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.

I will open a new thread for this called" Finishing up the Nieuport diorama."

A couple more figures!
I feel like painting figures for awhile.I have chosen to do two WW2 Soviet tank crew members that I have acquired recently.I want to put them in the area shown in the picture that is in the rear of the hangar well away from any confusion with the main storyline.The final composition or arrangement of the objects in this area will be made when the figures are finished.I thought that I could add a little life to the area without having to show a lot of activity which is not my style.I like my figures in relaxed poses.I haven't quite decided what the truck will be hauling or if it will have any obvious connection to the figures.
It could just be parked there or temporarily stopped.I thought that one figure could be holding a map and another pointing in a certain direction as though it had stopped to ask for directions.These guys are dressed in what looks like officier's uniforms so they will have to be depicted as doing something other than grunt labor.(like unloading wood)
These figures will not require too much modification to make them into WW1 German types.In fact they could be used as is with a few minor uniform adjustments.
I have already put the torso of the first figure together and like what I see so far,minimum flash and the parts fit well together with minimum adjustments.Any unwanted seams can easily be filled with super thin ,super glue and sanded smooth.

Harley,the fighter pilot's dog and I are sharing a great feeling of loss today.My beloved Dolly,a 14 year old Siberian Husky/Arctic Wolf mix died of old age last week.

Sounds like she was loved and lived a long life knowing it. My sincere condolences.

Condolences John,

I own an Alaskan Malamute, love him dearly and dread the day he leaves us already and he is still young.

Thanks guys for your kind words about the loss of my doggy companion.

I finally have started back to painting the last two figures.I have discussed my painting methods many times before so I won't repeat it here.Sufficient to say that it is based upon Jo Sonja flat acrylic paint and pastels for shading.A little unusual way to paint but it works for me in a diorama setting.
Both figures have been given a couple of coats of a burnt umber/water mix.The figure on the left has been given a single coat of nimbus gray undercoat to approximate the final color.
The WW1 uniform experts will notice a few discrepancies here and there but they are pretty close for my purposes.I understand that there were,in the beginning, a lot of different uniforms accepted in the German air force as many of its members were from cavalry units and were allowed to wear their previous uniforms or parts of them.So in keeping with that fact I am leaving them as they are.

The possibilities are endless with digital pics!
Just havin some fun with pics!
Through modern digital photography we can all now be great dioramists.Using all the digital tools available to us now ,just add a little of your own creativity and before you know it the simplest diorama can take on new life.
For some pics black and white are perfect for the era that you are trying to recreate.Lucky for me my eras of choice are mostly before the color stuff was invented anyway.
All you budding dioramists out there now have a lot of options.Do you want to create an actual , physical ,3 dimensional diorama or do you want to be a Steven Spielberg type and bring all the elements of your ideas together and get your stuff on film(or digital in this case).Everyone recognizes that film makers, such as Spielberg in our era, are great artists but what do they actually have to physically show for all their creativity? A few cans of film?
Storyboard dioramists can do exactly the same thing but our challenge is even greater because we only have one frame of our movie to work with and no dialogue.Our dialogue exists in our viewers imagination and we as artists are only there as guides to help point the way.
As an artist it is such a wonderful time to be alive!
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"Once upon a time......." Storyboard dioramas by JohnReid.

This is how I would envision what a shadowbox storyboard diorama would look like if it was hung on a wall.It is a little weak on story line,(more like a vignette), but you get the idea.Note the inner black border that acts as a reveal.
These are great visual tools that can be used to plan your diorama and change things as you go along.
Even as an ordinary picture it works well because of the feeling of depth that is given off because of the floor boards and the single lit window.
The border colors and frame were chosen to harmonize with the colors in the diorama.

John its great to see that you never let a work or a project be "finished." You leave the door open for inspiration. With dioramas as large in scale and scope as yours there is, so much you put into their make up. They are a pleasure to view over and over. By the way if a crate shows up on your door don't be surprised if its an orphaned 1/16 Albatros D.Va looking for a good home.

Thank you Stephen for your kind remarks regarding my work.Your Albatros will find a good home here with me.Cheers! John.

Here is something at the other end of the scale.Same frame,size,color etc... but the main subject is in the foreground.Depth has been achieved and the main subject highlighted by simply fuzzing things up a bit.It also adds kind of a dreamlike quality to the whole thing.
The license on the car adds just enough info to put the whole thing in context.
Damn! this is fun stuff to do.

This is about as far as I plan to go with this figure for now.I will finish it just before I place it in the diorama.
As you can see I am far from the greatest figure painter in the world but they seem to work OK in a diorama setting especially when viewed at scale distance.No one is going to pick these guys up for judging.
I came to the realization a long time ago that making large diorama does require a few compromises.Three storyboard dioramas in 10 years is a big enough test of my endurance.To scratch everything ,figures included ,would be wonderful except I wouldn't be half finished the first diorama yet.I know guys who completely scratchbuild cars,aircraft,furniture,figures etc... but few do it all in this modern era and tend to stick to an area of expertise.
I would ,for example, love to learn how to scratch and paint miniature figures that actually look like the full scale individual.It is actually on my "to do" list, if it at some point, I do not have the space that I have now to do these large museum type dioramas.

The young need not bother to read......
I know,I know it is not an airplane,car or figure, but Photoshop's new poster feature makes for some great looking book titles and it has got me to thinking that maybe sometime in the future, I may do a limited run of pictures and text of all my diorama's (only4),and put them in book form for friends and family.This would not be a "How to..." book but just for fun.
I understand that there are internet sites out there that will bind your stuff in book form ,on a very limited run basis,and are not too expensive.
I am especially thinking about the large diorama and RR layout guys that don't have museums or such to take their work.I know that nothing survives forever but I have witnessed some very beautiful stuff being broken up and put in the trash when the builder passes on to the "happy hunting ground".Individual pictures and such are nice but a book of your stuff and text in your own words would really make for a nice legacy for those who come after you.