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Now that the lane way structure is finished ,I can move onto the final basic structure ,the building and their facades.


I want the back to be flat so I had to move the backboard back 6" to accommodate the set back between the buildings.
That leaves the possibility in the future of lighting the rooms and maybe even creating some shadowbox type portholes in the back to look into the rooms and out through the windows of the backyard.Wouldn't it be cool to look out the kitchen window from within and see the airplane and backyard scene from another perspective?Maybe 6" won't be enough Hmmmm.........This could be worth looking into !
This rear shadowbox idea just came to me as I was writing the above,funny how this creative stuff happens.

I heard from Ottawa today,(oh! by the way they call themselves the Canada Aviation and Space Museum now)and they are ready to take the first three dioramas.If I sat down and worked on them exclusively I could finished them in about two weeks.But it is summer here in Canada for only such a short time that nice days will be spent outside with the fourth diorama and cruddy days in the workshop finishing off the other three.
It may be a little confusing on this thread for awhile telling which diorama is which.With the first three gone it will free up a lot of space to work on the fourth one this fall and winter and my patient wife will get a lot of our house back again.Not all but a lot!

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Another pi9c

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Any ideas about finishing this corner?
I plan to fence off the far neighbors back yard for storyline purposes.With washing on the line and its pristine condition it represents normalcy and the life he left behind before he went off to war.The tall wooden fence at the end of the lane way will have an "Enlist Now" poster.Along this fence behind the airplane will go the old wrecked "T".

The near backyard I will use as a sort of stage for the airplane with no fences or obstructions for the viewer.It will represent where he is today physically and mentally.(Loss of Innocence,will it ever be the same?)
I like the idea of the low stone wall that decorates the stage but what I was wondering is how do I finish the rest without taking anything away from the main subjects, the man and his Flyer. ?
The sloping lane way on the right could contain an old Army Ford "T" in subdued Army colors or I could eliminate it altogether and let him walk home. The near road or lane way is the question.Other than vegetation should I put anything here?Maybe a small bicycle parked well down the street near the Garage/Toolshop.I plan to have an old car half way into the wooden garage with the door open but this is far enough away as to not gain too much attention.I could have a few tools laying around and a rear tire being changed to show some human activity without actually using a distracting human figure.I kind of like the sense of isolation this gives ,just him,his thoughts and his Flyer.

From this upper bedroom window I plan to hang a child's airplane model that can be seen both from the inside viewer port and the outside backyard.

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Backyard Flyer ,Will It Ever Be The Same?
I have changed the title of the piece again.The loss of innocence part of the original storyline is obvious so I shortened it.
I added the division in the road as a sort of "road not taken" idea which everyone is familiar with.At the end of one road will be an" enlist now" sign tacked to the fence and at the end of the other road,his shop and the life he knew before joining up.
The airplane will be facing the "V" in the road with no wooden fences or any else to block the view.It will be sitting on kind of a "stone wall base" "of its own.
This will emphasize the most important part of the diorama ,the airplane and the man's relationship to it.

This will be the backyard of the meticulous Victorians who live next door.In the foreground will be a vegi garden and along the fence the stone outline of a bush and flower garden.The small stik outline on the other side will be a garden shed of some kind.Beside the garden in the right foreground will be a path leading to a garden gate opening to the back lane way.On the opposite side is a small area for flowers and shrubs.The figure is there for scale only.
This will be a Spring scene so the grass will be a different color than what is shown here.Probably with a little mud here and there.I opted for Spring because I want it orderly but not too colorful to be in competition with the airplanes yard next door.Just over the fence will be the old wrecked T to provide a stark contrast to all this neatness next door.

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The straight pins around the vegi garden are to hold the wood in place as it dries.I want the wood to bend and twist so I didn't seal it,it looks more natural this way.The soil in the gardens is darker than usual after I overcooked it in my BBQ,I wanted a dark,rich soil.The delicate vegitation flowers,shrubs,small trees with be done only at completion as it is very delicate.
I know that this is far from the subject of airplanes but the important thing here is the storyline and the contrast between people like you and me who get great pleasure out of their artistic passions.The contrast in the priorities of the Victorian couple living next door and our young inventive aircraft builder requires that I wander a bit in subject matter but it is all part of an aircraft diorama and how I build it, which of course is the overall subject of this thread.
How many of you guys out there would rather be building something right now than doing all those "Honey Do....s" on their list.Artists and passionate hobbyists, be they model builders or EAA'ers(Experimental Aircraft Association builders are different than most and thank God for it!

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Muddy WW1 airfield or early spring lane way the mud is all the same!
Over the module's base coat I carefully placed the mud with a spoon and brush making sure to get it everywhere in all the nooks and crannys between the stones along the walls etc...
I then applied the water/glue mix and waited awhile for it to begin setting(you will have to experiment a bit here) I then took a set of old car wheels and ran them through the mud.Try to get a varied effect with some places wetting looking than others,like in this case the bottom of the sloping lane way.In low traffic areas you may only want a single tire width like at the top of the lane way where there with be a fence,in other higher traffic areas widths would be more common.The seam between the modules will be filled in at a later date when finishing.Now I will add some springtime vegetation.Don't be too worried if it looks too rough at this time as the vegetation will have a flattening effect.What you don't want is a golf course look or for that matter a Victorians backyard.