HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

As you can see there is still a lot of clean up to be done on the various wires and such.The first picture shows some of the parts that still need to be installed.
When I finally fix Jenny to the hangar floor I will have to remove at least one of the hangar's side walls to gain easy access to the floor.Figures and all hangar furniture will be added at the time.(The storyline will be the test fitting of the wings and control surfaces prior to breakdown and the installation of the fabric covering.)I may have to use some supports at the wingtips but I hope to keep this to a minimum not to spoil the look of the wings.The airplane will be on its wheels and tail skid and not in flying attitude for a change. Unlike the Albatros and the Neiuport ,I feel a lot more confident about the undercarriage being able to support the weight of the airplane ,due to the upgraded castings.
Note to those building the other 2 airplanes,I would add a tube or rod insert into the U/C legs for strength.You would be surprised how much these models actually weigh when finished. The metal composition in the early kits was just too soft to properly support them.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The seat cushion is crooked,darn camera picks up everything!
Someone asked me to stick a penny in the pic once in awhile for scale reference.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The first step will be properly rigging the wings.I have lifted the wingtips to the proper dihedral using whatever was handy and then checking along the wingspan with a straight edge.I can now tighten up the landing and flying wires.
The stagger has already been established in the jig so I can also tighten the interplane strut wires at this same time.Angle of attack and "wash in and wash out "will have to be determined by raising the tail to flying position.
I really love the rigging on the Jenny ,it had to be one of the most complicated of the era.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The tail assembly on my Jenny is a bit of a mix and match, which was not unusual for a barnstormer.The Canuck actually had a metal tubing tail assembly.Because I couldn't find any good reference for this ,I went with a wood assembly of the Cunuck design type.Their is one strut for the horizontal stabilizer and only single brace wires for the flying surfaces.This was an era before there was licensing of any kind and rules and regs were unheard of.Pilots were known to change the stagger of the wings to make their airplane more unstable for air show purposes.If I was doing a military airplane however
that would be a different story.

[JohnReid]

I am posting this here because I think this applies to all good dioramas and the picture I am talking about is on this thread too!
2 storylines!
You know when you look at the picture ,there are really two story lines going on here.One large and one small,literally!
One is large and obvious,the airplane of course ,and the other more subtle and hardly visible ,the dog that the lady in the next yard has on a leash ,much to the delight of the young girls watching.The gentleman building his airplane doesn't even notice as he is too absorbed in his "dream." The boys sitting on the fence seem to be more interested in the airplane ,as they have obviously been sitting there for awhile, but for some reason seem to be afraid to approach too closely.
These are elements that I saw or thought about when really studying this picture.That is why I think that this will make a great diorama! The imagination is initially captured by the airplane and the clothes on the clothesline ,which seems totally out of place until you realize that it is somebody's backyard.Once the attention of your imagination is engaged then all the other sub-stories can be told.To me this is what makes a great diorama ,not only to capture the viewers interest but to hold it long enough to tell an even more subtle story.
We dioramists don't have the luxury of language to tell our story but we do have imagination!