HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

still working on the turnbuckle/fuselage wire assemblies.I plan to post more pics when this is finished ,before the engine is installed.I havent worked on this much rigging since my sailing ship days but it sure looks great when it is finished.I really do like working on detail when it is viewable in the diorama.I know that some of the rigging maybe slightly over scale but I do not consider this a fault in this diorama as the rigging is so important to this aircrafts design it should be made to be seen.This is where artistic licence comes in and it is a personal decision.Visual impact is very important to me.

Well its back to the wire assemblies,20 more to go for the fuselage. to be cont....

[JohnReid]

www.aviation.technomuses.ca go to collections,then imagebank ,look under Curtiss .Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

All fuselage brace wires aft of stat 3 are installed.Forward of stat 3 all fittings are installed but the wires have been left off for now in order let me gain access to the hoses and tubes upon engine installation.

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. to be cont....

[JohnReid]

continuing on the same theme 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....

[JohnReid]

When I put the cylinders and engine block together I found that the contrast in values of color too great so in order to bring the colors closer together I finished off the cylinders with the same raw umber-matte medium -silver wash as I used on the block.Hope this makes sense. to be cont......

[JohnReid]

Cylinders-there are two different types of cylinders on the OX5, one type has 4 steel rods around the outside of the housing ,actings as hold-downs and the other has none.The kit comes with the no hold-downs variety.So far I havent been able to find out which version is newer however for my purposes it really doesnt matter as both versions must have existed by the mid -twenties.If I was doing a very early version of the Jenny I would want to know.

Prefit spark plugs,exhaust and intake manifolds and water inlet pipes before assembly.Be sure that everything lines up especially the water outlet pipe where it bypasses the spark plugs.

Painting-Exhaust manifold got the copperish, heat scorched look I described earlier.
All the other parts were left as they were from the kit except for deburring,laquering,and several coats of matte medium.There is no point in gessoing and then spraypainting these parts back to the silver-grey color.Matte medium thinned with water gives these parts a nice dull sheen.
Further weathering of the engine will be done after assembly with pastels.

to be cont....

[JohnReid]

I was just wondering if there is anyone out there thinking about building a 1/16th Jenny now or in the future be it diorama or just the free standing airplane? I am getting so little feed back on this build that I am wondering if it is worth continuing on with this thread? Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

Sorry guys the above was posted yesterday in the midst of an abcessed tooth.You cant get rid of me that easy,so I will continue to bug you guys about getting involved in dioramas. In the spirit of , You only fail when you quit, the Jenny build thread continues....

I found a great pic of an OX5 with short stacks over on www.vintageaviation.org Canuck Update 2-May 2004 but it doesnt solve my carb heat problem.(see Replica aircraft thread)
One thing I did notice though was that the engine seems to sit a little lower on the engine bearers, in respect to the upper fuselage longerons. The aftmost stack seems to almost touch the upper longeron.Is my models engine sitting too high ? Research,research,research. to be cont....

[JohnReid]

As a change of pace maybe you would like to take a look at a diorama I did in my shipbuilding days. go to www.modelingmadness.com see Whats New Nov15.

Take a look at Ken Forans Sopwith Camel over on www.wwi-models.org Truly a work of art! Cheers.John.

[JohnReid]

I havent been able to finally resolve the engine height on the engine bearers problem.It looks to my eye that my engine maybe sitting a couple of mm high.I checked my references but I cannot find anything obvious.I know that there are two different types of cylinders used on the OX5.What I dont know, are they the same height and does the exhaust exit at the same level on each cylinder? For now I will have to live with it.The engine is now finished, except for the installation of the rocker arms, which I will leave until the final installation of the engine, as they are quite fragile and could easily be broken off.The short straight exhaust stacks were made up from 1/16th brass tube and sprayed a matte black.The engine is quite heavy and because of this,for ease of handling ,I will leave its final installation until after I have
completed the undercarriage and the struts at the center section.

Now its on to the gear. to be cont.......