The Idea
Somewhere in Germany 1918, the
German Imperial Aviation Service has decided to have the Red Knight's old
Albatros re-engined and recovered. Corporal Schultz is testing the oil system
for leaks after having hand-swung the prop of the gleaming new Mercedes 180 hp
engine. Both the pilot and chief mechanic seem quite satisfied with the progress
so far......
Questions,
Questions, Questions
Somewhere
in Montreal, eighty two years later, I am sitting in my workshop wondering how I
can pull this little scenario off. I know Model Expo has a 1/16 Albatros model
on the market but is it too large? How big a diorama would I have to build? What
about the 1/16 scale figures? Where can I find all the research material? These
and a hundred other questions popped into my mind.
Then
I thought, why not make the hangar one self-contained unit acting as its own
dust-proof case. I could open up the sides, the roof, and set the windows in
plexiglass, thus allowing the scene to be viewed from all angles. I then
searched for the 1/16 scale figures and found that both Tamiya and Dragon had
many action figures available. I would however have to demote Field Marshall
Rommell and put him in the Air Force and in the wrong war (hope he doesn't
mind). The World War II Luftwaffe figure became a World War I pilot and a German
Infantry figure became the mechanic with oily rag in hand.
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Now,
on to the model's workshop contents. While I could easily build the furniture
from scratch, what about the tools, lathe, oil and gas cans, etc.? Doll house
manufacturers sell many of these items in 1/12 scale and tools come in various
sizes therefore the difference in scale was not a concern.
That
being settled, it was on to the hangar. How would I build it? Of course it would
be made of wood, but where would I find all the miniature lumber without it
costing me a fortune? Then my coffee habit finally paid off. Why not use wooden
coffee stir sticks and maybe tongue depressors too? The local building supply
store would provide the scale pine lumber for the studs and trusses. Problem
solved. And so it went two retirement years and 1500 hours of shop time later
and the project was finally completed.
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How
it was done
The aircraft kit
Model
Expo's Albatros D.V (MA1001) comes in a well packaged, sturdy cardboard box. The
contents are well identified in individual plastic packets. The miniature lumber
quality is excellent as are the laser cut parts on the plywood boards. The 47
page instruction booklet and 6 plan sheets are very well done but they do need a
lot of careful study. The illustrations are clear, however, I do differ with the
order in which the aircraft is constructed. They recommend building the wings
and stabilizer first. I did the fuselage first. I find that having the fuselage
completed gives me an added incentive to go on during the not so interesting
tasks, such as building up the wing ribs, etc.
A
lot of time was spent cleaning up the Britannia castings. Some of them were
slightly bent and there was some pitting and rough spots on the metal. With
careful re-aligning, filling with epoxy paste and sanding smooth, the problem
was soon remedied. The only real problem was with the turnbuckles since many of
mine were poorly cast. I probably got a bad batch.
The
instructions suggest using the kit supplied metal colored thread for all the
rigging. I, however, replaced this thread with .006 mm diameter music wire.
Method
of Construction
The
fuselage is built on a kit supplied jig. Construction is easy if you follow the
steps carefully. No major problems were encountered in fitting any of the wooden
parts together. I used both wood glue and super glue. Some filing was required
on the metal parts in order to make everything fit together properly.
If
you want to stain the wood, I recommend that you do it before assembly. In fact,
I even stained and sealed the wooden wing ribs before removing them from their
laser-cut plywood boards. I used an alcohol-based permanent tan colored stain,
Primacolor PM-70 (sand). I then spray laquered the wood using Watco brand semi-lustre.
The
wings and stabilizer went together easily by carefully following the plans.
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The
Mercedes 180 hp, 6 cylinder engine, is a kit in itself with over one hundred
Britania castings. I did however find some of these parts a little difficult to
handle, such as installing the small springs to the rocker boxes. Other than the
usual de-burring of parts, the engine went together with super glue and
five-minute two part epoxy.
All
the metal parts throughout the aircarft were degreased, sealed and primed before
painting. I used Windex amonia window clearner as a degreaser. It is important
to remove any residue mold release agent (used during the manufacturing process)
or any oil from your hands. I sealed the metal using spray laquer or brushed it
on using a solution of 2/3 laquer and 1/3 laquer thinner mixed in a small jar.
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I
sprayed or brushed on a thinned down coat of Gesso over the laquer (50% water
50% Gesso). Gesso provides a good tooth for paint to adhere to and has been used
by artists and craftmen for centuries. I use the Liquitex brand 5308, available
in any art supplies store.
I
made my own pilot's seat from 1/32 plywood. I bore out lightening holes in the
back of the seat and made a seat cushion out of Kleenex tissues. I took a stack
of tissues about ¼" thick, drew the seat pattern on the tissues and cut it
out with an x-acto knife. Using a mix of 25% carpenter's glue and 75% water, I
soaked the seat cushion thoroughly and then put it in the microwave oven for
approximately 30 seconds. The cushion puffed up into a nice looking seat which I
then painted to look like leather.
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There
is one area at the bottom of both forward cabane struts that I thought looked
bad. I found them to be obviously out of scale, so I covered these areas with
oil stained rags made out of the glue and water soaked tissues. I drapped these
tissue rages so that they look weighted and dried them in place using a hair
dryer.
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The
Albatros D.V is well represented in this kit with only two areas in question.
The kit was missing a small auxiliary strut that goes from the leading edge of
the lower wing and then back to the forward inter plane strut. The other is in
the rigging (see image above). There seems to be another anti-drag wing wire going from
the nose of the fuselage to the top of the outer wing interplane strut.
Because
the aircraft in the diorama is being depicted as "under construction",
the amount of details you put in is optional. However, I prefer to put as much
detail as possible and I decided to partially skin the monocoque type fuselage
using 1/32" plywood and simulating the screws with dots from a grafite HB
pencil. I hand carved a cherry and walnut laminated wooden propeller and tail
skid using the kit supplied items as patterns. |
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The
Hangar
The
hangar is made completely of wood. The frame was constructed much as you would a
real hangar. Joists, studs and trusses are of cut-to-scale pine lumber and the
floor and walls are made of wooden coffee stir sticks and tongue depressors
whose ends have been cut off at 90o. Everything was glued together using
Lepage's carpenters wood glue. The simulated nails are ½" sequin pins
available from any dressmaker's shop. The windows are 1.5mm sheet plexiglass
sandwiched between two built up window frames, thus avoiding having to cut
individual window panes. The lighting is a standard 12.6 V (1.2 amp) system,
wired the same as a model railroad layout, using a transformer for power. I used
amber model railroad bulbs and some old Christmas bells as lampshades (See Shep
Paine's "How to Build Dioramas", pages 120 - 126).
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I
weathered all of the wood in the following manner. The stir sticks are made of
hardwood (birch, I believe). In order to soften the wood to make it more porous,
I boiled the sticks for 15 minutes, then on the dry, raw wood, I painted washes
of a mix of Nimbus Grey tinted with a small touch of Payne's Grey. When these
were dry (I used a hair dryer to speed up the process), I brushed on one or two
very thin washes of Raw Umber. Using an old stiff bristle toothbrush and a very
small amount of the same thinned Raw Umber paint, I finger-flicked (my term) a
fine spray of paint over everything to give it a weathered look (Ill. 4). This
same method was used to weather the hangar furnishings. In order to make the
blueprints on the tabletop, I photocopied a rigging plan of the aircraft to
scale and then lightly washed Ultramarine Blue paint on the drawing side of the
plans. I then rolled them up to fit the tabletop.
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The
heating stove is a 1/12" scale Chrysnbon Inc. Furniture Kit F260. The legs
were cut off in order to bring the stove to 1/16" scale. I painted it flat
black using Carbon Black.
I
use the Jo Sonja brand of acrylic paint because it is a gouch-acrylic,
water-based paint that dries absolutely flat. Adding varying amounts of
water-based varnish to the mix gives me complete control of the degree of
shinyness of any surface. As an added touch, I placed metal filings around the
lathe, wood chips and oil stains on the floor as well as a few bird droppings on
the roof. In future hangar dioramas, I will probably add a few bird nests in the
rafters and a couple of mice running around the floor (just kidding......I must
be going over the edge!)
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The
Figures
Other
than modifying the uniforms from World War II to World War I, there were no
major changes to the positioning of the figures' anatomy. The uniforms were
altered by simply cutting off unwanted parts with a number 11 x-acto knife or
building up some areas with A + B epoxy putty. It was mainly a process of
simplifying and changing the style of the uniforms. The figures were both glued
and their feet pinned to the hangar floor. Shepperd Paine thoroughly covers
figure modification and figure painting techniques in his book on "How to
Build Dioramas". Figures used were Tamiya's Rommel Kit 36305, Tamiya's
Luftwaffe Pilot Kit 36302 and Dragon's Signaler Kit 1608. |
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Composition
My
primary objective in doing this diorama was to tell a story, to capture a moment
in time, to take the viewer back to a different era and thereby create a
three-dimensional work of art. It was my intention to have the aircraft as the
focal point. This is the reason why I left it in pretty much pristine condition
in contrast to the general griminess of the hangar. All the figures are
positioned looking towards the aircraft in a relaxed stance in order not to draw
attention away from the main subject.
The
placement of the ladders, saw horses and furnishings is such that nothing is
placed 90o to each other. Try to avoid lining things up in too much of an
orderly fashion.
The
diorama was lit much like a stage. The lighting emphasizes the aircraft itself
which downplays its surroundings.
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The
use of color should also be taken into consideration. Grey is a neutral color
and does not draw one's attention. Red and green are opposites on the artist's
color wheel and therefore can be used to create color harmony.
In
my work I am not a rivet counter, however I do like to have lots of details to
keep the piece interesting. I try to be as accurate as possible, however I will
use artistic licence for effect. Before and during a project, a lot of my time
is spent researching the aircraft, hangar types, uniforms, tools, etc.
In
retrospect, I am quite satisfied with the results of this, my first aircraft
diorama. Many thanks go to Shep Paine for his inspiration and to Mark Miller for
his wonderful website on the Albatros.
Biography
I
am a retired pilot and flight operations officer. I spent twenty eight years in
aviation doing everything from sweeping hangar floors to flying instructor.
In
the 1960's, I helped my father restore a full size 1929 Curtiss-Wright
Travelaire bi-plane D4D (CF-JLW) which now resides at the Reynolds Museum in
Alberta.
I
have spent the last seventeen years in the visual arts, teaching woodcarving and
making decorative birds of prey sculptures.
During
my working years, as a hobby, I constructed a 1/72" scale model of H.M.S.
Victory over a fifteen year period and 6,000 hours of shop time.
I
have been married to the same women for 39 years as only she (Micheline) could
put up with me and my hobbies.
I
presently have a Newport 28-1/16" diorama underway and am also working on a
Wright Brothers Flyer. I hear through the grapevine that Model Airways has a
1/16" scale Jenny in mind, Hmmm! Now if I can only keep this 62 year old
body in shape!
Dedication
There
is no glory in war but there is honor. This aircraft model is dedicated to those
airmen of all nations who fought honorably in aerial battles of the past, in the
hope that there will be no more.
References
-
Books
- Albatros
Flighters in Action Squadron/Signal Publications 46 1115 Crowley Drive
Carrollton, Texas 75006
- Knights
of the Air Time-Life Books 541 North Fairbauks Court Chicago Illinois 60611
- How
to Build Dioramas Shepperd Paine Kalmbach Books
- How
to Photograph Scale Models Shepperd Paine and Lane Stewart Kalmbach Books
Movie
- The
Blue Max CBS/FOX Video Industrial Park Drive Farmington Hills, Michigan
48024
Sources
Models
and Furnishings
- Model
Airways Kit MA 1001 Albatros DU 3850 North 29th Terrace, Suite 101
Hollywood, Florida 33020
- Tamiya
Kit 36305 Feldmarschall Rommel
- Tamiya
Kit 36302 German Luftwaffe Ace Pilot Tamiya America Inc. 2 Orion Aliso
Viejo, California 92656
- Dragon
Kit 1608 Signaler Dragon Models Ltd. 603-609 Castle Pear Road Kow Nam
Industrial Building 10/FL, B-1, Tsuen Waw, Hong Kong
- Chrysnbon
Stove Kit F260 Chrysnbon Inc. P.O. Box 13 Western Springs, Illinois 60558
- Multi-Minis
Doll House CD Catalog Hobby World 5450 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal, Québec,
Canada H4A 1V9
Internet
Modeling
Supplies
- A
+ B Epoxy Paste Hexcel Resin Chemicals 20701 Nordoff Street Chatsworth,
California 91311
- Jo
Sonja Acrylic Paint Chroma Inc. Lititz, Pensylvania 17543
- Liquidex
Gesso Binney and Smith Inc. Easton, Pensylvania 18044-0431
- Spray
Varnish Flecto Co. Inc. Oakland, California 94608
- Carpenters'
Glue Lepage's Ltd. Brampton, Ontario, Canada L6T 2J4
- Prismacolor
Permanent Markers
- Sequin
Pins Symak Sales Co. Inc. Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4R 1C1
- Music
Wire K & S Engineering Chicago, Illinois
John
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