HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[StephenLawson]

JohnReid; Magnificent!!!!!

[JohnReid]

Thanks Ross and Stephen.

The airplane has now been set back on its U/C struts and the tail lifted level.Blocks have been arranged to hold the aircraft steady so that the center section and struts can be aligned with the plan in the modified jig.

Horiz stab/elevator,fin and rudder are finished.Note the differences in the Canuck and the JN4D

The OX5 engine is now ready for installation.

I have other pics of the engine taken from all angles if anyone needs extra info . You will notice that the ignition wiring is white ,I tried a few colors black ,orange etc and find that white goes nicely with the silver engine. The run of the Mag lever from cockpit to engine has not yet been resolved nor has the bleed for the carb heat.I am having the Museum in Ottawa check this out for me.Will keep you advised. Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

Next step will be to install the double wires on the fuselage near the engine compartment( although I have seen some single wire installations on rebuilds.)
The radiator requires some modification on the bottom for the Jenny Canuck configuration.I will have to add about 5mm to the bottom to completely cover the steel spider.Once the rad is finished ,I will finally premanently install the OX5,then install the rad itself and its plumbing. to be cont......

[JohnReid]

I can now confirm that the engine does sit about 3mm too high on the engine bearers.I plan to leave the cowlings off the Canuck so it should not be too noticable.I will alter the plans for building the JN4D .
The rad was painted gold with a little black gesso mixed in to give it a brassy look.I will weather it later.
In the making it difficult department, I epoxy glued the rad to the spider and then noticed that the rear face of the rad was one brass plate and not like a real radiator.So now I have spent the afternoon trying to fit some screening to the back.I think that it will look OK when finished.Its funny how it goes sometimes,I was very careful to have the engine completed before installation but forgot about the back of the rad. to be cont.....

[JohnReid]

What is the Artistic process?

Start with an Idea...

consider the Alternatives

make decisions toward the Idea

watch for Happy Accidents(spontaneous discovery)

continuous evaluation, Flexibility

Evaluation,Reflection,Redirection as needed

Judgement (is the work Finished)

creation of an approprite display/Presentation

Don MacIntyre,Digital Dioramas.

Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

The plumbing between the rad and engine and the cockpit and the engine is now 99%finished.Everything went very well but it can be tedious at times working in such a confined area.I did not have to remove any fuse cross brace wires but it would have been a lot easier if I had left them off especially in the engine area.

The carb heat problem still has not been resolved but I have a pic of a short stacked OX5 running with the cowls off and from what I can see there is no piping in front of the carb inlet.Now,this maybe for ground running only as I cannot imagine that there was no provision for carb heat on that engine.

Now it is on to finishing the foremost fuselage double cross brace wires and then connecting the radiators side bracing to the fuse.The model is now extremely nose heavy and a lot of care must be taken in handling it.For this reason I think that I will leave turtle deck until the very end as the wooden stringers are extremely fragile and would very easliy be broken.

The next major area that I think I will tackle will be to finish the U/C and those beautiful spoked wheels. to be cont......

[JohnReid]

Here is a great site on the use of foamboard and on weathering of structures using pastels. http://www.theboors.org/housetut2.html
Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

I have changed my mind again.In further researching the jennys history in Canada I have discovered that there were two versions used by the RFC for training ,the Canuck and the JN4A .There is a painting by Robert Bradford of Curtiss JN4s at Beamsville-1917 at the Canada Aviation Museum that depicts this,showing both versions.Upon further reseach I have found this to be true,in fact the # on the tail of the JN4A is C562 and the Canuck C1311.

After I finish the Canuck I will do some further research on the A model and come up with a list of differences between the A and D models for those using the kit plans of the JN4D.

The Rad/engine/cockpit plumbing is finished (except for carb heat & the wiring of the spark advance/retard).I weathered the engine/rad areas with pastels while I have ready access to these areas.I used a mix of black and rusty brown for this.(Do not overdo,be subtle with pastels)

I am now working on the U/C bracing wires while I am still able to turn the aircraft on its back.The next step after the bracing will be to put the aircraft back in its jig and finally install, permanently, the center section and its struts to the fuselage. to be cont......

[JohnReid]

Yesterday I spent an interesting afternoon at the Canadian Aviation Heritage Centre here in Montreal.They are a great bunch of volunteers who are interested in the preservation of aviation history,especially the local history of aviation here in the West Island of Montreal.It was here at Dorval airport that Ferry Command flew bombers overseas during WW2.In 1910, at a place just down the road from where I live ,a Bleriot XI piloted by Count Jacques de Lesseps flew out of a farmers field and over the city of Montreal at one of the first airmeets ever held in Canada(if not the 1st)Vickers operated a major seaplane factory in Lachine producing the Vickers Vedette.The Curtiss-Reid facility at Cartierville Airport built many historic airplanes.The list goes on and on.

Until yesterday I had no idea of how serious these guys are.I had heard that they were building for static display a Fairchild FC-2 (Razorback) bushplane of the 1927 era.But I had no idea that they have a replica of a Bleriot XI well on the way to being finished.This replica will be flown in 2010 for the 100th anniversary of the airmeet here on Montreals West Island.

The CAHC center is only about 10 minuites from where I live,so if anyone needs any info on this bird please let me know.I plan to do a picture taking walkaround in the near future. Cheers! John.

Their internet site is www.cahc-ccpa.com

[StephenLawson]

Modelers do it in any scale...