A friend on another thread wrote:

PS: Just an after-thought. You may want to try some 2-part polyester automotive putty like "Evercoat" to fill in the backs of the figures. If you break through, it sands more like plastic.... and you can use what's left in the can to fill the seams when you chop the top on that 1:1 jalopy you're playing with.


Speaking of "Belle" the 1931 Ford Tudor,I understand that Minicraft has just brought out a 1/16th kit of the exact same car as "Belle" even down to the red and black color scheme.This style and year seems to be very popular with the diecast companies and kitmakers.I think that it must be because the "Tudor" was Henry's original idea for the "A" sort of like what the DC3 was to aviation.
Being a history buff myself I really enjoy having the tudor more than I would any other car of the era ,as it really is an American icon of automotive history, and besides it is a heck of a lot cheaper to buy than the more popular roadster or pheaton versions.
After a fun summers driving I plan to put her on jacks soon for the winter.
Cheers! John.

another view

This is where I am so far,I measured down from the mannequin's chin to his lap and used this as my starting point.I checked the seat that the figure will be seated in and decided to have the figure bend at the waist at 90 deg.I will cover the hole in its rear end with some filler and cover it with A+B epoxy.

Another

nother picture

The first pic is of the Tamiya pilots' flight suit.The second is of an American/Canadian pilot for the 20'-30's era.The third is from the same era but notice how bulky these flying suits can be.(A long way from our skinny mannequin).
This diorama is taking place in Canada around mid November so I feel that I am free to dress this barnstormer/mail pilot in varying degrees of warm clothing.

Hey John Just a quick question here. For the uniform / flying kit what will you use for the surfacing... Epoxy tape?

No what I normally use is the same A+B epoxy paste that I used during my bird carving days to scratchbuild birds feet etc. ..What I normally do is over-build the area with paste buliding it up layer by layer.Because it sets in 5 mins it is quite easy to do.Then I shape it with power and hand tools adding and substracting little bits hear and there.This paste type exopy carve just like wood if you let it cure for 24 hours.My only problem is that I have heard that it is not made anymore.I have a couple of tubes left but even that is getting a little lumpy in the tube,so I am looking around for a substitute.
I will post a pic of some bird feet that I did years ago to give you an idea just how much detail can be worked into this epox y paste.If anyone knows where some is still available for sale pleast let me know.

This is A+B epoxy paste over an armature of copper wire.The feet are from a peregrine falcon so they are quite large.You can see just how much detail can be worked into this paste.It does not melt with the heat generated and clog up yours burrs put comes off as a fine powdery dust.(wear a mask!)
I used a real falcons' foot as an example which I kept frozen in a freezer which I keep especially for that purpose.There is nothing like working from the real thing!

From another thread:

John, that's some beautiful work, on the A+B Epoxy...What's the brand or manufacturers name? I am sure there is probably a substitute or someone out there making a similar product...


Hi Howard! Ken was telling me that there is something called "Evercoat" a 2 part polyester automotive putty.My local auto store has something called "Bondo" which is also a 2 part polyester.I wonder if this is the same stuff?Is resin and polyester the same thing?

Highly Detailed and clean looking, Nice Job

Vignettes
Sometimes it is a lot of fun just to take a small part of a diorama and create small vignettes from the larger picture.This happens to be a small corner portion of a picture of the larger Nieuport 28 diorama.I plan to do a lot of this with the "Memories of Flight School " diorama when it is finished.

Are railroaders dioramists? why of course they are!

That is what I love about dioramas,they really defy being catagorized.Do I do airplane dios that happen to have cars in it ,or car dioramas that happen to have airplanes in it ,or figures that happen to have cars and airplanes in it ,or maybe motorcycles or barns or hangars or even 1/16th scale dollhouses?As far as I am concerned I love what the railroders do, especially the pictures of their layouts.If the trains never moved that would be OK by me.The fact that they move is just an added bonus.

I am now posting to about 15 different websites,cars,airplanes,RR,figures etc.. and seldom do I get a complaint, especially after I explain what dioramas are about.Most people in our community are pretty open minded when it comes to craftsmanship and art.There will always be those who take a narrow view on any subject and that is OK too! There are those who approach modeling in a scholarly way and want to document history as accurately as they possibly can ,and that is just great ,as long as they don't try to impose those standards on everyone else.My approach to diorama making is that it is an artform and art is all about emotional reponse no matter what the subject matter.Dioramas are about bridging artifiical barriers.
Just think how far we have come when only just a few years ago dioramas were mostly considered to be a nice wooden bases on which to place your model.

A surperbly built model is wonderful to look at with all the details and so on, but a diorama brings the model to LIFE.... :-)

Dioramas give the modeler a chance to put their build in an interesting format that will invite the viewer to stop and look, much like a painting. How to build Dioramas by Shep Payne was my first real stretch to build a better model. Its still available and in my humble opinion, should be in every modelers library reference. The well known aviation artist Jim Dietz says, ‘... the process of creating a realistic painting is like describing how a magic trick is done. Once the process is understood the viewer is apt to say,”Oh is that all there is to it?... They are to fulfill my own desires.”

Some one once said that ‘...aircraft dioramas are limited to maintenance or standing. The dioramas that have worked well for me are; In Flight, Taxi, Factory Assembly, Field Assembly , Type Test, Acceptance, Tests, Crashes & Salvage. John's fine works are in the most typical of settings for an aircraft...the hangar.

It is a bit of everything from finely detail aircraft and buildings to that intangable look of a figure and the surrounding equipment. in 1/48 scale a large shop window can be broken down into 22 separate pieces for just the framing. Model rail road shops give us the best detail pieces. It seems there are literally hundreds of cottage industry manufacturers that give us tremendous detail pieces that include everything from bicycle tire pumps to whole castings for buildings.

Whats down the road?
Have gone back to the woodworking for awhile and am just finishing up the doors and windows of the engine shop and have begun the interior furnishings.
When the engine shop is finished I should be able to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.The main hanger will then be taken apart for the last time,the lighting installed and the various furnishings added.I then plan on taking a bunch of vignette type pictures while I still have easy access to the inside.The modules will be attached and then the "outside the hangar "enviroment will be completed.I still have yet to build few cars and figures as well as the the Camel/trailer model.
Once I get the modules attached it could really be considered finished as a stand alone unit,the rest will be guilding the lily so to speak.
I am in no rush to sent it to the museum in Ottawa ,as I plan to use the dio as a backdrop for photography using some 1/18th scale vintage cars and a few future figures as the main subject matter.
Thats the plan anyway! (Man plans,God laughs)
Cheers! John.

Note to those English majors out there) in re-reading a few of my recent postings please excuse my spelling and typos .Jeez,I must be getting well into old fart status I guess.
__________________
It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
JohnReid (Aviator)

Scratch woodstove
The above is a picture of a workshop woodstove that a modeling friend has in his shop.I was unable to find a model steel drum in 1/16th scale as in the picture but I have seen homemade woodstoves cut from steel with steel bands welded on.I will attempt to scratchbuild one from memory using the example as a guide.This woodstove is destined for the engine shop.

The following picture is the early stages of this build.I used an old plastic pill bottle of about the right size,sealed off the end and wound it with a band of small straps.I wanted the straps to look as they were a little heat distorted and the edge of the drum somewhat banged up.I then painted the whole thing with white gesso as an undercoat. To be cont......