HOW TO BUILD AIRCRAFT DIORAMAS - Page 70

JohnReid · 19 December 2005, 06:28 AM

Pic#4
The above pic shows shows a bit of fine tuning as to where the major objects will eventually be placed.The basic floorplan was established earlier in the research stage but at this point it is nice to see things coming together.Here I am using the plan view of the airplane drawing and the airshow car that has already been built.This is a good time to check wing tip and height clearances all around and maybe to begin thinking about figure placement etc...
Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 19 December 2005, 09:06 AM

Hi Guys! Today I would like to talk a bit about the order vs chaos phenomenon.It seems to me that car modellers who make dioramas are a very neat and clean group indeed.I dont know if this is because they come from a background of wanting to have their cars showroom perfect or what.While the car as an object of display in a showroom can be in pristine condition most of its surrounding will not.It seems that there is something built into humans that is natural to want to have everything clean and orderly.We want to place everything just so ,as though it was constantly on display.Too much order can be an enemy of the dioramist.The real world is not like this(only man plants trees in rows).If your diorama is too static, it will look staged.The goal of a good diorama is to bring a slice of life alive as though it were one frame of a movie.The fun of diorama making is that we are the authors of this miniature world.We are storytellers,set directors,lighting managers,producers,directors,carpenters and stage hands in our own one frame movie.This is an awesome but fun task to get it right and it is not always easy. Just the proper placement of things in a diorama can take hours of positioning and re-positioning to get it just right.Always be careful not to get things too static or uniform.Do not line things up with the same spacing between them.Stay away from rows and things that are exactly 90deg. etc.. etc...

Lets take a look at the idea of adding a simple bookcase in a room in a diorama.Now normally a person when placing this bookcase would line it up straight with the wall or maybe of only off a couple of unnoticible degrees.That is what we would do when we think about it.But would we place it exactly in the center of the wall.Maybe yes but most of the time no.Would all the shelves be neatly lined with books(except in a lawyers office)as though they were never used.I dont think so ,not in real life.Would it be painted a stark white with all the shelves even spaced devoid of decoration ,well maybe so but this is not what we want as artists unless we are consciously try ing to do so.Static ,squarely placed,blandly painted, uninteresting spaces is not where we want to be as dioramic artists(I hope that is a word, dioramic?)
Now let your imagination run wild,like when you were a kid.Think fun ,color,a little chous here and there.Put a little raw umber in that white and warm it up.Dont worry about the odd book being out of place.Maybe we could carve a pattern in the wood or decorate it with veneer or maybe just leave that wonderful patina and design in the wood that is already there.Maybe we could place the shelves so that they are not so evenly spaced or maybe jig saw a little off the top.But you say I want to use this bookcase to display my diecast car collection.No problem you can line up these little jewels perfectly in even spaced rows because here it is expected because someone has consciously thought about this as a static display .
I hope that my little bookcase idea has helped to explain my ideas. I remember when I used to teach decorative bird carving we would have to draw feathers on the bird before we carved them out.I used to tell my students to go ahead and draw them on and invariably they would draw them in neat little static rows.Then I would say now go back and screw them all up and that is the way it would be in nature. Hope this helps! Cheers! John.
This post has been edited by JohnReid on 28 Jul 2005, 08:00:15 AM
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JohnReid · 20 December 2005, 02:40 PM

Well today was my lucky day , I found some things in the dollar store that cost ,guess what,all of a dollar each (Canadian at that).Beleive it or not a 1/16th,curled up sleeping cat,a sitting dog(Bull Mastiff) and a perched Barn Owl made of pewter and very finally detailed.Three bucks and I saved myself days of work trying to carve them in wood.I have always wanted to put these exact animals in the hangar.Cats were often kept for hunting rodents and barn owls love hangars.I had planned to put a pic of a dog in the office.The dog will look great sitting beside the barnstormer pilot and will be the company mascot.In fact I have a pic of that exact same breed sitting in the cockpit of an old barnstormer. I got off the net from the same museum that these pieces are going to .Hows that for syncronocity?
Sometimes I cant beleive how things just fall into place,its errie sometimes, when you know that you are on the right track.
Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 26 December 2005, 04:13 PM

I figure that I am coming up to about the 2000 hour mark on the "Memories of Flight School diorama. The hangar windows are finished and I am presently finishing off the doors but they too also contain windows.
I think that the next thing that I will tackle will be the lighting.I plan to put lights in the hangar ,office and back door modules, as well as some exterior lighting over doors and some of the advertising signs.I am really looking forward to doing this because with the lighting things will really start to come to life.My plan is to light it much like the Albatros diorama with individual overhead lights.I will be using the same lighting as the dollhouse miniaturists use.It is very safe and does not throw off too much heat.I am planning to be able to control the lighting in such a way as to light up just the hangar or the modules or both.There will be a dimmer switch to control the intensity.I havent as of yet been able to find amber bulbs but the clear ones are probably more authentic anyway.With all the different wood tones it still should create a nice warm scene.The bulbs are the screw in type so they should be a lot easier to maintain.The roof and wall panels can be taken apart with just a few well hidden scrrews. The windows will be removable until after I have taken lots of pictures then I will install them permanently.I am hoping that this work will be finished by the end of January or so.Then I can finish the Canuck and start the JN4.The JN4 is a basket case being robbed for parts so I am really looking forward to the antiqueing and weathering which I find a lot of fun.Well thats the plan for now.I am still shooting for a Fall 96 finish.
Cheers! John.

JohnReid · 26 December 2005, 04:32 PM

This is the Albatros type lighting

JohnReid · 27 December 2005, 08:13 AM

Drumming up a bit of business with the Townies! (sign is faded after a summer in the sun)

JohnReid · 28 December 2005, 02:44 PM

Do you guys ever have this feeling when you realize that you are on the other side of the mountain coasting to the finish?today I put a lightbulb in my latest diorama and for some reason I felt that I saw the finish line coming into view.Looking through the windows into the shop and out into the hangar with the airplane inside I got that wonderful feeling of being in this other world ,another place ,another time ,a little world of my own creating and I felt the excitement of wanting to see it finished.The old enthusiasm of when I was first at the research and planning stage.It is what we as creative people live for,the rush you get when what was a dream is actually coming true.The high that drives you on to the end.In my minds eye I can see all the picture taking possibilities,the lighting,the interaction of the figures,the storyline everything is coming together.It took two years to get here but now every hour I spent on even the most trivial thing has been worth it.
Cheers! John

JohnReid · 29 December 2005, 07:11 AM

JohnReid · 29 December 2005, 07:37 AM

The above pic is a typical roof truss from the Jenny diorama.I simply drew up a plan of a truss and built each truss over the plan with apiece of wax paper covering it.Later I added fake steel reinforcing plates at the center of the horizortal beam.I used sequin pins to simulate nail and bolt heads and everything was weathered as required.Eventually I will have a 1/16th Barn Owl up there in the rafters.
Cheers! John.
My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.