I used the other part of the chassis to make a fuel cart out of some spare parts I had lying around.(never throw anything out).The hatch will contain a gravity feed hose unless I find a way to include a wobble pump of some kind.I think that this will be the last of the wheeled things to be included in this diorama.
The weathering and hose will be finished later.
I think that this time would be a good to start on the scrap yard and its fencing.

A word about my selection of a color palette for this diorama.The colors have been especially selected to be complementary but not overpowering.I will often select colors that are the same, like the green on the doors and window trim of one of the houses that I repeated on the van as it helps to have everything blend in together.The yellow fuel wagon is good example of using a new color and having it fit in without being overpowering.A bright yellow just wouldn't work so I used a toned down yellow ochre instead.The final color will be chosen when weathering.
A lot of coal was used in this era and the diorama should reflect this by using toned down colors and ample weathering.

Grandma's backyard/Scrap yard.

A new high fence will be built where you now see a stick to separate the two yards.The rest of the composition is a work in progress.
The birdhouse/gazebo will make a nice decorative piece that is in stark contrast to what is on the other side of the fence.I like the roof which is a design that was popular in the Victorian era.I haven't quite decided yet what it will eventually be ,maybe a tool or garden shed of some kind.
The far fence will become a gate,there will be no entrance to Grandma's backyard from the scrapyard side.The scrap yard will require a lot more spring muddying up with tire tracks etc... to further contrast what is just over the fence.
I want to have a few signs of new life in this yard and just a suggestion of color from the summer to come.Here in Canada gardeners will often start their plants early under a glass box in the garden.I think that I have found just the right thing for this.

In regard to the above idea,just as with color, artist's will sometimes emphasize contrasts to create a more powerful impression on the viewer, by putting opposites right up against one another .Here it is new life in contrast to deteriorating things.Life and death the endless cycle.I have just expanded the original idea of "the road taken" from a single burned out car to something more elaborate.In fact this whole diorama speaks to the contrast between new life and new ideas versus old ways of thinking ,with the overall theme being one of renewal.I have taken what could have been a very depressing scene and made a positive out of a negative and thereby I may have created what was I think a good diorama into one that has potential to be a great diorama.
Shep's positive criticism of this piece was what I needed, at just the right time, to spur me on and inspire me to do better.Thanks Shep !

Next there is a lot of messy woodcarving and landscaping to be done so I will wait awhile for the warmer weather to arrive.In the meantime I will work on my 4 door Ford T conversion.Right now I am toning down the brassy look of the headlights.Each piece is done one at a time and it is very time consuming.Thankfully there is only a little flash to be removed and any bare plastic can be hidden using gold paint.I use acrylic matte medium for this operation put on in multiple coats using a brush.(drying can be hastened along by using a hairdryer between coats)This seems to be the only way to get it to stick to this ultra shiny surface.The matte medium accomplishes two things ,it makes the brass look more natural and it gives me a surface for my finish pastels to stick to.This car will be placed next to the returning airman and in a spot in the diorama where it can be viewed close up, so the extra time spent on it is actually justified.

Historical accuracy.
This 4 door conversion is strictly from my imagination.My motto is if it could of happened within the era being depicted ,go for it.In other words if I was to attempt to build a 4 door Ford T on a 2 door chassis during that era, how would I imagine that it may have looked like using the parts that were available at the time? That kind of freedom is what keeps me going.
The last time that I built a diorama strictly using just plans and drawings, while trying to be as historically accurate as possible, was when building my first diorama HMS Victory.I swore that I would never do it again,way too constraining for me now.

The diorama within the diorama.

This diorama "The Homecoming" is really two dioramas in one."The Road Taken" is my original idea,the part of the diorama that I did for myself."The Homecoming" is for the museum.Let me explain.
"The Road Taken" has a personal meaning to me and is just something I wanted to say artistically.If I was doing this piece for myself I would have stopped here."The Homecoming" is more of a museum piece created for the public in general with lots of interesting (I hope) things going on.
Here is a good example of an age old artistic dilemma.Basically it is about doing what you want or doing what is popular and sells.In this case I can console myself with the fact that this piece has already been donated to a museum in Ottawa and therefore,as promised, has to appeal to a wider audience including children.

My next two dioramas are not committed to anybody so I am free to do what I want.The Bleriot/Falcon sculpture and the "Gone Too Soon" diorama will be more personal in nature.
The Bleriot /Falcon sculpture is a kind of "is this the best you can do" sort of thing taken from the birds point of view.It is my attempt to put a model and a sculpture together in the same piece which I don't think has been attempted before,at least not in wood as far as I know.
The "Gone to Soon" diorama is dedicated to Sergio Leone and his masterpiece "Once Upon A Time In The West" a favorite of mine.It will be his movie set as I envision it would be in my imagination.
Both are presently underway and will be completed after my present commitment.
Should be fun !

New addition to the dio.

Ed Heath
Photographer unknown.

Henderson motorcycle engines and airplanes go back a long way.

Looking good. More apparent activity is a real attention getter.

Yeah I think that it will make a better museum model this way but....

The Ford T 4 door conversion is just about finished.I have just started to weather the back seat a little.I tried putting on 4 doors but I didn't like them because they destroyed the lines of the car.I figure if the mother-in-law can ride with no protection at all ,the military types can do without doors.I purposely left of any identifying markings,It could be a private car painted green or a military parade car.The rest is up to the viewers imagination.The roof design and its fittings is from my imagination. :-/

I didn't like the look of the siding or the paint on the trailer so I am re-doing it ,this time using smaller boards with a old paint/stain look.
The doors are from my spare parts stash modified to fit the trailer.

A few years ago when I came up with the idea of the Storyboard Diorama,Shep Paine ,the father of the modern model diorama, asked me what I meant by the term storyboard diorama ,a term that I had come up with while I was in the process of building my "Keepers Of The Flame "diorama.I had got the idea while studying the work of Walt Disney and his story boarding techniques for cartoon making.
I realized that my diorama really was a series of vignettes within a larger overall diorama,in other words many stories within the same overall storyline.
Up until that time Shep told me that he had always called them "models with figures".Well I thought that this description was a little vague and really did not describe what they really were very well.
I have since then become aware of other diorama makers calling their work storyboard dioramas too which I think better describes what they actually are.
"The Homecoming " will be another storyboard diorama. I will explain the stories with in the main story as I go along.
Usually the best dioramas really don't need explaining but they are usually more along the line of the vignette type where the story is obvious.The "stories within a story" type is a little different and that is why I call them storyboard dioramas.They are more suited to a modern museum setting where they can be better described using all the recently available audio or visual techniques.
I have storyboarded all of my museum dioramas already using written text and digital pictures. I only wish that I was more computer friendly as I know that there now exists software out there to make your own power point presentations complete with all kinds of special effects.The problem is that I don't have the time to learn right now and still get the modeling done.Maybe later...

For fun I have hooked up the trailer to the 4 door.