HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[Ross_Moorhouse]

Hi John.

Just my suggestion but I would start anew thread for the RAFM build.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

I am starting to play around with the different elements of the diorama,deciding what to put and where.This is loads of fun but very important to get right.One big decision I have made already is to cut down on the the number of items actually going inside the main hangar.The modules have lots of stuff in them and look good a little junky but the main hangar has been cleaned up to just the main elements to tell the story.The focus is on the aircraft conversion to a barnstormer and the WW1 pilots in conversation.Trying to add anything else to the composition is not only confusing but unnecessary .
I will give the mechanic a few tools and stepping stool ,add a stand of two but that is pretty much it. The outside of the hangar will be a different story.There I plan to have lots going on.If you were to look at this diorama only from the front view it would tell the main story ,the rest is just eye candy but a lot of fun to do! I was worried in the beginning about having anything going on beyond the perimeters of the main hangar and its modules but by keeping the front view simple and the rest behind the hangar door side structures, I think that I can get away with having a bit of fun in eye candy department without it being too distracting to the viewer.
The cleaned up hangar would also fit into the storyline as management would probably have wanted things a little tidier than normal for the guests on Veterans Day.

[StephenLawson]

John, I have said it before and I'll say it again. You are the man! This is the best thread this forum has ever seen. You are a true inspiration and a steely eyed model-builder! Model On and on and on!

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

I wanted to show this as a tightly knit group of fighter pilots ,which is the way I remember them as being from my childhood.They are a select group trading war stories.No BS just enjoying the brotherhood of each others company.

[JohnReid]

Thank You Stephen.

[JohnReid]

I thought that maybe you guys would like to follow me through the research involved in doing a diorama from scratch.I will at sometime down the road start a new thread on the actual build.The build will definitely be built around a WW1 storyline.Wish me luck! Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

When planning a large diorama I try to keep 2 things in the forefront of my mind
1-buy what you can,build what you must.
2-Did it happen or could it have happened?

Keeping that in mind ,and wanting to stay in 1/16th scale, and the fact that the next aircraft I have available to me in that scale ,is a Sopwith Camel ,here is my idea.
The Royal Navy during WW1 experimented with a modified Camel ,called the sea-Camel ,which was developed for defense against German dirigibles.It was built lighter in oder to climb to great heights,with only one gun and the fuselage could be broken in half for easier storage on a ship.These aircraft were considered expendable by the navy so no provision was made for them to land back on board.
In keeping with criteria #2 above,could the following have happened?A sea-Camel has departed HMS Furious(one of the 1st aircraft carriers)in defense of London during WW1,probably about 1917.Having run out of fuel over London it attempted a landing at London-Hendon field and crashed short of the runway.The aircraft was hauled into the Grahame-White factory for repairs.
My diorama would depict the aircraft nearing completion after undergoing extensive repairs(open structure-no fabric).I could envision the two halves of the fuselage(a unique feature of this aircraft) being re-joined together by a couple of mechanics under the watchful eye of a few RAF types.