HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

The above figure Al Capp (Alias: Al Capone)the airport manager ,has only been slightly modified to take the bat out of his hands.He will be placed in conversation,gesturing with his hands as shown.The cigar will be eliminated for obvious reasons.That grey pinstripe suit looks pretty cool though.This is another Legends&Lore figure.

[JohnReid]

Meet my new love interest "Belle".She is the reason that I havent been spending a lot of my time in my shop for the last two weeks.
But I am old enough to know that once the initial infatuation period is over(like the first time she won't start) I will regain my modeling senses.

[JohnReid]

Hi Guys! The weather here in Montreal recently has been lousy for figure painting outside so I havent made much progress in that area.As much as possible I prefer to paint in the natural light.The figure anatomy changes are finished and their poses and relationship to one other is being worked on now.
I think that I will position them in 2 main groups.One a pilots grouping and the other a mixed bag of barnstormers with the airport manager. Other single figures will be placed preforming various tasks throughout the hangar and in the modules.I plan very little activity going on in the front ramp area as I want the focus to be on the pilot grouping with the hangar doors sort of acting as curtains on a stage.I plan to lite up the ramp area using shaded bulbs shining down on the signs which should add to the dramatic effect.I should have some painted figures to show by the end of the week.Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Hi guys! Yeah I know its not a painted figure like I promised but it is a pic that I had been looking for earlier when I was posting info on the Jenny hangars roof.This is a shot up into the rafters that gives you a pretty good idea of how it is put together.
I have since weathered it a bit for a more natural look.
The figure painting has been slow over the last week but the newly aquired 31 Model A is safe and sound in the garage now so its back to the Jenny diorama full steam.
Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Well here goes!
To get back into the swing of things ,as I havent painted a figure in some time now,I have picked a subject that looks to be fairly easy to do.
As you can see I have added a completely different arm from another figure.It was epoxied on and sanded and sculpted to blend in with the original figure.Any small holes or pitting in the exopy surface was filled in with super thin superglue and sanded smooth.
The whole figure was then washed and dryed .Now for the painting!
I will use brown gesso as an undercoat as I plan to paint him wearing a brown suit.
I will thin the gesso down about 50% with distilled water and add a few drops of flow medium.Be careful not to fill in any detail and let it airdry.(do not use a hair dryer here as the gesso may form small cracks if dryed too quickly.)Relax and have fun and paint outside in the natural light if you can.
Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

I got a few hours in painting today between thunderstorms.I used watered down (50/50 )burnt umber gesso as an undercoat,the remnents of which can be seen on the head ,feet and hands.Then I let the whole thing air dry.I used a small cats tongue brush for this.
I always paint from the lowest to the highest point on the figure.The lowest point on this figure is the white shirt.This I painted using a #3round brush and a mix of distilled water and JoSonja warm white paint.(your paint should have the consistancy of about 20% cream)Warm white is essentually white with a touch of raw umber in it to take out the starkness of pure white(titanium).Put on as many coats as it takes to cover the burnt umber.
Next I painted the tie Jo Sonja Burgandy as this seems to have been a very popular color in the 20's.
I took the left over burnt umber gesso and added some warm white until I got a shade that I liked.I didnt use flow medium here because the JoSonja product has varnish in it and I dont want any shine at this point.Here again I used a #3 round brush but a cats tongue could also be used instead.For fine line work I also used a #1 round to get into places that are to small for a #3.
to be cont......

[JohnReid]