HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

This set of DH4 wings I find interesting for 2 reasons.
First, it gives a very good idea of how to rig the Jenny 4A double aileron wings using steel cables instead of struts.
Second, it shows one of two methods used to rig the wings .Here the wings have been rigged seperately from the airplane and were installed as a complete unit with only fine tuning of the rigging to be completed after installation..The other method was to build up the wings on the airplane itself by assembling the upper panels to the center section and then complete the assembly.
The first method was considered the better ,as it permitted the setting of the main panels at the correct stagger and dihedral,requiring less later adjustment than the second method.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The above pics of the Albatros diorama were taken through the hangar windows with my trusty spy cam The tail has been elevated to flight position thereby necessiating the use of sandbags to add weight to the tail .As you can see the rudder and elevator are metal and counterbalanced and the fuselage is of monococque type condtruction with a plywood skin, all pretty advanced stuff for its day.It looks to me that this airplane could probably sustain a lot of damage and still bring the pilot home alive for another evenings enjoyment at the officers mess.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

You guys who have been following my thread for awhile have probably seen these pics before.
The reason that I am posting them is just to remind you who are hesitating on getting invovled and any newcomers just how easy it is to do a simple diorama.
If you can build a box you can do a diorama.This was my first attempt and there is nothing difficult here.The wood that I used is cheap and available anywhere.Ordinary pine from the lumber store and tongue depressors,popsicle stiks and coffee stir sticks.Cardboard over a foamboard core and a little plexiglass.The lighting is cheap RR stuff with a second hand transformer and brass xmas lights for fixtures.The signs are all off the internet.No power tools were used in its construction and the paint is readily available acrylics .Most of the furniture is roughly built shop type mostly with all 90 deg cuts.The subject matter is my personal choice but even some modern airplanes are housed in old hangars.The rest is up to your imagination.I only am using airplanes here as an example because that is what I am most familiar with but the whole world is open to diorama making.
Please make that first step.Get a piece of paper and write down some ideas.We all have interesting stories to tell from reality or our imagination and dioramas are a wonderful way to get it down.Remember if you dont,it will be lost forever.


The idea can be quite simple and is usually more powerful if it is.It was funny but when I went to that miniature show last weekend a funny thing happened.In amoung all the elaborate and expensive dollhouses which I am afraid all looked the same to me and quite frankly were a little boring, some one had done a simple shadow box probably no more than about 3-4 inches deep.
It was quite simply done but it struck me right away and I havent been able to get it out of my mind.It was 3 figures in an art gallery facing the art hung on a wall.Their backs were to the viewer looking at the art.The positioning of the figures and the lighting was just great and there was just something about it that drew you into the scene.I think that it was about 1/24 scale and I even recognized the figures used as commercially available.
A funny thing happened later as I was browsing around.I met a fellow artist who used to teach art with me years ago and while we were chatting she said to me out of the blue "Did you see that shadow box piece about the art gallery".Funny how good art just seems to cry out to the viewer.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

After finishing only 2 wing panels I have come to realize that there is just no way that I am going to have room in the hangar for much more than I have built to date,the 2nd fuselage and 2 wing panels.If I build all 4 wing panels they will never be seen just stacked against the wall.Same problem with the huge horiz. stab -elevator assembly.The Jenny is a large airplane and requires a certain space surrouding it to look good, otherwise things will get just too cluttered.In the end I may build some of these panels and store them on the outside of the hangar in some kind of a scrap area.From what I have built already I think that the viewer will get the idea of one airplane be robbed of parts to build another.
As of right now I have about a dozen figures to go in and around the hangar .There will be 5-6 military types and the rest various civilians, both barnstormer pilots and others.

[JohnReid]

Jenny Model A's early Dep type control wheel

[JohnReid]

I have built a storage rack for the Jenny A's damaged R/H wing assemblies,to be put up along the hangar wall.
The A's fuselage has been set on wooden blocks and the tail raised to flying position and is resting upon a couple of old wooden boxes.
It is now time to get the Canuck on her gear and out of the jig.The airplane will have to be secured to the hangar floor via saw horses and the like because the wheels are just too delicate and fragile to be screwed down in the usual manner.The Albatros wheels were canvas covered and were easily secured.On the Neiuport I used a screwjack and chains for this purpose.Today I will design and build a combo work table-step ladder assembly to secure the airplane to the floor as well as provide for the workers easy access to the airplanes structure.
This next little while will be an exciting time to see the Canuck in its final position and secured to the hangar floor.Patience is truly a virtue in this business.