 05:12 AM

I picked up a great book at the Ottawa museum called "On Miniature Wings." by Thomas J. Dietz.It contains some really beautiful pics of model aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum.Published in 1995 I picked up mine for less than 10 bucks Canadian.
I was surpised but in amoung all the mostly 1/16th scratchbuilt models there was one diorama.It is a great diorama but the interesting thing is the diorama is 1/72 scale and contains 4 plastic aircraft models of the Douglas World Cruiser.In addition there are building and other elements from model RR scenery.
Most casual observers would not recognize the significance of this but as a dioramist it means acceptance of our artform by one of the worlds great institutions, The Smithsonian. Plastic airplanes in diorama settings are acceptable as works of art even though they may contain commercially available models.
I dont know about you but I would consider it a great honor to have one of my works accepted there.So my diorama modeling friends, who amoung you (especially Americans) will be the next to elevate their plastic models to the Smithsonian .Like someone said you might as well shoot for the moon because if you fail you will only land amoung the stars.
Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 12 April 2006, 03:48 PM

Jenny's top R/H wing is finished and ready for fabric covering .This panel will also have wingtip damage.I have not yet decided whether or not to finish the other set of wing panels.I think that I will wait to see how much room there will be left in hangar after the vert. and Horiz. stabs, fin and ailerons are finished.
In the diorama story ,the missing wings could have been used on the Canuck although the airfoil would have been slightly different .It is more important at this point to show the radically different stabs between the Canuck and JN4A.I will post a diagram that I have of the dep type control wheel that was used in the early 4A's.

JohnReid · 12 April 2006, 04:17 PM

Dep type control wheel

JohnReid · 13 April 2006, 05:39 AM

JohnReid · 14 April 2006, 06:23 AM

JohnReid · 14 April 2006, 06:51 AM

Here is an interesting little tidbit of aviation history that you don't hear much about these days.
When rigging old biplanes and especially the old small monoplanes, prop torque was compensated for by changing the angle of incidence of the wings.
I remember first hearing of this back during the 60s when we were building the TravelAir .
In rigging the Jenny a lot off these old terms are now coming back to me and I was wondering if this term is still used by aeronautical engineers and is torque still compensated for in this way in more modern airplanes?Anyway it makes a good trivia question?