The Art Of The Storyboard Diorama

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Sorry but due to my workload I haven't been able to keep this thread up to date on every website.However you will find the complete story over on :

Welcome to The Aerodrome - Aces and Aircraft of World War I in the forums look under "How to Build Dioramas"

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Sorry about the quality of the pics but I should have better ones soon.

This pic is of the back of the Albatros hangar diorama "Some Say He Walked Away."

It is an aviation expression meaning any landing is a good landing as long as you can walk away.

[JohnReid]

This is at the museum just before the glass was put on (no reflection).This is the main storyline in the piece, the relationship between the pilot and his Dog.

[JohnReid]

On this latest diorama that I have been working on,I have only now just completed the story.The rest of the story was already worked out but the backyard of the grandparents was only finally figured out yesterday.
The time of year depicted is early spring .I thought of a Victorian gazebo of some kind but it was just too big and fancy and would have drawn too much attention away for the main storyline,the airman and his airplane.I then thought of a tool shed with a rake laying around ,a typical springtime chore in this part of the world.Then a few starter plants under a small glass box to add a little color.But I needed a little something extra for viewer interest.After much thinking about it I decided to use the gazebo roof that I had already underway before I changed my mind.I cut it in half and made two completely different things out of it ,a bird bath and a fishpond which I am working on now.The garden shed is also underway.Just these three items will take over a week to do working everyday but my personal guide has always been to put as much thought and work into the small everyday objects as the big fancy cars or airplanes.So here goes... Hope you enjoy watching these items take shape.This backyard has been one of the most difficult things to get right,to tell an interesting story but not distract from the main storyline.
I work this way with only a basic plan at the beginning and just let the story develop over time.This gives me the maximum of opportunity to changed things and also keeps it interesting for me right up until the end of the project.

[JohnReid]

I have found a cheap source of scale plywood as well as some preformed shapes that could be used for modeling.The largest pieces of plywood that I have found so far is the size of a standard tissue box.It is first quality clear wood about the color and consistency of basswood and It is available from about 1/64 to 1/4",some is quite stiff and some really pliable .Some shapes such as small bird houses or boxes make good starting points for scratch building or can be torn down for sheet plywood.I have also found some pretty nice dowels but no actual scale lumber yet. Cheers!