HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

After your panel has been given 2-3 coats of lacquer on both sides, take some carpenters or white glue and spread a nice ,thick,even coat over the best side.I use an old silk screen roller for this.Take some ordinary sand ,the type they sell for driveways or sidewalks in the winter and strain it through a sieve.If you suspect that your sand may contain some unwanted critters you may want to bake it in your BBQ for awhile.Take your clean,sieved sand and using the same sieve, shake on the sand as evenly as you can.When dry shake off the excess sand and your panel is ready for anything!

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

If you want finer sand more in 1/16th scale you can run it through a finer sieve ,here I am using a frying pan spatter screen or whatever they call it.

[JohnReid]

This is ordinary garden soil dried in the sun and then run through the sieve.I recommend you BBQ it too for critter removal.This can be used for the best representation of scale soil in a larger scale diorama.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The 4 landscaping panels are temporarily installed.As you can see it is not a thick layer of sand that is required here just something to provide tooth for the subsequent layers to be glued on top.The glue itself once dry will also provide for more waterproofing.
Now I will have to decide on what to add and where I will put it.The second Albatros will pretty much take up the L/H side,the back will become a mini junkyard ,the R/H side will be for viewing through the plexiglass panel and most of the front will be used for an unobstructed view into the hangar.Other than maybe a horse drawn cart or something similar, the story surrounding the derelict Abatros will be enough.
This diorama will tell the story of a pilot training unit somewhere behind the lines and the sacrifice made by all of those pilots and their instructors ( aces who never were ),on either side, who never even made it into combat.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]