HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

This is really a lot of fun,the best part of modeling as far as I am concerned.It is great to see your ideas come together after such a long time.
It is always hard to know when to stop the weathering process,when enough is enough.I used pastels except for two places,the white ash at the plywood edges and the oil spots on the sled where I used some flat raw umber acrylic.I may still tone down the white ash with a little gray.
The U/C spreader bar shows a little smoke and heat damage and one panel has been left off to gain access to the controls.

[JohnReid]

Good news for 1/16th fans! scalemotorcars.com is now offering scale decals for the Jenny including instruments and nameplates etc....

[Lufbery]

Originally Posted by JohnReid

John,

That looks fantastic!

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Like everything else, the fitting of the plywood sheets takes a long time and a little planning ,to have maximum access to the interior for gluing purposes.I first made up paper templates and cut the plywood oversize and sanded it down to fit,piece by piece.
Before heat bending with the curling iron,I soaked the plywood in plain water for about 5 mins and then dunked it in ammonia to soften up the wood fibers.
I will leave the cockpit area open for now until all interior work in this area is finished.I am a little tempted to leave a few panels off to show the fuselage interior but I haven"t yet come up with a good excuse to do so.
The pilot would have been removed before the fire really took hold and the rear part of the fuselage placed where it is by the rescue crew, in an attempt to get at the pilot.Therefore ,the tail section would have suffered some fire damage laying on top of the wing like that.The fabric tail surfaces would have had the same fate as the wings.The only thing joining the two pieces together will be the control cables joining the controls to the elevator and rudder.The horizontal stab sort of hooks on the the lower wing at an odd angle which makes for an interesting storyline for those who want to stop to figure it out.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

The wood and the joints still require some work but only after I am finished handling the fuselage .
I will let the rest of the plywood go for now and concentrate on the cockpit area and tail.Once the pilot seat and related hardware is in ,the rest of the axe chopped plywood skin surrounding the cockpit will need finishing.The tail area could be even more heavily damaged by fire.It is a point where a lot of wood and fabric come together creating a concentration of combustible material and an ample supply of oxygen and wind.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]