HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS - Page 143

JohnReid · 10 October 2006, 08:58 AM

QUOTE(bcauchi @ Oct 10 2006, 06:22 AM) *

Hey John, what are you currently working on? Are you experimenting with the figures? Last recent post was about the figures you got. Are you getting them together?

Hi! It is a busy time of year here in the G.W.N. getting ready for Winter and putting the Model A away in storage etc....I still try to model each day and at present I am trying to complete the new engine shop module.Once I get the hangar and modules finished and the lighting installed I plan to spend much more time with the figures.All the interior figures are finished but the new figures will be destined for the exterior where they will be much more visible to the viewer.I plan to spent a lot more time on each figure than I did with the interior ones where I could use the lighting to my advantage.
Scratchbuilding miniature figures is such a major departure for me, from what I am used to doing ,that I know that it will take a major chunck of my time to get to where I want to go.I dont want to rush it,in fact I am planning to deliver the present piece to the museum and add the exterior figures later when I feel that I can do them justice.I have always admired the miniature figure makers and I think that it is one of the highest expressions of this artform of ours.Personally I would be more than happy to end up there but until then I have so much to do just to finish what I have already started.
Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 11 October 2006, 07:01 AM

JohnReid · 11 October 2006, 08:33 AM

QUOTE(Jens @ Oct 10 2006, 04:28 PM) *

i must once again tell you John, you are one great modeller, and writer! wink.gif

how can you continue writing this great stuff?? smile.gif

Cheers mate rolleyes.gif

Well thank you Jens for your kind remarks.They really are appreciated.It is very simple,I do it because I love it.
I was born in an era when aviation was still a very exciting thing to do.My Dad was a fighter and airline pilot and so is my brother.Aviation is what I have known since I was a small child,hanging around airports,going to air shows,building models and the real thing.I was even luckly enough to have flown commercially with quite a few WW2 pilots and even a few aces.I started flying just at the end of an one era and the start of another, so I have one foot in the early days and the other in the modern era.I am soon coming up to 50 years as a pilot and I just can't believe where the time has gone.
These days I am getting to re-live my childhood.My next door neighbors son (my adopted grandson as his mother calls it)is soon turning 12 years old and he is heavily into playing with my flight sims.On his birthday I am organizing to take him on a fam flight for his first flying lesson.He doesnt yet know about it and doesn't read this thread,so hopefully it will be a big surprise for him.I am just as excited about it as if was my own first solo!
Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 11 October 2006, 01:48 PM

JohnReid · 11 October 2006, 02:12 PM

JohnReid · 11 October 2006, 02:28 PM

the figure is of the WW2 ace Eric Hartmann by Legends & Lore.This figure is easily adaptable to a barnstormer of the 1920s with very little modification.
The hands are by Verlinden and make excellent 3D references for scratchbuilding.I picked up both at Greatmodels.

JohnReid · 11 October 2006, 06:10 PM

JohnReid · 11 October 2006, 06:45 PM

I was reading somewhere the other day that about 90% of all pilots flying in North America in the 1920's trained on the Jenny.Its safety record was incredible for its day ,and most pictures that I have seen of accidents involving the Jenny ,look as though the pilot could probably have walked away.With that fuel tank just behind the firewall(not shown in this pic) it is remarkable how few accidents seem to have involved fire.It was only when pilots went on to advance training in some of those hot fighters that a lot of them got into trouble.Maybe in some respects Jenny was a little too forgiving and the transition to the new fighters was simply too big a step for a lot of those inexperienced pilots.Something like going from a Cessna 172 to a Beech 18 or Spitfire

JohnReid · 11 October 2006, 09:12 PM

I have been looking around recently for ideas of typical positions for posing my mannequins ,when I ran across this great set of drawings from off of the internet.It shows a pilot doing a pre-flight or walkaround check on his airplane.I was instantly struck with these drawings, as they are so familiar to any pilot who has ever flown.There is just something about the pre-flight.It is a very intimate moment between a pilot and his machine.How often have I seen a pilot almost lovingly run his hand over a leading edge or cowling or carefully inspect a turnbuckle or fairing.It is almost like a bond that forms between pilot and airplane that says "you look after me and I will look after you".The artist, whoever he was ,has managed to capture this feeling for me with just a few simple drawings.Enjoy. Cheers! John.