HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Stealing Ken's ideas!
After much research I have decided to steal my friend Ken's ideas on how to finish a diorama.This idea comes from Ken's book"How to build Creative
Dioramas",page 11.
I really like the idea of the gray edging following the undulations
of the terrain.The brownish cover looks great with the barnsiding.
I also love the idea of the junk surrounding the perimeter of the building.

[JohnReid]

Now that I have rejected the "old dining table" idea as a suitable base ,for the "Memories of Flight School" diorama ,I almost forgot to ask myself,What am I going to replace it with?
In my enthusiasm to do the final buildup, I forgot something very basic ,how am I going to make the new base?In order to attach this new base I will have to break the whole thing down again to the basic plywood floor,do a new base and rebuild once again.Trying to build it up any other way would be a nightmare,imagine trying to work around fragile airplanes and the like.
Soooo!once again it is back to the bare table again.This time I will be building what the RR guys call a homasote-type base.Homasote,is a composite wall board/insulation material available in most lumber yards.It is glued over plywood to give it strength(see Chapter 4 of Ken's book)
Contoured edges are a must to give the diorama that "slice of life" look.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Unfortunately Ken Hamilton's book "How to Build Creative Dioramas" has been out of print for some time now.Ken however, has given me his kind permission to use some of his photos for this thread.Thanks Ken!
I will describe and take pics of my attempts to create a similar Homasote base but on a larger scale.I will have to modify it a little for my purposes but essentially it will be the same base as the one described in his book.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

These pics give you a good idea just how much Ken's work has influenced the design of my latest diorama and will continue to do so in the future.The board and batten building ,the colors,the random junk etc...
My original idea was to have the main hangar bustling with activity and the outside fairly clean, in order not to draw attention away from the main subject the airplane,figures and the hangars contents.
I have decided that this would be a mistake and now I plan to have lots of junk and activity on 3 sides of the hanger.The fourth front or ramp side will remain uncluttered ,so that when viewed from the front, the main storyline should be what comes through to the viewer.The hangar doors and their structures will act as sort of a stage curtain that will block the view to the other 3 sides so as to not distract the viewer.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]