HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

Yeah Stephen your right,I plan to expand my horizions a bit after I get this diorama thing out of my blood.
Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

I have begun to underpaint the figure.I have tried to soften her appearance a bit by giving her an old rose colored sweater and a greyish-beige skirt.She is a professional stuntwoman and wingwalker but not as hard as she looks especially now that I have removed the cigar and gave her a bit of a smile.I am tempted to also try to remove the heavy frowning eyebrows.We'll see...........

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Here are some of the engine parts as they are in the kit.I put this pic up so you can see how the parts look before weathering.You will notice just how nice the parts are .Very little flash and well molded.In my opinion this is the best engine that I have built so far from a kit.Next winter when I get into the actual build up of this engine I will post better pictures at that time.

[JohnReid]

Painting of the Engine cylinders:The 8 silver-grey cylinders were deburred and cleaned and sealed with laquer.I experimented a bit with acrylic paint in order to get that nice heat- scorched look to the cylinder housings and came up with the following.I decided to spray paint a very thin mix of matte medium and a little copper over the laquer sealer.It may take 5-10 thin coats to obtain the desired effect.If it builds up a bit around the rings of the cylinders that is ok.Spray and dry(with a hair dryer) over and over.The matte medium will tone down the silver grey color and give the whole thing a more realistic look.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Bonnie's underpainting is just about finished.Now ,I will begin using the pastels for shading.I lightened up the heavy eyebrow look and I think she looks better now.I tried to dress her like a "flapper" from the twenties but not too flashy afterall she works in a hangar enviroment.
I will now finish painting Clyde and rebuild the Ford truck and work out the final relationship between the figures and the truck and where exactly to place this grouping in the diorama.

[JohnReid]

continuing on with the OX5 I sprayed the engine block assembly with a mix of raw umber-silver-matte medium thiinned with water .This gives the engine a dirty-oily look.I emphasized the crevaces and cracks with a very small brush.It makes a nice contrast with the cylinders. to be cont....