"Memories of Flight School"

[JohnReid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRt6UnNzR6I

Not WW1,but even Billy,Eddie or the Baron himself would love this (turn on your sound)
Beautiful!!!!!!
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
JohnReid (Aviator)

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

WC/Coal bin module
This is the rear door entrance to the main hangar.Most of this module is finished except for a little weathering and the hanging of some items on the walls.
The figure is one in which the head looked a little too big for the body.With only his back and side of the head in plain view ,and the fact that in order to see him at all one must look down through the exterior windows ,he makes a perfect candidate for the WC.
The truck/Camel airplane model will eventually be parked outside the door, awaiting its driver for the long trip to the university, where they will be using the airplane as a aeronautical study tool.This is actually a true part of the Camel aircraft's history in Canada.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

The above pic is of the approximate final arrangement of the main hangar floor.
You know I was thinking that the main storyline of this diorama could be told pretty much as you see it here.For those that want to do a nice diorama on a smaller scale and yet still get across the main story this would actually be enough.Floor,walls,maybe a partial roof and you would be done!It also gives a really nice view of the aircraft which is the most important single object in the piece.I am happy that I went the extra mile and completed the whole thing as it just was a personal goal of mine but in future dioramas I just may back off a bit on unessential details which are really time consuming to do and does not add much other than eye-candy.
I am lucky that I am doing this piece in my retirement and can find the time to work on a single piece ,for what will be almost 6 years in the making ,and that is if I finish it by next spring.
Another concern is visibility,some of the views,especially of the airplane are quite restricted once the roof is on.That is why I decided to do the truck/Camel piece that can really be viewed close up.Depending on how I present this part of the story ,aircraft loaded,partially loaded,being loaded or ready to go ,the aircraft detail should really be interesting for the kids or anyone else who wants to know how these aircraft were really put together.
Should be fun!

 

[JohnReid]

Doing groundcover!

 

[JohnReid]

The following is pretty much a re-hash of Ken Hamilton's method of working groundcover as depicted in his book.

This is the L/H side and rear groundwork pieces.The plywood was fitted and then given a couple of coats of laquer especially along the edges to avoid any warpage due to water.The topside is not so critical as the next glue/sand step pretty well seals the wood for the sloppy wet coats to follow.
These pieces are temporarily screwed to the main plywood board from the top while fitting,later I will remove these top screws and permanent screw everything from the bottom.
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[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Here I am using a soft plywood as a base for the sand ,mostly because I plan the use of vegetation only very sparingly in this diorama.If I were doing a forest or grassland scene ,I would probably use foamboard or other soft material ,that I could easily bore multiple holes into relatively easily.
I pored on a good amount of carpenters glue and spread it with a silk screen hard roller.Keep a supply of water handy to dunk the roller in between operations.Take some of the course sand and filter out any stones or lumps using an ordinary strainer.Pour on the sand and don't worry about pouring too much just be sure to cover the whole piece.After a few minutes you can then just turn the piece over and remove the excess sand.Let dry overnight.
Now you have a surface that is well sealed and that just about anything will stick to.

 

[JohnReid]

Now the fun part!The course sand in the pan has to be sifted to look like the fine stuff in the plate, using the anti-spatter screen.Grab a favorite brew and plan to spend some time doing this.This fine sifted sand will now be used in our next step to creating groundwork.I have found that the best way of doing this is to tap the underside of the screen with your finger and then shaking the remainder.Be careful not to contaminate your fine sand with loose particles falling over the side of the screen.Try to limit yourself to only a couple of brews or this may become a problem!!!!!!!

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

This is where they will go now that they are dry.Because I want these groundcover panels to be removable, I will lay down a wax paper barrier wherever I don't want the next sloppy water/glue/sand mix to go.

On a personal note:
I hope that you guys understand that I just don't have the time these days to get involved in the day-to-day discussions on this forum ,that I would otherwise like to ,if I wasn't devoting so much time to this thread.Building,taking pics,writing ,all take up my time not to mention other hobbies(like "Belle" the 31 Ford)and of course the list of "Honey Do's".I made a commitment to see this thing through and of course I will but unfortunately it doesn't leave me a lot of time to read and post on other threads.
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
JohnReid (Aviator)

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

In the last series of pics ,the first pic shows that the course sand panel has been screwed down to the base.I screw these panels down to prevent any possible warpage due to the water to come.These screws will be removed when everything is completely dry and the groundwork panels will then be finally screwed down from below and the holes repaired.
The next pic shows the result of the pouring on of the fine sand.
The last pic is of the fine sprayer that I use to wet down the surface and the surface itself after spraying.Use a fine spray so that you don't splash around the fine sand.The sprayer contains water with a drop of detergent in it to act as a surface water tension breaker .This allows the upcoming water/glue mix to be evenly distributed throughout the fine sand.

 

[JohnReid]