HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

JohnReid · 23 December 2004, 08:50 AM

Thanks topgun,I plan to send in more pics on the lighting of my other diorama,the Albatros.I believe that it is such an important aspect of this type of diorama ,that I want to show others how easy it really is to play with the lighting for different effects.You know ,in the end,the only thing that may survive of your work, over the long haul ,will be the pics. Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 23 December 2004, 01:21 PM

My research so far confirms that on the Jenny Canuck the horiz stab has only one strut from fuselage to spar ,on the underside and only one brace wire on the upper side between the fin and spar.All other brace wires have been eliminated eg :from the control horns to elevator trailing edge etcc..
Now,what I dont really know ,is the elmination of these brace wires and struts because of the increased strength of a metal tail assembly? .Would a Canuck style tail assembly made of wood ,like mine,be the same.I mention this because if anyone is doing a military verson of the Canuck I would not want to give them the wrong info.Bottom line ,I am doing a wooden tail assembly of the Canuck style, using the struts and bracing of that style.Because I cannot find any definitive info on this ,I am going with what I think looks good . I guess for a barnstromer it is OK but for those doing a military version it will require more research.(the barnstormers were risking their lives everyday so whats wrong with a missing brace here or there) tobe cont....

JohnReid · 24 December 2004, 09:42 AM

Further research reveals more conflicting info.Artist R Bradford in his painting Curtiss JN4s at Beamsville-1917 at the National Aviation Museum, shows no brace wires from the elevator control horn to the trailing edge.(usually his info is quite reliable)However Nietos drawings call for these braces.Sooo... I think that I will put them on ,as I find them kind of neat and something you dont see on many airplanes. And the beat goes on.....

Merry Christmas to all. Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 26 December 2004, 07:49 AM

Boy am I glad that I waited to construct the turtle deck until after the position of the horiz stab relative to the sternpost was establised.Where the sternpost post and trailing edge of the fin meet the rudder is critical.If I had followed the instruction booklet I would be having problems at this point.This is where having built the Beech Travelair in the 60s really helps with my model building as I find that following the sequence of a 1:1 scale build is the best general practice.

To all my fellow Aviators out there whether your a pilot or not:

And lets get one thing straight.There is a big difference between a pilot and an aviator.One is a technician;the other is an artist in love with flight.

E.B. Jeppesen

27 December 2004, 03:23 AM

John,

You're correct. share it all. This was never possible before the WWW. Relatives just piled all the builds in a big box.....found years later in an attic.

Sorry, just remembering what happened to over 200 of my builds while I was in the Military and my parents moved.

JohnReid · 27 December 2004, 06:28 AM

Yeah topgun, thats the great thing about the WWW ,it is so much easier to share your work with others without the prejudices of magazine publishers getting in the way.Your peers are the best judges of your work anyway, as only they know the love and sweat that goes into every piece.Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 29 December 2004, 07:40 AM

I finished the fin/rudder assembly in brass and wood using Nietos drawings for the Canuck.There is no drawing specifically for the rudder structure ,so I built the JN4d rudder and changed the shape with minor structural adjustments.The position of the rudder horn remains the same.I have taken pics of this part of the build which I hope to post shortly.

Speaking of pics,I should have the Albatros lighting pics up soon.

Cheers! John.

30 December 2004, 03:11 AM

I am waiting for the photo's of this JN. What scale is it?

JohnReid · 30 December 2004, 06:50 AM

I am hoping to have the Albatros lighting pics up today.The Jenny pics will be up when I finish the roll of 24 exposures and have them developed.

While I am online I have a tip on how to make those fiddilly little chock pieces that go at the intersections of the wooden internal structural members in the rudder.Doll house suppliers have various sizes on miniture wooden quarter round available.I simply cut these in pieces and superglue them at the 90 deg intersections leaving them a little longer than required.Then your just sand them down level and then sand off the round part until it is flat and voila you have small triangular chocks. Model on....Cheers! John.

topgun;it is 1/16th scale like the Albatros and the Nieuport.

JohnReid · 30 December 2004, 08:05 AM

the Canadian Aviation Museum has recently published 100s more pics on their website www.aviation.technomuses.ca of the Jenny Canuck. It is amazing how many crash scenes were recordered with very little incidence of fire after the crash.It seems like most of these accidents were survivable.I guess if your going to prang it better be in a Jenny.It is no wonder that pilots who trained on the Jenny and then went on to higher performance airplanes were in for a shock. Cheers! John.