HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[Ross_Moorhouse]

Originally Posted by JohnReid

I am hoping to be able to put up a few new pics soon, on how I go about planning and lighting a diorama, using my Nieuport 28 diorama as an example.Cheers! John.

And here they are....

[Ross_Moorhouse]

[Ross_Moorhouse]

[JohnReid]

Thanks Ross! I will try to explain what these pics represent,starting from the top pics 1 thru 10.

pic 1: I usually start with a basic floor plan.In the case of my Albatros dio the size of the floor plan could easily be expanded to accomadate all the elements that I wanted to include but in the case of the Nieuport I wanted to confine it to the limited space of an old TV cabinet.

Once the basic size of the floor plan is worked out I take the plan view of the aircraft and position it where I think it will look best considering the angle or angles it mat be viewed from.Then I will arrange where the other elements of the dio will go including the workbenches,cars or trucks, figures etc..etc.At this point nothing is written in stone but it will give you a starting point.Next I will decide where I want the doors and windows and access panels.The Nieuport once it is installed in the cabinet is viewable only from the front but I have designed it so that it can still be taken out of the cabinet for maintenance or the taking of pics thru the access panels.

pic 2&3:Shows the basic structure.There are no windows in the piece because I wanted to experiment a bit with the lighting from both inside and outside the hangar.I left slight gaps between the boards and painted them black on the reverse side so that I could light up the interior thru the boards as though it was sunrise outside.Because of the confined space I could light up only one side and still fit the aircraft in the hangar and in the confines of the cabinet.For picture taking outside the cabinet I can light up the whole thing.For decorating the walls try to find something of interest as a focul point.For this piece it is the aircraft indentification chart on the back wall that seems to grab the most attention.You will notice that the interior has been weathered with only some final touches left to the end.

pic 4&5:Same views with the lights on.The interior lighting for this piece is quite simple.I used those Christmas type lights that they use to lights up those toy villages.I confined them in a box overhead at center stage and played around with the wattage until I got the right intensity(you can also experiment with clear or amber or other colored bulbs for different effects)

pic 6verall view of the complete stage like setting awaiting its contents.

pics 7-10:these out of focus pics(funny they looked ok the night of the party) give you a blurry idea of what the finished piece will look like.I plan to have the green doored Albatros dio, turning at 1 Rpm, on a walnut base atop the cabinet.

The exterior view shows the wiring ,bulbs,and aluminum reflector plates etc...

I will send more pics in the future of the finished dio with the various lights turned on or off giving the different effects that can be achieved through lighting.Fun huh ! Cheers! John.

[topgun56]

Great dio's. A lot of hard work.

[JohnReid]

Thanks topgun! for me its fun.Cheers! John.

The wings are on Ken Forans Camel .Take a look at this beautiful model over on wwi-models website.

[JohnReid]

The redrawn horiz stab/elevator assy was pinned to the building board and wax paper covered.The leading edge of the horiz stab is metal.The kit supplies a 1/6th dia steel rod for this.I find steel too hard to work with so I used a 1/16th brass tube instead.To keep the tube from crushing and distorting when it is bent I inserted a brass rod core.Both pieces were heated with a butane torch to soften the metal and make it easier to bend.The laser cut ribs were stained and the rib stiffeners glued on.The trailing edge was cut to length.Now the next step is to shape and buildup this assembly and glue in the ribs. to be cont......

[JohnReid]

I ve run into a bit of a problem.I cannot find any drawings or pics of an uncovered Canuck tail assy.Therefore I will compromise and build it to the correct shape but use wood ribs and trailing edges.I really dont know if the assy is all metal or only partially metal.

If I was building a military Jenny of WW1 I would be a lot more concerned but because this is a barnstormer of the 20s I feel that I can get away with a little mix and match just like the barnstromers of the era did.In a way it kind of adds to the story of the era ,when just about anything was OK as long as you got airborne.Bailing wire and old orange crate repairs.Besides I kind of like the wooden tail. to be cont.....

[DonnyW]

Lovely pictures John. I tried your tip of tissue in PVA glue to give my crew some wool collars for their flying suits..it worked a treat. However I let it dry naturaly ..somehow I felt it a little cruel ..putting them in the microwave. Keep dropping the tips.. Merry Xmas etc too...

[JohnReid]

Merry Christmas to you too Donny.Im glad to hear that the tissue/microwave idea worked out OK.Good idea not to put the figures in the micro though as that was meant for seat cushions only, as the heat really serves to puff them up.Cheers! John.