HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

Model Expo to the rescue.WW1 airplane,open structure just like the Travelair pics I have hanging on the wall.Then it all came flooding back to me,the cold hangars ,the smell of dope,the hand rubbing of 30 coats of paint,the sights ,the smells ,the sounds of my youth hanging around airplanes.That is what I know really well!Why not build one of these open structure model airplanes .Sure it is 16 times smaller than what you built before but you already have the knowledge of working in small scale.Everything was rapidly coming together.I have the airplane,the diorama idea,the knowledge,the model building skills but do I have the creativity to really contribute something new.Then a funny thing happened,doors began to open,research material would show up just when I needed it,I would just happen upon things on the internet, Wow I seem to be on the right track.It really cant be this easy.I thought of shadow boxes,lighting,figures,wiring,making hangars from coffee sticks on and on.Then it finally struck me ,why not take what the doll house builder does(something I also always admired) which is basically a five side shadow box and marry that up with traditional modelmaking.I had never seen this done before so I decided to give it a try. to be cont....

[JohnReid]

On the Mercedes there was lots of chrome.I have found that there are 2 ways to make it look old and weathered.Remove all the chrome in an amonia bath overnite and then repaint silver or aluminun, and then weather ,or do the following.Take the brand new shiny part and with very fine sand paper ,600 grit or above ,sand in tiny scratches and generally dull the whole surface.Take some very thin raw umber,the consistancy of skim milk and lightly paint the surface and then force dry with a hair dryer.Between coats you can rub the surface lightly with your finger to create a sheen.Continue with the raw umber coats until the disired effect is achieved.Dont worry if it looks bad as that is the effect you want.Take some black,grey and burnt sienna pastels and do your magic working in dirt and dust and the occasional rusty spot.
I have found that working with thin acrilyics and pastels in combination is really the way to go when weathering.Although it does require some proctice to get it right the results are great while you are having loads on fun with the process.
I hope to have some new pics up next week,including pics of the weathered towcar.

[JohnReid]

While I am at it I thought I would also mention how I weather brass and copper surfaces.To make brass
look like weathered copper I spray thin washes of burnt umber gesso followed by washes of black gesso mixed with flow medium.
To make brass look weathered I spray just with the black gesso.
I use gesso because it will stick to just about anything.All my experience has been with the liquitex brand of gesso and the Jo Sonja brand of acrylics.I dont know if the same results can be achieved with other brands.As I have mentioned before I was intrducted to Jo Sonja in my bird painting days and I really like it because you have complete control over the shine.It dries absolutely flat but you can mix in your own mediums such as varnish,retarder ,flow medium etc...
Take a look at the Model A Ford truck that I weathered for the Nieuport diorama as most of the shiny parts are copper or brass.

[JohnReid]

You know,its funny how things go with creativity.Even accidents or potential disasters(well not quite) can be positive.I was working on the towcar and one of the front wheels fell off.I was searching around trying to find a missing part in the CARPET MONSTER when it came to me.Why not leave the wheel off completely,besides I kind of like how the wheelwell and the leaf springs looks as is and it will give me a chance to do some serious weathering in that wheel well.I stuck the missing wheel under the chassis so it looks like it is supporting the car.When I put the car in the diorama I will leave a bunch of parts and tools lying around the hangar floor as though the area is being worked on.

It is not always easy to know when to stop when putting detail into a diorama.I like to have lots of interesting things going on but I want the aircraft to remain the center of attention.I dont want to make the towcar too colorful .It is always a question of trying to achieve the right balance.The airplane of course will be front and center while the towcar will be in back near the rear wall.I will subdue the colors further,if necessary, with pastels once I get the car and aircraft in position.I plan to also have some advertising on the towcar announcing the airshow at the local airfield.

[StephenLawson]

JohnReid; Bob Ross the deceased landscape artist used to call them "happy accidents." The concern about too much in a diorama is very real. Though just thinking about the process it just depends on your subject matter. For instance displaying just the tools one would need if you were really working on a wheel. Then there is always the humorous approach. Maybe a squirrel stealing a sandwich or a lug nut, a bird sitting on the rim of a half full cup-o-coffee.

[JohnReid]

Happy accidents,synchronicity or as we used to call it in the 60s serendipity.This subject has always interested me as it relates to artists and their creativity.As Louis Pasteur said,Did you ever observe to whom accidents happen?Chance favors only the prepared mind.A discovery is said to be an accident meeting as prepared mind.I strongly beleive that what must come before the how.First choose What you would do and the How usually falls into place.
Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do,begin it.Action has magic,grace,and power in it (Gorthe) I have witnessed this many times in my own life and in the lives of many fellow artists and students.
Dioramist now climbs down from his soapbox Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

Take a look at http:www.wilcosdioramas.com for some good ideas especially lighting. Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

My friend Jim Landon has some very detailed build pics


over on http://www.wwi-models.org see News,news,news

You cant say I didnt warn you Jim Cheers! John.

[StephenLawson]

Jim is a great fellow. He ives in Denver and we have attended the same modeling club.

[JimLandon]

John has invited me several times to participate on this diorama site of his. I'd peeked at it a couple times without registering. I'm not very familiar with this Aerodrome site - kind of a complicated site for an old fart like me (oops, can you say that here?). When I got here today and skipped to the end messages I was dumbfounded to see messages about me. That comment was very kind of you Stephen. Took me a while to get registered so I could reply. You missed the last IPMS meeting where I was given top honors for my Salmson 2A2 model. Of course if you'd been there and entered a model I wouldn't have won. As John said, I'm building the Model Expo 1:16 scale uncovered Nieuport 28. I'm using it as practice before attempting their Jenny I have on my shelf. I'm rambling. Enough for now. - Jim