HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

Why is it I can see all my spellling mistakkes only after I lose the edit function? As you can see I was not an English major in college! Cheers! John

[Ross_Moorhouse]

These are not WWI related but I think they are up to John's standard.









from http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.co.../auto/auto.htm

[Ross_Moorhouse]

& hows this for a great case for a dio??



http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.co...our/armour.htm

[JohnReid]

Thanks Ross for postings these pics of dioramas you find on the web.
They are both creative and contain some nice ideas.Maybe I could use this opportunity to do a little constructive criticism of what I see here and what,in my opinion ,are the elements of a good diorama.I have never seen these dioramas before nor do I know who built them.I am not trying to play expert here just using these as examples of what I have been talking about in this thread.
Diorama #1,the garage,is a very nice composition,well thought out and displays a good level of craftsmanship.There are lots and lots of things there to keep the eye busy.The various objects are well placed and the weathering is good.It is what I call a very nice scenic diorama.
My preference though would be to have more of a storyline diorama.I would use more figures interacting in some way to tell a story.There are obvious signs of human activity but nothing to get me emotionally involved in the piece.
Diorama #2,the desert scene.This is another good scenic diorama,creatively displayed in what I think is an ammo box.It is well done but I think that this dioramist tried to get too much into a confined space.His placement of objects right against the back wall of the box destroys any illusion of open space and are too evenly spaced.I think that in this case, he would have been better off using fewer objects placed in a more creative way ,to tell a more dramatic story.
Creating a good storyline is the hardest part of making great dioramas.It is where the art of the diorama is beyond just good craftsmanship.
Please take these opinions of mine in the constructive spirit in which they are given.I want to encourage modelers to give dioramas a try and not discourage them.There is nothing wrong with scenic dioramas ,railroaders do it all the time but I beleive that with just a little more storytelling, great art can be achieved by well thought out dioramas.Cheers! John.

[Ross_Moorhouse]

This guy has been at his model desk for way too long....

[JohnReid]

Now that is a great,creative diorama.Somebody out there has a wonderful imagination.Cheers! John.

[Ross_Moorhouse]

Originally Posted by JohnReid

Now that is a great,creative diorama.Somebody out there has a wonderful imagination.Cheers! John.

Thought you would like that one mate.

[JohnReid]

Well with all these recent changes in direction of the Jenny diorama,I am again faced with this old familiar problem.Is this diorama getting out of hand?Is it just too big,with too many things going on?Am I reaching a point where there is just too much in this piece?Will the viewer find it just too confusing?Should I confine the diorama within the hangar walls?
I don't have to make a final decision on this for a while yet but it does bother me.I like the idea of adding an outdoor enviroment and I can see many possibilities in trying something new but...... Even now I am well beyond the KISS principal and would adding more just weaken the whole composition?
If I decide to do more,where will I stop?How will I make the transition from the diorama to the base?Will it all be just too damn square looking? I thought of doing a kind of fantasy transition using long S type lines along the outside perimeter of the diorama between what would be concrete or paving around the building and a walnut wood veneer base.And yet there is something nice about just looking in through the doors and windows into the interior with no outside distractions.I somehow think that it is more believable using the door or window as the transition point between realiity and the miniature world inside. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions on this from you guys. Thanks! Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

You know the more I think about it ,the more I come to realize that there maybe a compromise solution.
I think that I will lose a lot of the magic by building a complicated outside enviroment .I was thinking ,like when I was a kid, with my nose pressed up against the department store window at Christmas time ,and watching that little minature world before me.Although the window was a barrier to that world,it also served as a window to another world and I was really not aware or distracted by, the outside surroundings.I think that the strength of my style of diorama,a sort of a five sided shadow box,would be lost somehow.As much as the artist in me would like to embellish the scene,the dioramist in me thinks that it would be a mistake.
Therefore ,I think that I will compromise and in order to breakup the boxiness of the whole thing ,I will build just a couple of simple structures to add some outside interest.The hangar door housings(which started this whole
digression)will remain as is, as it is a necessary part of the hangar itself.Where the garage door is, I will build a small structure to frame the door.At the rear of the hangar I will build just a simple lean to type structure, with a window and a door, to keep those cold GWN winds out.
I think that this will add just enough outside interest ,along with a few signs, that it may just work.
All of the above was decided while walking the dog today.More oxygen to the brain is guess.Cheers! John.
Please,I would still like your comments or opinions though.Thanks,John.

Oh! I forgot ,you can now deduct about 6 months from this project.

[JohnReid]

With the completion of the hangar door assembly in a day or two all the large components of this diorama will be built.So I am right on schedule with what I wanted to get done outside this summer in the GWN.This fall and coming winter I want to build the other doors and finish the windows,the 2nd JN4, and the rest of the furniture,workbenches etc..
I am looking forward to the day that I can actually install something permanently,knowing I wont be taking it out again to be worked on.Because I have decided to drop the outside enviroment idea,I am back to the problem of limited space and maintaining good viewer sight lines, through the various doors and windows and of course the large viewing hole in the roof.The real advantage here is the fact that the main subject,the aircraft, is a skeleton and does not block much of the view.The Mercedes showcar is a large item and I had thought of placing it in a structure to be built around the garage door.This would save me floor space but would cut down considerably on the view through the garage door.The airshow trailer sign is also quite large.
The 2nd aircraft will be wingless and the fuselage will be set upon blocks instead of the undercarriage.The wings will have to be stored in racks up against the backwall,along with the tail planes.Then there are the figures to consider.I have finished 5 figures but there is a possibility of as many as 6 or 7.Exactly where or how they are to be placed has not been decided yet, that is why I left the heads and bodies seperate until I know exactly how they will be interacting with each other.Why do I mention all this? Well,its in order to give you guys a sense of how fluid diorama composition can be right up until nearly the end of the project.I have a rough idea going in but nothing is written in stone.I enjoy the freedom of leaving my options open as long as possible.I dont even know what it will look like until its finished.That is the fun for me and it helps to keep my interest up until the end.
I spend a lot of time positioning and re-positioning things as I go along . It is one of the most important aspects of diorama making ,especially in a large, complicated diorama such as this.I want to have a central focus to my story but at this same time have a little sub-storyline going on, if I can fit it in without it being a obvious distraction.Sort of like the viewer ,after he has caught the main story saying ,"Oh now look at this!" to be cont.....
Cheers! John.

The world of reality has its limits;the world of imagination is boundless.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau