HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

I doubled the size of the roof gas sign after complaints from some of the older pilots The R/h side of the checkerboard roof is finished except for all the battens.I have left a large viewing hole in the roof which will look directly down on the hanger floor and workshop(some portion of the workshop roof will be left off for viewing)
I would like to start working on the main hangar doors as soon as I figure out the sliding mechanism.I kind of like the design of the doors in the picture that Eric sent me.Half of the doors could remain shut but that would involved making a lot more windows for viewing from the front.I want to keep every part of the hangar open for line-of-sight viewing and picture taking.Some windows and doors will be removable for the same purpose.As a matter of fact the roof will be completely removable with a quick disconnect for the electricals.
Cheers! John

[JohnReid]

Last year I picked up a pack of stir sticks from our local Starbucks.The pack contains 1,000 7X 1/4 inch birch wood stiks.I have never seen stiks so small.I told the manager what I do with them and even brought some pics to show him.
He was more than happy to supply me with a pack for $5 bucks Canadian(25 cents American )
These stiks are especially suited to building in the smaller scales .And it is difficult to make your own at this size.Being birchwood I recommend that you pre-drill any holes before nailing as they tend to split,especially at the ends.They take stains well and can hold pastels colors well without smearing or rubbing off. A couple of days ago I picked up a 2nd pack of 1,000,so that should last me awhile.Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

Now that the roof is mostly finished ,it is time to break out the weathering materials,the acrylics and pastels.
I washed on very thin coats of raw umber over all the previously painted nimbus grey wood areas.I then took out my trusty toothbrush and flicked raw umber spots on the black as well as the white checkerboard pattern.You can add a little of the nimbus grey to the mix if you want the weathering of black areas to be more visable.
I then took some medium grey pastels and shaded the areas between the battens and the sandpaper roof.If you make a mistake and lighten an area too much remember you can always go back over the area with black pastels again to darken the area if need be.Experiment with different shades of grey with black to get a nice blended-shaded transition.
Each nail(or pin) is then given a dot of burnt umber gesso followed by a coat of burnt sienna.I used to paint around each nail hole with watery burnt sienna but I find a better method is to take a small brush and a tiny amount of burnt sienna pastels and shade the wood around the nail holes so that they look rusty.You can even have some of the rust run down onto the black and white roof for greater effect.It is really worthwhile working to weather the roof properly as this is a very noticable part of the diorama besides its lots of fun and very rewarding to look at when finished.Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

last post mentioned white gesso(forget about it)it should read burnt umber geeso.It is much easier to cover the burnt umber with burnt sienna.Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

Ken sent me some pics this evening of his latest project a H-13D helicopter.I can assure you that it is of the same high quality as the Camel.I am, however, trying hard to get him back into WW1.Cheers! John.

[Mofo]

I've been bugging John with some Jenny/Canuck questions for my Olimp kit, and having a hard time sorting out rigging differences. I made this diagram to try to simplify the question, and he asked that I post it over here, so, here goes. (I'm guessing that means it's right... )



For a late Jenny, (I'd) have the red, green and purple lines.

For an early Jenny, (I'd) have the green and purple lines.

For a Canuck, it's just the blue and purple lines.

[JohnReid]

Thanks Mofo and welcome to the drome.Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

Mofo,please feel free to use whatever you want in your upcoming article on the Jenny Canuck.Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

I have recently had a hand in helping to get a couple of new diorama forums off the ground over on ARC and Scale Auto modeler.I am sure that the success of this thread had something to do with it.Thanks guys for your support of diorama making as an artform.It is one of my goals to really see this diorama thing of ours takeoff.Cheers! John

[JohnReid]

Pastels are really the way to go if you are weathering wood.Because of the rough surface there is no danger of them rubbing off.Acrylics work fine but it takes 10 times as long to achieve the same result.The secret is to be subtle in your application.They are also very forgiveable in that if you make a mistake and overdo it, you can blend in other colors easily.Begin by using a small soft brush and just dunk the tip in the pastel color and scrub the surface you are working on.The key is to take your time and be sure to blend in the pastels for a nice subtle,smooth transition of color.You can very easily create some great effects by shading between the boards,in corners where dust and crud would gather or at the sawed off ends where discoloration would take place.Take a look at real weathered wood for ideas and have fun. Cheers! John.