HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

Well I have good news,the engine castings are as good as they looked in the box!Very little deburring,not too soft and they fit together very well.These are the best castings I have used.

The booklet calls for the installation of the fuel tank next but I have decided to delay this installation until I figure out just how much room I require between engine and fuel tank now that both engine and fuel tank will be level and not 15 deg. downthrust.

So its on to the OX5 buildup.Before putting things together I reviewed my references for the various shades of metallic color for the engine.Some color changes are due to the manufacturing process and some to wear and tear.A new engine will definitely be different from an old one especially in areas of heat buildup.Luckily I have references for both conditions.

It seems that the basic block,prop shaft housing etc... has the lightest metallic shade on the engine and is the same on both the old and new engines Also the natural color of the casting seems ok as is ,so I decided to just laquer these parts and not paint them.Later,when the basic block is finished I will spray an acryilic matt medium on to tone down any shine and create a good base for weathering with acrylic washes and pastels.

Prefit all parts together and drill holes where indicated for wiring and tubing before final assembly Fig5-4,-5,-6. I used 2 part 5min epoxy for glueing. to be cont....

[JohnReid]

The basic engine block(without cylinders) is complete.

Things to consider before final engine position is established:
-engine level? adjust nose plate and support beam
-enough clearance between the fuel tank back and the back of the instruments casings at the instrument panel?
-enough clearance between the firewall and the water pump?
-correct position of the fuel tank height and the cowling?

Model on.Cheers ! John. to be cont.....

[JohnReid]

www.glennhcurtiss.com

www.JennyBuilders.org

Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

-seats are now installed sans lap straps.The straps are not critical as they would be one of the last things to be installed and not really required.Be sure that the aileron cables at the forward seat position clears the seat rails.I had to build up the seat by 2mm .
-Fuel tank was built up and painted silver(to be weathered later)and the fuel tank straps were fit to the tank and then to the airplane at the cross brace aft of the forward instrument panel and then to engine bearers.
-after checking all measurments and allowing room for the firewall I finally glued down the engine bearers.
-
next step will be to glue in the tank and then fit the firewall.The firewall cannot be installed finally until after the position of the various tubes and hoses that cross the firewall are determined.

It is very important not to be in too much of a rush to finally glue anything in place.Check all measurments between the fore fuselage plate and the cross brace at the back of the instrument panel to be sure everything will fit.

to be cont....

[JohnReid]

I think that I forgot to mention that this is a good site for diorama making in general: www.digitaldioramas.com Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

The completed fuel tank is now installed, complete with straps.
The firewall is painted and temporarily installed subject to removal for holes to be drilled for tubes,wires and hoses.Now its on to completing the engine buildup.

No major problems with either installation .I deciced to make the firewall from wood and paint it metal.It was built up in 2 pieces for ease of removal to be worked on.
The engine will be mostly completed before installation so that only the hoses and tubes will require hook-up.
The fuselage brace wires forward of stat#5 will be left off for ease of engine hook-up.
Note that the plans call for single brace wires where in most cases they are actually double.(Check the reference pics on wwi-models)Fasteners for these double brace wires should be made and installed now as it will be much more difficult to install them after the engine has been installed. to be cont.....

[JohnReid]

Looking at the model today I thought that stat#4 just aft of the fuel tank looked awfully flimsy to hold the weight of a fully loaded fuel tank.Upon further research of my 1:1 reference pics ,I found that the plans are not correct.Stat#4 has has four cross members and steel straps that are not shown on the plans.I have modified my model. to be cont.....

[JohnReid]

Take a look at some great dioramas by Dirk Patschkowski at www.xsdreams.de

This website is for 1/18th dioramas of classic cars but his ideas for garage/hangar scene dios is just super and could easily be adapted to aircraft.

He sent me a couple of pics of a Tiger Moth dio that I will ask Ross to post.This fellow is really talented and very creative.Unfortunately his command of english is not that good(He was the one that mentioned this to me in emails)But I will try to persuade him to post future aircraft dios here. Cheers! John.

[Ross_Moorhouse]

Originally Posted by JohnReid

Take a look at some great dioramas by Dirk Patschkowski at www.xsdreams.de

This website is for 1/18th dioramas of classic cars but his ideas for garage/hangar scene dios is just super and could easily be adapted to aircraft.

He sent me a couple of pics of a Tiger Moth dio that I will ask Ross to post.This fellow is really talented and very creative.Unfortunately his command of english is not that good(He was the one that mentioned this to me in emails)But I will try to persuade him to post future aircraft dios here. Cheers! John.

& here they are

[JohnReid]

Sorry about the quality of the pics but that is the way I received them myself.They still give you a good idea of what I was talking about.Thanks Ross. Cheers! John.