"Memories of Flight School"

[JohnReid]

1/16th scale!
Hi Phil ! nice to hear from you.I kind of fell into 1/16th scale by accident .I did a ship in 1/72 ,dabbled a bit in 1/48 and 1/32 ,discovered the open structure Albatross and have played in 1/16th ever since.I have a woodcarving background so it was a natural for me.It turned out to be a good thing because 1/16th is kind of considered to be museum scale.(I have a book on models in the Smithsonian and most of them are 1/16th.)
In the beginning ,I had no idea that my stuff would ever be accepted as museum quality, especially because it is not 100% scratchbuilt.But I have since learned that with dioramas that is not the case.Someone in the museum community actually understands(or understood) that the most important factor here is the storyline.I was pretty amazed by this ,especially because even some of my fellow modelers are not up to speed with this fact.
Although I now work only 1/16th what I really admire are the guys who work in in really small scales 1/144 and 1/72 (especially biplanes)If I was a collector that is the scale that I would personally collect.I have tried to build in those scales but I just don't have the patience for it.
As far as the space factor is concerned you are right,if you are going to keep these you would need a rather large home.

 

[JohnReid]

Head gear changes.
On 2nd thought after looking at this figures' head,it may have potential with a few minor changes.
Although the facial expression is not what I would like to see ,the head is in good proportion with the body.
The military hat has to go but that can be changed quite easily to a style more popular in the 20s.The problem I had was ,shouldn't he be wearing a helmet or something more appropriate for a barnstormer/airmail type pilot?Until I discovered the following picture

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Modifying Eric!
I think that those hats popular in the 20s were called "Buster brown hats"?anyway it seems everyone was wearing them including air mail pilots.(maybe he sat on it during flight)
With that in mind I now feel free to modify Erics military uniform hat into something more appropriate for the era.
In the last pic you can see where I have modified the flying boot into something simpler, as well as removing that thingy from his belt.The wings have been removed from his chest and the medal around his neck is now a tie.The hat has been built up with epoxy awaiting re-shaping.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Body mods finished and a couple of thin brown gesso coats have been applied.
The hat has had its initial shaping and a new layer of exopy has been applied to build up area above the brim.Most of the peak has been removed.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Spring has arrived!!! (I think) I finally got the plywood base
cut out for the diorama, now I can finally get back to work on
the ground work.Eric/barnstormer painting will be now be saved
for those rainy days.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

This is the type of ground cover that I am trying to create!

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Back to the KISS principal!!!!!

 

[JohnReid]

The Art of knowing when to stop!
When is enough ,enough?When would adding any more to a piece be a mistake?
I think that I have reached that stage with my diorama! I have been agonizing over this question for some time now and it has down to this.
About 8 years ago when I started making dioramas my idea was to take what I saw doll house builders do and marry that up with the traditional diorama.In other words to tell a story in an enclosed stage like setting.A kind of 4 sided shadow box.My first 2 dioramas stayed within these guidelines.
I started the 3rd diorama with the same idea in mind but somewhere along the line things changed. I am always looking for new ideas and new ways to present my pieces,so I thought that maybe I should expand my ideas to include a little something extra,a few things going on outside the perimeter of the building itself.At first I thought that I could treat the front of the hangar like a stage with the hangar doors acting as a kind of curtain hiding the rest from view when observed from this angle.The other 3 sides could have a little going on outside if it was not to distracting from the main subject which in this case is the airplane and the grouping off WW1 pilots.Here is where things got out of hand! I thought of expanding the whole idea into something very different than was my original intention.The outside was going to be as interesting as the inside.More cars,more airplanes this ,that, and something else.I was losing site of the forest for all the trees!Take a look at the picture with all the space around the office,now take a look at the last picture I posted today.I can still include a car outside without taking anything away from the view through the windows to the main subject . When viewed from the front the truck is hidden behind the hangar door structure.
The other set up was just too busy with too many distractions and besides when you add a plexiglass case to the whole thing, the viewer would be too far away from the windows to get a good look at what is going on inside, which defeats the whole purpose of the diorama in the beginning .
I will still add a few things outside the hangar walls,to keep things interesting, but on a much smaller scale than I had recently been planning.
I know some of my RR friends will think that I am chickening out on the landscaping thing but I am sure that this is the best way to go!

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Here I have laid down some black paper over the repositioned plywood base.I find that a black painted base gives the diorama a sort of classic sculptural look.
The diorama will be set upon the base square to the edge .When it goes in the case they(the museum) can decide at that time if they want to position at an angle.I will leave a minimum of about 21/2" all around.If I add the vans and cars they will go on their own modules tight up against the hangar sides.When viewed from the front they will be hidden behind the hangar doors.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]