Classic Car Dioramas

I have decided to add more depth to this diorama .

I think that this is what I am going to do.Where you now see blue sky I will put the split garage doors on either side of the opening.Behind where you now see the tanker I will build another wooden wall or fence set at the same angle as the tanker.
Nice idea - I think this should work out very well :thumbsup:

The overall effect of that little scene in the photos is very impressive. Kudos again Mr Reid :)

:rofl: :rofl: :thumbsup:

Looking out the garage door! I took a piece of cardboard and drew some horizontal lines on it so it looks like siding ,added a piece of green paper and a small dog.When finished I probably will leave the dog there,add a dirt road with green grass against the siding and just let it go at that.If I put anything too large against the siding it spoils the effect.I think that I will use a whitewashed type barn siding made from wood tongue depressors(Or coffee stir stiks)and then weather it.
Next I will take some measurements and build the thing in wood.http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif
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"Once upon a time......." Storyboard dioramas by JohnReid.
My photobucket:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

I have temporarily closed the garage doors again to take pics.
I am adding to my photobucket views such as this that will not be available once the diorama is boxed.I will leave the panels removable so that these views will not be lost forever, in case others wish to take pics in the future.Normally shadow boxes are not finished in areas that can't be viewed from the front, which of course cuts down considerably on the work involved.(See Shep Paines book for further info on this)
I really like the Nieuport's round body shape and all the wonderfully fancy woodworking such as the scalloped edges on the fuselage frames and the trailing edges of the wing's leading edge panels.
The whole tail assembly is actually skinned with small wood strips set at an angle.Just beautiful craftsmanship that would be a shame to cover with fabric.This aircraft and the Albatros are in my opinion the most beautifully proportioned designs of the era.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/Nieuport28%20dio2/Nieuport28diooldphotoof.jpg
A modeling bud sent me this. Cool !:smile:

After taking these latest pictures ,I have changed my mind about opening the garage doors.The light shining through the boards is enough to give the illusion of something taking place outside the walls of the hangar.Opening the doors would somehow break the feeling of intimacy created within the inside walls.The door that is slightly ajar on the R/H side allows for just enough unique lighting and interesting shadows on the floor.
I got this idea from childhood as I always loved the light that filtered through old barns on sunny days.Some people have mentioned to me that that what I create in my hangar scenes bring back old memories for them of days long gone by.It always makes me happy to share those experiences.
My earliest memories of aviation was long before the popularity of jets ,although I do remember my dad flying Vampires in the RCAF reserve .But hangars in those days,even for the early jets,were not eat-of-the-floor places.The sights and sounds and smells of the old piston days was something to behold and I treasure the fact that I still have a foot in that era.Old hangars could be dark,damp,cold and creepy places .But they could also be wonderful places of great atmosphere and yes even beauty.To see a magnificently shining,colorful ,beautifully shaped airplane lit by an old bulb or two , up against a backdrop of something old and slightly weathered was a thrilling sightto behold and something that as an artist I never been able to get out of my head.As you guys know it is a theme that runs throughout my work.Most aircraft lovers feel that airplanes look best in the air, their natural home, and I agree but there are times when to sit quietly and just look at something beautiful can be just as rewarding, especially when surrounded by memories of times gone by.Kids of course have none of these memories and eventually it will all be lost to time.In creating these dioramas I want to bring back a feeling of how things were done back then. You would be surprised how many viewers respond with amazement at how these aircraft were built ,under what would be today called, primitive working conditions.How you can create from wood and wire and fabric such a work of art.
In my younger days I was lucky enough to have re-built a full scale biplane with a gentleman that would be called a craftsman but was truly an artist who happened to build full-scale aircraft both powered and gliders.As a young man he got his training building the now famous all wood Mosquito.In later life he built and re-built by hand aircraft and gliders from all eras.Give him a piece of wood or metal and he would not only make it but put into it something that you just knew came from the hands of an artist.I learned many things from this man,patience,pride of workmanship and above all seeing artistic value in even the smallest object.How to put as much effort and quality into the mundane and repetitive things that must be done in order to create the big and impressive finished product. Thanks Al Pow,rest easy my friend.

End of the road for Diorama #2. My part in the making of this diorama is now essentially finished.Now it is up to the CAM to decide on how to finish it.I understand that they have very good people who are used to what needs to be done.Whether it goes into a wall or into a box and how the final lighting will be set up,I will leave up to them.
This is only the 2nd diorama that I have ever finished ,the first being HMS Victory in 2000. I started Victory in 1976.Two dioramas in 33 years although I must admit 2 more are soon to be finished as well.
Until 2000 it was mostly a hobby but since then it has pretty much been full time.An average of 8 years per diorama.I would have never believed it when I first started down this road.

A couple more figures! I feel like painting figures for awhile.I have chosen to do two WW2 Soviet tank crew members that I have acquired recently.I want to put them in the area shown in the picture that is in the rear of the hangar well away from any confusion with the main storyline.The final composition or arrangement of the objects in this area will be made when the figures are finished.I thought that I could add a little life to the area without having to show a lot of activity which is not my style.I like my figures in relaxed poses.I haven't quite decided what the truck will be hauling or if it will have any obvious connection to the figures.
It could just be parked there or temporarily stopped.I thought that one figure could be holding a map and another pointing in a certain direction as though it had stopped to ask for directions.These guys are dressed in what looks like officier's uniforms so they will have to be depicted as doing something other than grunt labor.(like unloading wood)
These figures will not require too much modification to make them into WW1 German types.In fact they could be used as is with a few minor uniform adjustments.
I have already put the torso of the first figure together and like what I see so far,minimum flash and the parts fit well together with minimum adjustments.Any unwanted seams can easily be filled with super thin ,super glue and sanded smooth.

Having fun with pictures! To the knowledgable eye lot of info can be gleaned from this pic even though it only shows just a small portion of the overall diorama.
I love taking these pics as much as actually building the diorama, so I am taking advantage of this while I can.A lot of these shots will not be possible once it is in the case.
This is easily identified as an American squadron of WW1 by the "Hat in the Ring" symbol.The tail assembly obviously says Nieuport due to the wood sheathing type skin.The "Iron Cross" piece of fabric, complete with bullet holes, is a trophy nailed to the wall.The English language "Warning" sign leaves no doubt that although the aircraft is French,the squadron is American.
I try to leave little clues around like this so that every picture tells a story ,even when taken out of context with the whole piece.

Harley,the fighter pilot's dog and I are sharing a great feeling of loss today.My beloved Dolly,a 14 year old Siberian Husky/Arctic Wolf mix died of old age last week.

Thanks guys for your kind words about the loss of my doggy companion.http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/images/smilies/mellow.gif

I finally have started back to painting the last two figures.I have discussed my painting methods many times before so I won't repeat it here.Sufficient to say that it is based upon Jo Sonja flat acrylic paint and pastels for shading.A little unusual way to paint but it works for me in a diorama setting.
Both figures have been given a couple of coats of a burnt umber/water mix.The figure on the left has been given a single coat of nimbus gray undercoat to approximate the final color.
The WW1 uniform experts will notice a few discrepancies here and there but they are pretty close for my purposes.I understand that there were,in the beginning, a lot of different uniforms accepted in the German air force as many of its members were from cavalry units and were allowed to wear their previous uniforms or parts of them.So in keeping with that fact I am leaving them as they are.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/Classic%20Cars/Picture168.jpg
A fighter pilot and his wheels,a Mercedes of course!

The possibilities are endless with digital pics! Just havin some fun with pics!
Through modern digital photography we can all now be great dioramists.Using all the digital tools available to us now ,just add a little of your own creativity and before you know it the simplest diorama can take on new life.
For some pics black and white are perfect for the era that you are trying to recreate.Lucky for me my eras of choice are mostly before the color stuff was invented anyway.
All you budding dioramists out there now have a lot of options.Do you want to create an actual , physical ,3 dimensional diorama or do you want to be a Steven Spielberg type and bring all the elements of your ideas together and get your stuff on film(or digital in this case).Everyone recognizes that film makers, such as Spielberg in our era, are great artists but what do they actually have to physically show for all their creativity? A few cans of film?
Storyboard dioramists can do exactly the same thing but our challenge is even greater because we only have one frame of our movie to work with and no dialogue.Our dialogue exists in our viewers imagination and we as artists are only there as guides to help point the way.
As an artist it is such a wonderful time to be alive!http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif
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"Once upon a time......." Storyboard dioramas by JohnReid.

This is how I would envision what a shadowbox storyboard diorama would look like if it was hung on a wall.It is a little weak on story line,(more like a vignette), but you get the idea.Note the inner black border that acts as a reveal.
These are great visual tools that can be used to plan your diorama and change things as you go along.
Even as an ordinary picture it works well because of the feeling of depth that is given off because of the floor boards and the single lit window.
The border colors and frame were chosen to harmonize with the colors in the diorama.

Here is something at the other end of the scale.Same frame,size,color etc... but the main subject is in the foreground.Depth has been achieved and the main subject highlighted by simply fuzzing things up a bit.It also adds kind of a dreamlike quality to the whole thing.
The license on the car adds just enough info to put the whole thing in context.
Damn! this is fun stuff to do.

This is about as far as I plan to go with this figure for now.I will finish it just before I place it in the diorama.
As you can see I am far from the greatest figure painter in the world but they seem to work OK in a diorama setting especially when viewed at scale distance.No one is going to pick these guys up for judging.
I came to the realization a long time ago that making large diorama does require a few compromises.Three storyboard dioramas in 10 years is a big enough test of my endurance.To scratch everything ,figures included ,would be wonderful except I wouldn't be half finished the first diorama yet.I know guys who completely scratchbuild cars,aircraft,furniture,figures etc... but few do it all in this modern era and tend to stick to an area of expertise.
I would ,for example, love to learn how to scratch and paint miniature figures that actually look like the full scale individual.It is actually on my "to do" list, if it at some point, I do not have the space that I have now to do these large museum type dioramas.

The young need not bother to read...... I know,I know it is not an airplane,car or figure, but Photoshop's new poster feature makes for some great looking book titles and it has got me to thinking that maybe sometime in the future, I may do a limited run of pictures and text of all my diorama's (only4),and put them in book form for friends and family.This would not be a "How to..." book but just for fun.
I understand that there are internet sites out there that will bind your stuff in book form ,on a very limited run basis,and are not too expensive.
I am especially thinking about the large diorama and RR layout guys that don't have museums or such to take their work.I know that nothing survives forever but I have witnessed some very beautiful stuff being broken up and put in the trash when the builder passes on to the "happy hunting ground".Individual pictures and such are nice but a book of your stuff and text in your own words would really make for a nice legacy for those who come after you.

Surprise it's back to square one! So you thought that it was almost finished?
Well now it is time for final assembly.Starting back at the bare plywood stage it is now time to permanently screw and glue things down.The plywood was lacquered last summer on both sides and edges to make it waterproof ,which is very important because a lot of the next steps require the use of lots of water.
I have positioned the hangar for a unobstructed ,clear view in to what will be the open hangar doors.
The landscaping is divided at the hangars corners into four parts for ease of assembly.Each part will be finished and then screwed down to the base.
I have arranged it so that there will be four separate areas of interest ,almost like four dioramas in one.When viewing one area I have tried to plan it so the viewer will not be distracted by the other three.For example the view of the crashed Albatros outside, is blocked by the L/H open hangar door.When viewing the crashed Albatros from the side it is not possible to view the backyard of the hangar.The R/H hangar wall is plexiglass and affords another unrestricted view into the hangar.In real life another hangar bay would have been built here ,so this is basically a compromise between reality and fantasy.(artistic license ,if you will)
Now it is on to temporarily screwing down the four landscaping panels and the final positioning of the hangar.

I was originally going to screw the landscaping panels down from underneath the plywood base but that proved to be unpractical.Instead I drilled a hole down through both panels,and screwed down the panel from the top.I will cover the screw heads using rocks or grass etc... I identified the holes under the plywood panels as "screws above" so that if in future if it is to be taken apart they will be able to locate the screws.
The hanger itself was screwed down the same way, from below, and holes added to the plywood where the wheels of the aircraft are bolted down ,so that the Albatros could be removed from the hangar separately if need be.
The landscaping panels are of course removable so that each can be finished individually and then finally re-installed.The now visible seams will be filled as required and blended in to become invisible.

Something different! I took a whole bunch of new pics today while I still have easy access to the
hangar windows.I haven't yet had a chance to edit out the bad ones.I removed the frames and shot through the windows from different angles.I am also experimenting with doing photographic type dioramas and vignettes and setting them in formal type frames.This is a lot of fun and opens a whole new dimensions to doing dioramas.One storyboard diorama can be broken down into hundreds of smaller vignettes.

"Hanging The Left Hand Aileron"Vignette This is a good example of a storyboard vignette.The aileron on the workbench and the ladder pretty much tell the story.The floorboards give a nice 3d effect and perspective that helps lead the viewers to the sign of human presence, as represented by the boots. For those who are really knowledgeable about uniforms, the hat indicates that this is more than likely, a German hangar of WW1.

Most of these shots will be lost once the diorama is finished.I took a few days out from building to play with the camera.I really don't know that much about cameras so I take lots of shots at different settings and then delete what I don't want.Using film would have forced me to "read the instructions"(as my dad would always tell me) a long time ago or go broke buying film.
Digital cameras allows guys like me to fool around and really not know what they are doing . I would rather build than read instructions anyway.

The lane out back. I am starting to make a lane way(dirt road) out back of the hangar .Here I have started to build up the raised portion that normally lies between the tire tracks.I have used ordinary sand for this,sprayed with alcohol as a water tension breaker and then soaked with the usual 75/25 water and white glue mix.Once dry I will add the fine sand,earth ,vegetation and a few rocks here and there.
Next I covered the sand mound with the earth and measured the dirt roads width using the Ford T truck as a guide.I then covered the the width of the road with the earth,sprayed on the alcohol ,and put on the water /glue mix ,drop by drop. I then took one of the trucks spare tires and rolled it down the dirt road to create a few tracks.The road still looks a little whitish as the white glue hasn't dried yet.

Time for me to say again how great this is looking :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

This vignette from the "Keepers of the Flame" diorama depicts three individuals, one military,one ex-military and one civilian. They represent a cross section of society who were responsible for keeping the dream of aviation alive during some very difficult times following WW1.
After the Great War airplanes represented to the public at large, something that they wanted to forget ,death and destruction.A relatively few individuals risked their money and even their lives to keep it going.1918-1927 was the wild and wholly teenage stage of aviation where just about anything was tolerated.It was in all less than ten years long but what a wild ride it was.
Out of work ex-military pilots who just couldn't settle down,who had the love of flying in their veins ,tried to scratch out a living as barnstormers ,stunt pilots or flying the mail.All very risky positions indeed!
On the civilian side ,a young fellow who dared to tell his parents of his dreams to become a pilot, might have just as well have told them that he was off to join the circus.There were only a few far- sighted businessmen who would dare get involved in aviation and their names are all well known to us today.
By 1927 when the first air regulations started to take hold ,the public's attitude was beginning to change.Of necessity this wonderful short-lived period of real "freedom of the skies" was coming to an end and today unfortunately, it is mostly forgotten.
To their memory this Keepers of the Flame diorama is dedicated.

Hangar doors and ramp area. I have added a little more wear and tear in front of the hangar where there would be the most activity, especially when rolling the aircraft in and out.I did this simply by adding more of the dirt from a shaker ,spraying with alcohol and then dropping on the 75/25 water-glue mix.I have left off the wooden planks that would be used for roll out, as this aircraft is obviously not going anywhere soon.They are stashed on the floor on either side of the hangar doors near the wall.
I don't plan to have any junk laying around as most pics that I have seen of German military airfields they are very neat and orderly.(too bad as I love doing junk ).I plan to break this rule a bit by putting a couple of vacated wheel chocks just off to the left of the hangar doors to add a little to the sense of loss, as represented by the crashed aircraft.
On the R/H side of the pic the earth has not been properly blended yet,hence the straight lines.

Always looking for something new.... Hi guys! I have had a lot of great response from an idea that I have had using old radio cabinets to display dioramas.I have made a mock up of the idea using a diecast car but of course this idea could really be used for any genre.
For you aircraft guys please use your imagination and replace the car with the aircraft of your choice.I think that this would work especially well for half type aircraft that were attached to a mirror along the back wall .This would also be a great way to display the half fuselage type displaying the innards of the aircraft itself while still being able to see the flying aircraft in the mirror.I will post a few pictures later to show you what I mean.