HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Nice job Stephen! I really like the poses of the figures especially the guy reading from the box(so natural).
Yes I have seen these "in the field" type of stands but I wanted something a little more permanent although my first instinct was to go with wood because of all the weathering possibilities.Thanks for the pics!
Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The stand went together easier than I expected.I cut the posts to equal length and then drilled the tubes and pinned them together.I didn't even have to build a jig,the small pins within the tubes hollow structure allowed everything to move and line up very easily.I then glued exerything with super thin superglue and painted it with black gesso ,with an overcoat of french blue straight out of the tube.All the Reid & Sons ground equipment is painted the same color.
Now I will install the caster type wheels and weather it up a bit.The two major objects in the engine shop are now just about finished so now I can go about making the rest of the furniture ,tools and workbench etc.....

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The above view of the underside of the engine would not normally be able to be seen in the diorama.(The casters are yet to be installed.)
The straight on view I posted so that you could see how the less than vertical engine clylinders are not so noticable with all the other angles to distract the eye.When the engine is installed in the diorama it will be even less noticable.I point this out to emphasize how dioramas allow for a little more flexibility(freedom) in using less than perfect parts.A well placed rag or cloth can also help a lot . When taking close up pictures sometimes these imperfections will be picked up.The trick is to just change the cameras angle a little.It is this little bit of extra freedom that dioramas allows me that keeps me going.While I admire the work of the perfectionists ,that is not what I am about.

[JohnReid]

My Dad.
On this eve of Rememberance Day I thought that you guys would be interested in this little piece of history.
I was searching through my local hobby store and came across a 1/48 scale model of the Dehavilland Mosquito NF Mk.X111.I noticed that it was of the same squadron (409)that my Dad was CO of in 43-44.I came home and looked through his logbook and found that he often flew R-KP the exact airplane depicted on the box.Well I went back and picked it up as a memento of his RCAF career.
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[JohnReid]

Well good morning to all the vets,thanks guys!

As you guys know,who have been following this thread,my latest diorama "Memories of Flight School" has a Rememberance Day theme.
The first two dioramas of the Albatros and the Nieuport show the aircraft undergoing a rebuild.For this reason I wanted to show the aircrafts' tail raised to flying position undergoing the rigging procedure.With the Jenny I have the option of showing the tail skid resting on the hangar floor in its normal appearance while on the ground or not.Where with the other two aircraft I also had issues with weak undercarriages ,with the Jenny this does not seem to be a problem.Also at each wingtip there are skids that could be modified to help support the wings.
I have since changed the storyline of the diorama from a chance happening ,as to why the WW1 pilots were there ,to a more formal planned ceremony.
Because it is somewhat unusual to see an aircraft in the fully rigged ,fabricless state,the best way to explain this would to be indicate that this was done puposely in honor of these veterans.However ,there is no doubt that the airplane looks better with the tail raised to flying position.Even during the war it seems that for a more formal picture the tail was often raised on a sawhorse of some kind.Decisions,decisions............

[JohnReid]