HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

A camera for dummies.
My choice? Canon power shot A540 Why? it was on sale.
I know absolutely nothing about cameras,so don't even ask.What I do know is that this little camera has all the features I want.On/Off switch,auto and AV settings,4X zoom and 6.0 pixels.It also has lots of other settings about which I know nothing about.The AV setting I learned about from a friend when I wasn't getting much clarity in the background of my pics.
One feature I really like and discovered by accident,is when using the zoom I can push the "take the pic button" halfway down at get an idea of what lighting I need for the finished pic.It also allows me to move around a hand held light for different effects.(more on this later)
It has a flash which I never use and a well used erase button.I would however like to know how I change the DPI settings which I never could figure out ,which causes me to use too much memory, as I seldom blow up my pics to poster size anyway.(Think of DPI like dots on a newspaper picture,the more dots the clearer the picture)
Well that is about it for the camera,all the other buttons and switches I know nothing about and I am actually afraid to use them as I fear that if I play with them I will somehow screw up what seems to be working for me now.Geez...what a dummy!
Next? my fancy accessories.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Now that I have the 4th diorama underway ,my mind is starting to wander again.I am dreaming along the lines of a 1/10th scale Bleriot diorama using the Amati model as the main subject matter.A museum that I am member of is building a full scale flyable Bleriot aircraft for the 100th anniversary of the first airshow in Canada in 2011.The museum is only a few miles from my home and they have all the info that I would need for this build.I managed to buy the last available kit from Model Expo at a great price and my doc just gave this old bod another passing grade ,sooo here we go again!Has anyone here already built this model?I want to do the French military version as I believe that this was the first airplane to serve in military operations which keeps me nicely within the WW1 parameters of this forum too.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

This is the Bleriot model that I am planning to build into a diorama or large vignette somewhere down the road.As of now I have no idea what the storyboard will be but I am open to ideas and suggestions.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

To cut down on the posting involved, I will post only pictures during the week and a text summery on the weekends.However,I will respond as usual to any specific questions from individuals.Thanks for your patience.

This week was devoted to the boardwalk and backyard fencing.If you look at the original picture that I am using for inspiration,(the 22year old Mr.J.E. Mair's Chicago row house backyard in 1910),you will see next to the buildings facade the boardwalk that runs the full width of the backyard.I have just started the fencing which surrounds each property.The design I am using here is actually from my own backyard and I chose it because of all the lighting possibilities using the shadows through the slats in the boards.(while under construction this will also make a nice backdrop for pictures of my 1/18th scale old car collection)
I used my usual old barn siding method to weather the wood, which I will repeat here for the newcomers to this thread.I use coffee stir sticks of various sizes and doctors tongue depressors, which I trim and cut to length.Then take a mix of 75% nimbus gray-25% raw umber acrylic paint and add lots of water to the consistency of milk and brush it on.Let dry and repeat as many times as necessary to get the coverage that looks good to you.(I use Jo Sonja acrylic paint almost exclusively as it dries flat)Personally I like the wood grain to show through as it looks more realistic.When dry,take a pin and make a pattern of holes in the wood to represent nails.Twist the head of an HB graphite pencil into each hole and then and then add a final watery coat.This swells the pin holes back level with the surface .When dry,you can add a tiny drop of watery burnt sienna to each nail for a rusty look.(Later you can add burnt sienna chalk pastels to intensify the rusty look if required)Now take an old toothbrush and some very watery raw umber and flick on a very fine spray of crude.After you have finished handling the boards and the structure is built ,you can come back with your siennas,browns grays,and black chalk pastels and play with it until you are satisfied.Pastels can be used to great effect when creating shadows.Just remember to be subtle in your approach to weathering,if in doubt use less not more!

[JohnReid]