Shy Spirit Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Looks perfect! (My friend's assignment was slightly different, but the same sort of idea.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 John, IMO one of the purposes of the forum is to allow ALL miniaturists to communicate with one another and exchange ideas and techniques. A lot of this info is interchangeable. As for mixing scales, a lot of people use 1:18 vehicles with their 1:12 houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 John, IMO one of the purposes of the forum is to allow ALL miniaturists to communicate with one another and exchange ideas and techniques. A lot of this info is interchangeable. As for mixing scales, a lot of people use 1:18 vehicles with their 1:12 houses. Thanks ! unfortunately not all sites are as open to new stuff as you gals and guys ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 pics above Pic 1 -two guys standing in the door is an example of indoor overhead controlled lighting.Of course the painting could be better,especially the faces,but when viewed at a natural viewer distance in its protective case it looks just fine for my purposes. Pic 2 -special lighting effects for photography can easily be set up.Here for example,the overhead hangar lights have been shut off and I simply shone a hand held light through the door and windows and moved it around to create interesting shadows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 The facade lighting is from the empty space in the back of the diorama that is normally covered with plywood.Here I am just just a 60w bulb to see if any light is still shining through the bricks after I painted the other side black. The rooms with closed drapes or blinds with be painted various colors on the board in back.This should give each room a different color glow when lighted.The open windows will either be covered with wallpaper or painted ,with maybe a picture or clock hanging on the wall for added interest.I will have to experiment a bit here with the colors and the intensity of the light. Would my dollhouse friends who follow my posts have some good ideas on this ? Maybe using LED's ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 I will have to start a new thread as I have closed this one as I am not building dioramas in 1/16th scale anymore.The new thread will be "How I Build Dioramas" Maybe it would be possible for the moderators to change the title of this thread and I will just carry on here. Cheers ! John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 My next diorama is called "Once Upon A Time In The Movies" .It is my idea of how a movie set may have looked like back in the 1960's and is pure fantasy .It is a piece that I have dedicated to the great Italian film director Sergio Leone.The theme is old Western movie making based upon my favorite movie "Once Upon A Time In The West." This diorama will be in 1/24 scale.I plan to have lots of fun with this one !I am presently building a locomotive as a movie prop based upon the old General model kit.Well here goes ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 I wonder if painting your different colors with glossy paints would reflect the colors better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 John, don't close this thread, either PM one of the mods or admins to delete the 1/16th or else just add "building in 1:24 scale" in your signature line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Here is a brief review of what I have done on this diorama prior to now. The above illustration is of a typical movie set. Of course everything starts with a little research on the subject that you are interested in.Pick a subject that is really personal to you,something that you love and not what others think you should love.If your heart is really in it that will see you through the rough periods and there always are a few of those along the way in any creative project. Once you have a subject in mind the next step is the most important you will take.Research,research,research,get to know your subject really well. The web ,libraries,museums books,magazines,films etc.. are good places to start. In my case with this project I have a huge advantage, I have the movie itself which I can stop and study frame by frame. Other than for me personally, this diorama will be more instructive than emotional for the viewer.The last two dioramas that I have done were designed to involve the viewer emotional in the piece and send a message of some kind.This time it will be a more descriptive piece,how they used to make movies. It is however emotional for me personally as I am a great fan of Sergio and have guided myself in the making of my dioramas the way he made movies,except mine are only one frame long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 John, don't close this thread, either PM one of the mods or admins to delete the 1/16th or else just add "building in 1:24 scale" in your signature line. Thanks for the heads up ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 First I made a 3D mockup of what I am planning.I like to use this for reference purposes as I find that it really helps to put everything in context.It is not written in stone though, nothing is with my style of modeling as I want the freedom to change things right up until the end of the project.This helps keep me interested too as I never know where it will end up. Anything that I measure on the HO mockup I simply multiply by 3.625 for 1/24 scale.Speaking about scales I sometimes cheat a little and call it Artistic License.A good example of this is the locomotive kit I am using which is actually 1/25 scale in a 1/24 scale diorama but unless I told you ,you probably would not have noticed and you guys are much more familiar with scale than the general public would ever be. My goal here is eventually find a good museum as a home for this diorama, because of its descriptive nature I want it to be seen by the public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Sergio is the fellow with the hat and white shirt standing by the rear door next to the light.I don't know from which of his movies this pic comes from but it looks like one of his westerns that he was so famous for. My closed set will be quite different as the diorama will depict an old abandoned movie set with no figures except for maybe a ghost or two.(every old western set needs one). The HO train cars on the piece of round plywood is the basic design so far.The caboose with the cardboard roof will be the station from the opening scene of the movie.The locomotive will be pretty much as you see here except it will be a prop. The green boxcar will actually be a closed set passenger car in the diorama.Somewhere in the scene I plan to put an old directors chair with Sergio written on the back. Originally I was going to do this piece as a set from the film.I have since changed my mind actually I now plan to make it a long abandoned set from that era.I really enjoy making things look old and weathered (like me) and I think that it will add some emotion to the piece.Sergio died at 60 at the height of his artistic abilities and I want to honor that sense of loss of a man that still had so much more to give. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 Well I guess that I might as pick up where I left off building the locomotive as a prop to be used in the movie set.You will remember that I am using "The General" kit as my starting point and I am now adapting it to look like a movie prop.There is lots of nice detail to work with here and it is an eye-saving 1/25 scale. This is my first RR diorama and my first attempt at building a scale model locomotive so please if you see that I am going down a wrong path I would appreciate it if you more experienced builders would advise me.I have run electric(yes we had electricity way back then, LOL) trains on and off for 65 years now but never had this building opportunity before. I can't remember exactly what my first train was but it was back in Toronto just after dad returned from overseas about 1945 .I do remember him saying though before one of his flights "Don't leave it plugged in too long you will burn out the transformer"Well he wasn't gone long and I proceeded to do just that.It became a push train after that. :-[ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Considering I don't feel particulary seedy & ancient at nearly 70, 60 is much too young to lose genius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 Here is a pic of the great director himself in action on the set of Once upon a time......It is taken near the cab of a Spanish locomotive in Spain, by Angelo Novi Sergio's personal stills photographer. My locomotive will be a little different and is actually closer to the real thing in design.I have chosen to build a fake locomotive and use it as a prop as was commonly done back in earlier times.My General will be a shell built of wood and tin and depicted sitting on a track waiting for the actors return which never came. Although I don't believe it ever happened in this case, props were often built after the main movie was shot and used in re-takes.It was a lot less expensive this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnReid Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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