Hello
Everyone,
This
is my first submission to ARC. Before I go into the details of my project, I
would like to thank Steve Bamford and the entire ARC staff for maintaining such
a wonderful and useful site. Anyway, enough of my rambling.....
I
know this is an aircraft oriented site, but this should be a good image of what
happens when the aircraft fails or is shot down....
This
diorama is based around a 1/32 scale pilot from the Academy F/A-18C kit. The
pilot was painted with Model Master Enamels throughout, and the base coat of
Olive Drab was applied with my Iwata Revolution CR. Various details, such as
straps and a better oxygen hose, were added using tape and solder. The parachute
harness was built from tape as well. The details were painted with SAC Bomber
Green and Aircraft Grey. The diorama base was built starting with 1" x
4" furniture-grade wood. The stream was carved out of the wood using a
1/2" drill bit and various chisels and files. The topography was
constructed from a large section of mica that I found while on vacation in
Oregon. The flat mica was fixed to the base with Liquid Nails adhesive.
Everything was the covered with a layer of drywall putty and allowed to dry.
Various rocks and tree branches were sourced from my yard and added as
necessary. These were fixed with the same adhesive and allowed to set. The base
was given a coat of Dark Tan, and then painted with various mixed acrylic colors
(The cheap Michael's type). The stream bed was airbrushed with Dark Blue.
Foliage was then added using railroad grass and plants. Once everything set, the
water was added using a thick layer of Testors tube model cement (orange tube
stuff). I came up with the idea since it was inexpensive and dried quickly. Two
applications of this were required to create the water.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The
base was cased in 1" x 1" L-section wood molding. This was
mitered with my miter saw. After filling the gaps and imperfections, the
outside of the base was sprayed Flat Black. Once dry, the black was over
coated with a urethane gloss coat. The pilot was then fixed to a branch
with super glue, and his parachute lines were tacked to the tree to create
tension. The parachute was fabricated from Kleenex and foil tape (as in
HVAC foil tape). The parachute and lines were painted SAC Bomber Green.
After
touch up, a CAD-drawn placard was added to the side with glue and tape. Over
all, the diorama took 30 hours to complete, and was quite economical, as all the
materials were found around the house. This is quite important, as I am starting
university this fall.
If anyone has any questions, please e-mail me by clicking the link at the top of
this page.
Thank
you for reading,
Brad Perek
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