I have decided that the diorama now formally called "The Road Taken" really needs a rework,so now it is back to the drawing board once again.
After being away from it awhile I now realize that it could be far better with a little change in theme.I mainly do dioramas for kids and the young at heart ,as it is now the story is just too subtle and a little depressing for the older folks and the kids may not get it at all.
The revised diorama will now be called "The Homecoming" in honor of Normal Rockwell's great painting .This is where I first got the idea for the storyline for this diorama but instead of a returning youth my main character will be older .
The general composition will remain the same,the backyard flyer idea that I got from a old photograph but there will be lots more going on than I had originally planned for.
The original plan was to have the main story evolving around the returning airman and his unfinished airplane(a very early EAA'r you might say)and I deliberately played down the rest thinking that anything more may detract the viewer attention from what I was trying to get across.Well I now realize that this idea has left vast open spaces with really not much of anything in them.In other words it lacks interesting detail which was really was the strength of my previous dioramas.

Thanks Shep !

The original idea !

Homecoming GI .Original oil painting for Post cover May 26,1945.Collection of Mrs. Ben Hibbs.

Where I am now !

Day 1 of probably 6 months or more of adding more detail to this revised diorama.I decided to start with a 1912 Model T modification from one seat to two.

Where I am now ! pic deleted by mistake.

New military car will be added here ,note new dog.

At the end of the driveway I plan on adding a model T truck of my own design carrying car parts.I will open the garage doors so that I can place it half in and half out.This area will now become a working business enterprise.Ford sold model T chassis only so you could build what you want on it.In the early years motor car clubs and flying clubs were often under the same roof of interest by their members.

The original idea !

Homecoming GI . Original oil painting for post cover May26,1945.Collection Mrs. Ben Hibbs.

duplipic

I had some left over parts from another build so I have decided that now would be a good time to use them.This 4 seat Ford Model T is one of my own design.The Ford motor company back in those days sold chassis only which left the customer lots of opportunity to design the body that they wanted.In keeping with my basic philosophy of did it actually happen? I don't know,could it have happened ? by all means.This is my interpretation of what might have been.

nother pic

If you will be basing this diorama on the painting or a similar form will you go with additional figures?

At this point I really am still in the planning stage,anything is possible.As you know in the early years auto and aero clubs were closely associated so that aspect interests me right now.More figures is something that I am also considering but if I add them it would be only in a subtle way.I still want the returning airman as the primary subject but the story will be presented in a more obvious way and there will be loads more detail.I am anticipating probably another years work to bring it up to where I want it to be.
The strength of my dioramas has always been in the detail work,minimizing everything was a mistake.Thank God that this was pointed out to me before I sent it on.

I think that a few more trees would be nice!

nother pic
A future sign over the garage door ? I have many to choose from.

Adding another "T" here.

This area is to be completely re-designed a la Ken Hamilton.

Additions to the other backyard will be mostly signs of the domestic life of your average Victorian.Maybe a garden shed with tools,flower boxes etc as I want to keep the contrast between your average guy and a craftsman/artist who's priorities lie somewhere else.
Maybe the airplane yard is owned by a couple of brothers which is why it completely lacks the feminine touch.

I will be stealing lots of ideas from here ! Thanks Ken.

A garage in a cardboard box.This looks like simple,cheap and easy way to do it.

Ken's method is of course the proper way to go about it but I thought that I would like to try something different.I am not looking for perfection here as this structure will be built as a roughly constructed add on.Once the wood sheathing is on both inside and out none of the original cardboard will be visible anyway.I plan to use my standard gray barn siding look as a finish.