Now that I have finally learned how to post my pics here I will start this up again.
This is a 1/16th Victorian era backyard that I am doing for the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.My 4th dio for them .
Hi John It may be good to start at the beginning of the project as I don’t think many people on this forum have seen your plans, how you built the facades, how you made the bricks etc, which is all pretty compelling stuff.
It looks great! It would be nice if you can post more pictures especially at closer distance if possible.
I just started a thread on this over on the sister forum to this one, Model Railroad .A lot of what I do is applicable to any type or scale of modeling.The Victorian house that I am doing now, with an airplane sitting in the backyard ,could in fact be used in any diorama since that era .
Right now the problem is that this “how to…” thread has been running for many years.I tried long ago to post here but I could never figure out how to post pics on this site.I will pick it up where I am now in this project as well as add the new “how to …” from the RR forum here too.We will start with the buildings facade.
…
Well all good work starts with a little research but today with the internet this is all available to you right from your home.In this case I started with Victorian building sites,mostly row houses.I also asked the dollhouse people about this as they are heavily into the Victorian era.
Important things are like the distance between floors,height of windows and doors,different styles from the era,colors of bricks etc…
You will probably want to make a rough drawing with all the dimensions ,nothing fancy. What I do is use cardboard or foamboard for the buildings facade and then cut out other pieces of cardboard according to the scale and move these around until I am happy.In this case I found that doors and windows where generally taller and narrower(especially doors)than is found today.The idea being natural air conditioning,heat out the top ,cool air in the bottom.
…
This is where I am now with this diorama,finishing off the framework for the facades.This dio is composed of five different modules all screwed together to make for a 63 inch long project altogether.The wood I am using here is mostly pine from the hardware store.I hate full scale carpentry as much as I love doing it in miniature,if that makes any sense ? This framework has taken a lot more time to do than I thought it would and I am glad that it is finally coming to an end.
The idea came from this picture.An real early EAA’r working on his what I call, his Backyard Flyer.
…
.I hate 1:1 scale carpentry and actually am quite lousy at it.I will be glad to get this over with and get back to real modeling.I just don’t know how the RR guys do it with all their complicated layouts and such.I have saved the worst for last,figuring out how the roof lines will meet in the corner.I will do it in foam board first and use it as a pattern for the plywood roof.
The framework for the facades is just about finished and I can start adding the 1/4" plywood.The frame is very strong as it is ,so the plywood will be there mostly just to cover in the area.The back will be 2 pieces, screwed on for easy access to the lighting etc…A small hinged door is also an option for bulb changes.
Hi Vespa,
I tried to do this once but with 7,500 pics in my photobucket and because of its need for lots of organization ,which I haven’t had time to do yet,it is just too time consuming right now finding the proper pics to go with each
'how to…"
If you would like to follow my thread since the beginning it was all was posted on
over the years since I started building dioramas.
good luck! Cheers John.
.
.More and more I have come to believe that photography and the way your stuff is presented is just as important as the diorama itself,especially dioramas of the storyboard type.The frame, painting and lighting are just as essential in 3D as 2D art.Even “how to…” pics are more interesting when properly presented.
I have been fooling around in photobucket and photoshop as you can see.
Layering is something that I am trying to learn now so that I can have just the frame saved and add different pictures and text to it.In the meantime the above is an example of what I mean.
When my building days are over,I plan to do an on-line book of pictures and “how to’s…” for my modeling buds on the internet.The best part is that it will be free!
The way I look at it is this,prior to having the internet I spend a lot of time and money tracking all this information down(I have been modeling for over 60 years)now I have all this at my doorstep ,it is time to give something back!
.
.Got the framing sealer on.I use lacquer outside in the summer only, but I still managed to get a little high on the fumes,Wicked stuff!
Now it is on to finishing the roof.I think that I will use tar paper and wood battens similar to what I have done in the past.
Originally I was planning for the roof to be part of the frame but because it takes up so much visual space now I think that it should be part of the piece.
Nothing too fancy though like a shingled roof,mine will be plain tar paper and battens.why? because the black tar paper will downplay the area and the 45deg battens will help steer the viewers eye down to the main subject matter.
I hope!
.
.It is now time to frame up the facades interior .Because some of the windows are covered with see through shades ,a backdrop color will have to be chosen for each room.This area will be lighted probably using Christmas light bulbs.I could use colored bulbs but when they change them I will lose the control of the color used.
Yikes! This is HUGE! I will definitely follow your process… thanks for posting! [Y]
.While waiting for the museum to visit me with their technical director I have been doing some experimenting using plastic in 1/24 scale .So far so good ! the plastic I am working with carves easily with hand and power tools when run at low speed.I am doing this in totally different subject matter than airplanes working with thicker plastic before I ever tackle a thin skinned airplane.Kit bashing plastic is relatively new to me so I am starting in mixed media primarily wood and plastic with a little metal thrown in.
Due to government priorities they have delayed their trip here until the 3rd week in Sept.Once they tell me how they want to display them I can finish up the first three in a couple of weeks.Most of the summer work on the Backyard Flyer is done, sanding ,lacquering etc… I now need about one winter indoors to finish it.
In the meantime there is lots of new stuff to learn modeling plastic.
Your more than welcome Andy, I am glad that you are enjoying it !