How I build dioramas Part 2

[JohnReid]

I took some styrene sheet and fitted some end plates to the tank.The pill bottle was sanded down and burnt umber gesso applied .The visible line around one end will be covered with a strap.The tires were worn down with a belt sander and just now need to be weathered sometime in the future.
This could be a horse drawn wagon by adding seats over the front wheels but I think that I will leave it as a trailer-type wagon as shown in the pics.
Does anyone know what that is at the front of the tank that looks like a bunch of wheel cranks welded together?
I added the straps,filler neck,drain pipe and water drain spigot under the tank.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Fuel ,water or oil ?
Until I can find more research material on this as a fuel wagon,I think that I shall just call it a tanker wagon of some sort ,as it could have been used also for oil ,water or other liquid.
The problem I have with it as a fuel wagon is that I don't know how or where a pump and hose would be connected.If used for water gravity feed would be enough provided by the tap at the rear of the tank but if used for fuel a hand operated wobble pump of some kind would have to be installed but where?Then there is the hose to consider, where and how would it be properly stowed?


This same wagon could be built in any scale,horse drawn or whatever.Just find a nice set of wheels,chassis and springs and use your imagination from there.A lot of this ground equipment was actually built this way.A car maker would supply the chassis or a beefed up version thereof, and the rest would be constructed as need be.Even on military fields I have seen a wide variety of stuff that was adapted for "in the field" use.For a semi-scratchbuilder like me that suits me just fine and is one of the big reasons that I do WW1 dioramas, as it gives me lots of room for artistic license.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Another wheelbarrow.
I would like to build another wheelbarrow that I will casually prop up against one of the hangars doors ,holding it in the open position.The first one shown here is in the Jenny diorama.
This is a nice little project for those not used to working with wood and would be a nice warm up piece if you would like to do something more complicated like the tanker.
All you require is a few lengths of basswood obtainable from any hobby store especially those that carry RR stuff and a few coffee stir sticks.Most modelers would probably have an old wheel or two laying around from some past project or you could simply use a round piece of wood cut from a dowel.A piece or rod or tube for the axle and that it about it.
As far as tools are concerned I use a Xacto knife with a #18 blade and a small hobby saw and miter for most of my work.Although I do have power saws etc..I find that none are really necessary for this type of model work.(I also have a fancy airbrush that I hardly ever use)My advice to beginners would be to learn to do all this by hand and then if you want to you can buy the fancy stuff later.For sanding just take some various size sticks and dowels and glue some cloth backed, belt sander type sandpaper to them.Buy several grits mostly the finer stuff.
The wood sizes required will depend upon the scale you are building in.In this case you could measure your own wheelbarrow and reduce it to the scale you require.Have someone hold the wheelbarrow and take a pic or use
a scale figure as a guide.Anyway wheelbarrows come in lots of sizes so no need to be too accurate here.Where you have to be careful is with the grip on the handle,don't make it too big.I have sets of scale hands for this.
Water based flat acrylics are recommended for painting and caulk pastels for shading.That is about it.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Major change in plans!
Diorama #1 the Albatros and diorama #3 the Jenny are now almost finished.Diorama #2 the Nieuport, is a little different than the other two, in that it is more of a traditional type shadowbox.It is mostly finished on the interior but the exterior requires some work.I had originally planned to put this dio in an old TV cabinet and display it in my home but when the CAM expressed an interest in acquiring my dioramas,I just put it aside in storage until I could figure out a good way to display it.Well I think that time has arrived!
It could be built into a wall as a traditional shadowbox or put in a box of some sort and displayed that way or some other way that I haven't thought of yet.
That is where I would welcome some suggestions from you guys.
I am sure that the museum has staff for this kind of thing but I would still like to have some input as to how it will be displayed.Mostly this will involve the lighting.
I envisioned an old barn type setting with the light of dawn or sunset coming through the cracks in the boards.Not the kind of place where you would want to spend a Canadian winter but maybe a place in France behind the lines where an aircraft could be rebuilt during the summer months or even a school type setting where mechanics could be given an engine conversion or aircraft rigging course.Anyway I so like the idea of the light shining through the boards the story will be adapted to fit.(artistic license comes to the rescue again)
The interior lighting is really simple with the whole thing lit by a single Xmas type bulb hidden in the ceiling.
Some of the rear and side panels are removable for picture taking purposes but of course this access will be lost once it is on display.
Please bear with me if I seem to jump from diorama to diorama but on a long project such as this (almost ten years)a change is as good as a rest.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

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.The garage doors can be set at an angle to block any unwanted views.I should be able to accomplish all this without adding more than a few inches to the rear of the diorama.I opened the garage doors and put the tanker out there as a test.I think that I like the idea.I was going to do this originally but at the time I was limited by the TV cabinet that it was supposed to go into.Now that I don't have that worry about that anymore,well here goes!
(Note:Those figures were originally flat but now they are a little too shiny, which was caused by too much handling,I will have to tone them down a bit with a wash or using pastels.)

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

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.
__________________
"Once upon a time......." Storyboard dioramas by JohnReid.
My photobucket:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/

 

[JohnReid]

 

[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.

 

[JohnReid]