How I build large scale dioramas! (1 Viewer)

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Weekend Summery.
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!
 
Now that my 4th aircraft diorama is underway my mind has been wandering as to what will be next.I decided on a Bleriot XI for the airplane,the diorama part is still unknown,even to me!

Amati Bleriot XI
First look inside the box!
What a disappointment,this is not a museum quality model,not by my standards anyway.It is probably worth about what I paid for it ,about a quarter of what it originally went for a few years ago.I got mine as a closeout special from Model Airways.They will not be re-stocking them in the future,now I think I know why.
This gives the term "museum quality "a bad name.My idea of museum quality would be a 1/10 scale model of the real thing,period.This is not even close.
I still plan to build it using what I can of the stuff provided but it will only be a starting point.The engine ,the spoked wheels and metal fittings look OK at first glance but only time will tell.Just about everything in wood seems to be a figment of someones imagination.I haven't yet checked the overall measurements for accuracy but the building methodology is all wrong.The only way those wings would look OK is fabric covered,which I would recommend doing as an out of the box build.The fabric would as least cover up a multitude of sins.There just is no excuse for this in 1/10th scale.More on all this later.
Here is my plan.I will use only the parts that I find acceptable or that can be modified to be accurate.I will use this as a starting point like I did with all my other structural type builds.(you gotta start somewhere)
As I mentioned before I am a member of the Canadian Aviation Heritage Center which is only about ten minutes down the road from me and they have a 1:1 scale Bleriot XI now nearing completion.This aircraft will be flown in 2011 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Canadian air show and flight over a Canadian city,Montreal.
Because it is actually to be flown the MOT has forced upon them some more modern modifications for safety sake.It will therefore be my task to find which is original and which has been modified.I want to build the original version. to be cont........
For all you military airplane fans out there,yes this was a military airplane.
 
Weekend Summery.
This week was all about making and weathering fencing.It can be a long and repetitive process but you can make it less so by being a little creative and making each section just a little different.
The sections are made to be removable until final assembly .I build each panel as it would be done in full scale and do not use jigs.This way it allows for a build which is more like the real thing,mistakes and all.Posts are installed first ,followed by cross members and then the vertical boards.Weathering is the same method as I used for the barn siding in my other dioramas.I figure that most fences in middle class neighborhoods in those days would be left to age naturally, due to the cost of paint.
In the original picture the fencing looks to be about 4feet internally and the outer perimeter about 6 feet or higher.(My mock shows all the fencing at 4feet.)I decided to go with the picture and use the higher perimeter fencing.The only problem that I can see now would be to make the whole thing look a little walled off from the viewers perspective.If need be the height could be reduced in he future.
 
Yeah,I know it is not WW1 but all by old Ford T's are in the dioramas.Anyway this gives you an idea of how easy it is to do a vignette composition.I used my own backyard as a backdrop, put in a 1/18th scale classic car along my recently built fence,used one of the hangar doors not yet installed and voila there you have it.Later of course this area will be covered in grass and other vegetation.The car could also be slightly weathered, especially around the wheel areas after a drive to the airport, or I could put in a pail and some soap indicating that it had just been washed.
 
I like the bucket & soap idea John and I am sure if anyone can come up with a way to represent soapy bubbles on the hood you can. :)

In the meantime I manage to zip back in time and snap this photo.

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