HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

After thinking about it for awhile,I plan to build the fuselage and wings pretty much like I built the others.Because the fuselage is split in two the only thing holding the two halves together are the control wires.Therefore the fuselage will be built initially in one piece,broken and then bend.How much of the plywood covering forward of the cockpit area that I will do will depend on the amount of fire damage that will be shown.The fire would have to be large enough to flash burn the fabric off the wings but not large enough to consume the complete engine area.If the accident occurred at the airfield there would have been an attempt to rescue the pilot ,which would necessitate the use of some type of fire fighting equipment or other to subdue the flames during the rescue .By the look of the wreckage he was killed by blunt force trauma or G forces and not by fire.
The wings will be built as usual with damage added later.
The aft half of the fuselage will require that a lot of the plywood covering be shown .The tail planes would mostly be stress damage.
If anyone has knowledge of any pictures of wood and fabric airplanes ,old or new ,that have suffered this kind of damage ,please advise.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Now how the hell did he manage to screw that up Harley?
I really don't know.
Must of mixed the BBQ'd soil with the microwaved or something stupid like that!

Oh well ,I will just have to treat it like a chance to get creative.Can't say that I liked it all one color anyway.Rather than drive myself crazy trying to darken one or lighten the other,I think what I will do is create a whole new texture using fine sand to blend one into the other.Should work.(I hope)

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

I dusted some very fine sand on and then came back with the different textures and shades of turf.I kind of like the results but I will make the decision later if I want to extend it or leave the rest as is.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Lousy day outside so I worked on Comanche's hitch.I found an old piece of plastic with a solder strip inside that used to be used for window alarms systems.(being a pack rat is a good thing)I sanded it with 600 paper to dull it down and make it look more like leather.Still looking for something that looks like horsey- doo though.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

This gives you guys an idea how I plan to do the landscaping surrounding the Albatros hangar.
The bottom of the pic is the closest to the edge and the top closest to the hangar.I figure the closer you get to the hangar the most wear and tear there will be on the turf.It will all be pretty close cropped except at the hangar's foundation area where there will be some taller vegetation.Every stone is selected for size and glued down in a random pattern (which is a lot harder than it sounds )to get it just right.

[JohnReid]