HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS

[JohnReid]

basic foamboard walls

[JohnReid]

seeing if everything will fit

[JohnReid]

fitting of the trusses

[JohnReid]

Yesterday I continued to furnish the workshop module,building the carpenters cabinet complete with carving tools.I sealed it with my standard 2/3 laquer 1/3 thinner mix and painted it with acrylics.The tools were made using model ship parts for the handles.Belaying pins ,parts of ballistrades make excell ent handles.In fact there are many shipbuilding parts that with a little imagination can be used in a diorama.I am familiar with these parts as that is where I started in modeling.Also take a look for small wooden parts in craft stores.I adapted what was a bottle into a nice carvers mallet with a little shaping.They even make wooden water and oils barrells that fit nicely into this scale.I use the metal ends of pencils for small oil or paint cans.Next to the woodlathe I made a storage place for the woodlathe tools.
I was in a store the other day and picked up some nice small,brass Christmas bells that I will be using as light shades for the hangar.They are the same ones that you see in the Albatros hangar.I sand down the bottom part of the bell to make it look more like a light shade.Drill a hole in the top and using brass tubing and a RR light type assembly and a transformer, I have a cheap lighting system.The problem I have had with this system is an easy way to change the bulbs.I will have to re-design it somehow now that it it going to a museum where they will have to be changed on a regular basis.
Cheers! John.


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[JohnReid]

The workshop cont.....
I made a couple of metal boxes out of hard wood.First I cut the wood to size and sanded it very smooth,then sealed it with a couple of coats of a 2/3 laquer and 1/3 thinner mix.Over this I put a couple of coats of white gesso.The acrylic paint comes next.Here I used liquitex Iridescent Silver mixed with a dab of black gesso to achieve a sort of gun metal effect.Here you can experiment with various amounts of black gesso to get gunmetal,tin or a steel patina.For something a little different I took some copper tape that I have and wrapped it around the area where the lid would be and painted it but let some of the copper show through for a nice effect.In then used grey and black pastels for weathering.
I also experimented with making a earthenware or clay pot out of wood.First I shaped a piece of hardwood as required .Then it got the laquer-gesso treatment.The white gesso is put on in multiple coats until the surface has a chauky clay looking appearance.Then I take some Jo Sonja Nimbus Grey which dries flat and painted on a couple of coats.(In replacement of nimbus grey you could mix a little black gesso into the white gesso and then add a touch of raw umber to warm it up)I then weathered the pot using grey and black pastels.
Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

Jim Landon has a great on-line build,complete with lots of detailed pics, going on over at wwi-models.com on the 1/16th Model Expo Neiuport 28.He is doing a great job on a difficult build.I tried to warn him but I guess he likes a challenge.
Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

Previously unpublished Jenny pics

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Another

[JohnReid]

one more

[JohnReid]

In the above pics you will notice that the turnbuckles were made a little oversize and emphasized with gold paint.This is a little artistic licence that I used to make the rigging more visible to the viewer.The airplane being in a diorama would lose these details otherwise.
Cheers! John.