# The Art Of The Storyboard Diorama



## JohnReid




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## bob8748

That is beautiful. I follow your work and am always amazed by it. It was moving to hear your ideas coming from your childhood past with your grandmothers stories. I am sure those days are long past now with electronic technology. Shame. You reminded me of some good times staying at my grandparents house as a boy. To wake up to the sound of pots and pans and the aroma of a huge breakfast. The sun wasnt up yet but the cows had to be milked first while she finished the cooking and setting the table. 
Thanks for the memories.


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## JohnReid

I am sorry ,I forgot to explain what that post was really all about.I am working on an online book about storyboard dioramas which are relatively new to the world of modeling ,as we have known it.I just thought that I would give you guys a little preview of the rough draft for the online book.It will not be on any specific genre of modeling but more of a new type of modeling where the story is primary rather than what is being modeled.The early aviation dioramas,the HMS Victory diorama and my new railroad diorama will each have a chapter in this online book, not from a how to build.....perspective but from a how to tell a good story perspective.It is simply an out growth of what I have experienced in my own home over the past ten years that my Victory has been on display.I have found that the viewer is usually more interested in the storyline than the model ship, especially the kids.
It is my belief that the future of modeling is in the story being told not just the model itself.I have noticed that museums themselves have been slowly adapting to this new reality, this knew way of thinking.The modern viewer is no longer satisfied with just looking at objects but wants more than just visual interaction with the objects they are viewing.They are no longer satisfied with looking at just old artifacts without really understanding what they are looking at,very few even stop long enough to read the displays sign.
Natural history museums and their modelers have known this for a long time.Full scale models of animals going about even their daily routines can be very interesting if they tell a good story that the viewers imagination can get involved in.Just displaying a bunch of skins or bones are not enough in todays modern world where viewers are used to so much more visual stimulation.Let's face it objects in glass cases without some kind of story are boring in this modern world.This is where the visual storyboard diorama comes into the picture.It is easy to initially grab the viewers attention with the objects being displayed but to hold that attention for any length of time their must also be a visual storyline that they can relate to in their mind.
Storyboard dioramas are not easy to do and are a real challenge to any modeler .Trying to tell your story in a one frame movie with no dialogue,movement or music etc.. can be difficult but very rewarding if the modeler can pull it off well.It used to be thought that shadow boxes were the highest expression of our art form,that may be true but storyboard dioramas have to be right up there to.
Cheers! John.


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## SteveR

Would a simple example show the havoc wrought by a runaway tank? At the right end of the diorama would be the tank, having crashed into a barricade, possibly with an embarrassed driver hopping out and looking behind him, while the rest of the diorama shows the damage, as well as the various reactions of the involved townsfolk? Maybe with a pub at the left end of the diorama?


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Introduction 1


I really appreciate feedback both good and bad.Yes,some of it has been negative and some downright hostile but in this new world of communication you can write what you want and publish it yourself and if you have something interesting to say it will get read.No more gatekeepers between the author and his potential audience.If you like it read it, if not don't bother, that is the new standard for what gets read.
Some say that I am claiming to have invented something new to the world of art and modeling .Nothing could be further from the truth.As I have explained dioramas have been around for a long time ,nothing new there.Storyboards are well known to the visual arts and movie making etc...But storyboard dioramas are relatively a new idea.
You can prove this to yourself,just Google Storyboard Dioramas nothing except what I have recently put up.Now Google The Art of the Storyboard Diorama again nothing.Now Google The Art of The Storyboard you will find a few references to movie making production but no mention of dioramas.
What I am trying to say is my book will be an attempt to see dioramas in a new context ,that of an artistic tool to tell a visual story using the diorama as the medium .
In a museum setting you are working with the general public that may or may not understand what they are seeing.They may have absolutely know idea or interest in airplanes,railroads, ships or whatever.It may only be a forced school trip that they are on and they really don't what to be there.But models and stories have been around forever it is almost in our genes I would say.It is this group of people that I am hoping will stop and give my stuff a second look and hopefully somehow be influenced by it.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Until I get some better pics these will have to do for now.A lot of the pics are of the diorama under construction.This pic illustrates what I mean by the checkerboard roof commanding the viewers initial attention.


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## JohnReid

Outline 4

Storyboarding, What is it ?

Storyboarding goes back to the 1920's and even earlier.Walt Disney developed it into an art using drawings posted in a logical sequence on a wall.Drawing could be added or deleted depending on the storylines development in what were called brain storming sessions.These brainstorming sessions allowed for everybodys creative input and could be quite lively with the animator/pitchman acting out the various roles of the characters.Evidently Walt was a genius at this and some of his best performances were never recorded.
Storyboarding for dioramas is a little different in that the brainstorming sessions are mostly mental sessions that the storyboard dioramist works out in his own mind ,before anything is actually put down on paper .What to leave in and what to leave out? that is the big question.These mental sketches are then translated into a 3D diorama sets by the dioramist.Using these sets, a series of storyboard pictures can be created that tell his story in a logical sequence.
This is different than anything that I have seen or heard of before and is why I had such a hard time answering Shep's question "of what is a storyboard diorama anyway." A storyboard diorama is something like a series of shadowbox dioramas linked together by what I hope is an interesting storyline.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Outline 5

Storyboard type dioramas are best suited to a museum type setting. It has been an accepted norm in the past that if it needs explanation then it is probably a poor diorama.Normally I would agree with this statement but rules are made to be broken.Isn't that what art is really all about anyway?
Ideally ,in this case ,it would be wise to have a guide or other knowledgeable person there to answer questions and point the viewer in the right direction.
Storyboard dioramas are specifically intended for a museum type of environment.They are meant to educate yes but in an entertaining way.Most of the general public have no idea what they are looking at, so some form of guidance is necessary.


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## SteveR

Thanks for the pics, John. I now see that my example was rather simple. I hope to see some of your work in person someday.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

The Camel is situated at the back right hand corner of the diorama.I placed it here for close viewer inspection.The guns of course are the big attraction here.They are meant to look like they are fake and made from tin or wood and are brightly painted.This is for a lot of viewers the first time that they would have seen a WW1 aircraft fuselage up close.The radial engine is especially interesting for those who have never seen one before.I have left the fuselage open but of course for transport it probably would have been covered.(that old artistic license again)The back half has already been battened down and a large tarp should take care of the rest.The flying circus sign is a little bit of free advertising.
WW1 fighter airplanes were also extensively used for study purposes by universities teaching aeronautics.


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## JohnReid

The old Ford CNR truck is awaiting the driver who has stopped outside the door of the rest room, in anticipation of a long road trip to the rail yards.It is in not the unusual postilion of having its engine looked at for water or oil leaks before the long journey.The wing crates have yet to be loaded on and secured.I sure hope there is enough room in the flatbed for them otherwise they will have to be secured to the airplane fuselages side.


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## JohnReid

This is the view through the hangars backdoor.I left the lights on for a better look inside.On the left is the WC presently occupied by the driver,on the right is a coal storage area for the stove located in the carpenter's shop.Straight ahead is the door to the hangar itself which is now in darkness.The carpenter's shop is located to the left just beyond this door.


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## JohnReid

Back outside again and continuing along the back wall an old air show car comes into view.Someone moved it there and then kind of forgot about it.It should of really been hauled away to the scrap yard ages ago. Besides it is always there in the way of the guys trying to deliver the coal.


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## JohnReid

This is very entertaining. It reminds me of the David Jones city department store at Christmas time and the animated dioramas in each of its outside windows. Families move along from one window to the next to get to the next stage of the Christmas story.

Thank you Chris for this memory! There was a department store here in Montreal that did somewhat the same thing and people just loved it.All those little noses pressed up against the glass in wide-eyed excitement.Wonderful !


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## JohnReid

Here is a great tutorial on the art of storyboarding:

Storyboard Elements: DVD Course on How To Storyboard by SpongeBob and Disney Storyboard Artist Sherm Cohen
__________________
"When you wish upon a star......" Storyboard dioramas by JohnReid.
My photobucket:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/


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## JohnReid

Opening scene from "Once Upon A Time In The West" The cowboy standing in the doorway.This scene has a lot of interesting things going on.Although in the movie we never get to see this row of passenger car windows.Their presence is implied by the shadows falling on the seats.The little room behind the brick wall is never really shown in any detail so I just left it for the natural light.The door behind the cowboy is actually split in two but in this scene it should open to a desert scene which is not part of this closed set.I still have a lot of weathering to do but I think that you get the idea!


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## JohnReid

If you look through the engine shop window just above the Pickford/Fairbanks sign you will see hanging on the wall a pin-up poster of Mary herself.
This is our first view inside the engine shop which as you can see is quite busy with a Mercedes engine being overhauled for a customer.It is a classic engine from WW1 and although a little out of date by this time it could still be in use to power up a barnstormer or two.
Another interesting picture on the wall is that of Harley the company dog sitting in the cockpit of someone's airplane.
Air mail pilots would sometimes keep their dogs on board for company when on long trips much like some truckers do today.Dogs and fighter pilots have a long tradition together of companionship inside or outside the cockpit.


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## JohnReid

Storyboarding your diorama


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## JohnReid

Want to create your own storyboard diorama ? Here are some things that I have learned along the way.


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## JohnReid

A lot has been written about the art of building dioramas but there is little out there on the art of telling a good story using the diorama as a medium.Good storytelling is essential to the success or failure of a storyboard diorama.While travelogues and documentaries are nice and can be very interesting,well written novels are usually the spice of life.
Don't get me wrong I love writing and studying about history it helps us avoid the same mistakes in the future but a lot depends on who is writing that history,the winner or the loser ? How was it passed down through the generations ? word of mouth ? We all know of the problems there.We just tend to let our imaginations creep into our stories whether we like it or not.I kinda look at it this way.You are sitting in your car,lets call it "the now" you are looking out the front window,lets call that "the future".In your rear view mirror is "the past".You learn to avoid the potholes and other road hazards by not repeating the past.The trick is to avoid the potholes.Through our side windows life goes rushing by faster and faster with more and more distractions to attract out eyes from the road ahead.Take your eyes of the road for too long and damn your back to hitting those potholes again.It is all a matter of where you choose to put your attention.Artists tend to pay a lot of attention to "the now" it usually is the safest place for them to be.


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## JohnReid

Storyboardig is more than taking a series of nice pictures and posting them on a wall.Your different scenes must be believable and your viewer must be able to
identify with at least one of the characters being depicted.Ordinary characters doing ordinary things that the viewer can identify with is most important.Giving your characters human emotions by the use of dramatic lighting,posing and setting the stage for each and every shot can really add some drama to your work and make the whole experience much more interesting for your viewer.
It is what I call keeping it in "the now".


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## JohnReid

Upshots and downshots and point of view.

How to shoot it? angle of composition ,you get to choose the POV (point of view)
The camera really represents us and our attention and to where it is directed.It is the heart of our indentification with the character.So "he matters" to the emotional involvement of the viewer.
Upshots and downshots can also imply the relative size of the characters as well as the background.
A floor can represent a downshot where a ceiling, ceiling would do the opposite.By manipulating the background we can control the POV.Decorating elements such as pictures on a wall ,lighting fixtures will also convey the same message.


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## JohnReid

Walt Disney: " at our studios we don't write our stories.we draw them"
A storyboard artist is really a good storyteller.The drawings must have meaning and feelings behind them.They provide great way to begin to visualize the content of your story.The storyboard artist must be a great communicator of ideas and not necessarily a great illustrator or animator.Storyboards allow film makers to see a blueprint of their movie before even going into production.By tacking a sequence of images up on a wall you can visualize the entire story before eyes your eyes and study it for flow and continuity.It is a very effective and inexpensive way to develop a story.Boarding it up saves time and money.


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## JohnReid

Simple comic book style of storyboarding


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## JohnReid

storyboarding with pics


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## JohnReid

At the rear R//H corner of the diorama, sitting on the loadiing dock awaiting packaging and shipment ,is an old Curtiss OX5 engine from the JN4 that is being being robbed for parts as it sits in the hangar.This is a very early water cooled, in -line engine developed by Curtiss in the early in the last century and really is worth a closer look.


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## JohnReid

Along the rear wall of the engine shop the Camel wings are being crated for the trip to Hollywood.Originally it was planned to load everything on one truck with the wings being lashed to the fuselage sides but it looks now like another truck will have to be sent to pickup the wings and flight surfaces.


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## JohnReid

Wrong thread


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## JohnReid

Along the engine shop wall sits an old air show car that was used for car/airplane races and ground to air wing walker transfers for many years.Sitting there in the weeds it seems to be have been forgotten,its glory days long gone by.
The guys delivering the coal and wood would be glad to see it outta there to make their job easier.The boss however hates to throw anything away, so there it sits rusting away.


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## JohnReid

Sorry folks I got a bit ahead of myself on this storyboard walk around.This is the view through the backdoor,with the WC on the left and coal bin on the right(not visible in this pic).The boss is in conservation with two pilots ,one in flying gear and the other in RFC uniform.
The boss in the fedora seems to be giving his best impression of Al Capone standing in the shadows of a early sunset on this November afternoon in Canada.(maybe a little rum across the border guys?)

Please note: there is a more understandable sequence to this story in my photobucket under the My Book album.


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## JohnReid

Here is an old OX5 engine that was removed from the military Jenny and is being packaged up and sent out for major overhaul.We are equipped to do minor repairs to engines and airframes here but the major stuff requires outside help.Right now the guys are on coffee break so the truck drivers are having a little game of checkers while they wait.


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## JohnReid

This is a night view through the engine shop doors.The guys are working on an old water cooled Mercedes engine from a Fokker D7 racer of which there were a few around just after the war.Last one out has to turn off the lights and stumble around in the dark looking for his car keys.


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## JohnReid

No mention of this era would be complete without the topic of air racing.Many of the guys here at Reid & Sons are avid fans.Our company is more concentrated on the airshow aspect but we do help on occasion with some of their research and development and the occasional pilot.Our worlds exist side by side but their emphasis is on speed and aviation technology where ours is more on entertainment.
(between 1913 and 1931 Schneider cup winners increased the speed from 45.71 mph and 340.08 mph)


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## JohnReid

On some of the newer websites that I post to there seems to be a misunderstanding about what my posts are about.

About ten years ago when I first started posting it was my intention to promote the building of dioramas on the web.The armor guys had been well into this for a long time but there is little communication between the two groups.I wanted to help change that situation at a time when a lot of modelers thought that a diorama was a nice wooden base to put your model on.
I post to about 30 different websites.RR,auto,ship,figure and aircraft as well as some other art and photo sites and I am also writing an online book about storyboard dioramas.I have always been a teacher and I love to share whatever knowledge that I may have with others.This is more of a How to..... thread than anything else.I am also an active builder of dioramas for museums and at 70 years old this keeps me very busy.I just don't have time to socialize on the net.If you are expecting feedback on every post , you won't find it on this thread.Please try to understand.I know that there is a lot of interest out there as my photobucket averages thousands of hits a day and that is reward enough for me.Cheers! John.


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## bob8748

I follow John's photobucket account. Awesome!!!


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## JohnReid

On this walkaround we are now rounding the L/H corner of the hangar .The sign on the hangar door shows just what a progressive company that we are.Our flying instructors are required to be on duty only 12 hours a day instead of the normal 24.


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## JohnReid

bob8748 said:


> I follow John's photobucket account. Awesome!!!


Thanks Bob for your continued support of my work .:thumbsup:


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## JohnReid

Along the L/H inside wall things are busy.One of our mechanics,Rod, is putting in a little overtime stripping the JN 4 fuselage cockpit of any usable parts as spares for the Canuck barnstormer.This is an era of very little regulation so you will sometimes find a real mixture of parts on any particular airplane.For example on the barnstormer they have used the wooden tail feathers from the JN4.Pilots will often ask us to change the wing stagger of their barnstormers to make them even more unstable for their aerobatic routines.
Because of the Veterans day commemorations we have hung some flags from the rafters,put up a few decorations and cleaned thing up a bit before the dignitaries arrive.Believe me the floors are never usually this clean.


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## JohnReid

The newly re-built Canuck barnstormer is just about ready for its fabric covering.She has been temporarily assembled for this occasion and has already undergone an engine run-up or two,hence the oil leaks.The propeller attachment bolts are being changed and are missing. Lawrence the crew chief is giving it a final inspection before the guests arrive.These guys are ex-military so a little extra effort was put in to itmake sure everything looks ship shape. Billy Bishop is a friend of the boss and it was he who arranged for this special visit.
Our fighter pilot guests are very familiar with this airplane as most of their basic training was on the Jenny ,at different airfields, both here in Canada and in the U.S..Although under powered it was a very stable aircraft on which to learn how to fly with few bad habits and was lots of fun to train on.
Wouldn't you just love to be a fly on the wall to hear about their training adventures ?


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## JohnReid

Unaware that the other guests have just arrived ,the boss man Windy and Mike one of our airmail pilots ,who is just passing through,are in conversation with an earlier arriving RAF type.Because these fighter pilots have just returned from a city parade commemorating this special day, they are still in dressed in their various uniforms.


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## JohnReid

This is the off season so the mobile advertising sign has been put away till next year.During the season we operate a mobile show going from town to town.When we arrive in a town or village to do an air show and give rides we will drag this sign down main street and have one of our pilot do a low pass or two over the town.This usually generates lots of business however the numbers have been dropping off recently and our pilots are being forced do riskier and riskier stuff to keep the crowds amused.
The going rates in the air circus business these days for large exhibitions or movie making usually runs around the following.
-crash airplane,fly into trees,houses etc.....$1,200
-Loop with man standing on each wing standing up $450
-airplane to airplane change $500
-upside down airplane change $500
-Change motorcycle or car to airplane $150
-Fight on upper wing,one man knocked off $225
-upside-down flying with man on landing gear $150
-Head-on collision with automobiles $250
-Blow up plane in mid-air,pilot chutes out $1,500


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## JohnReid

Mike,one of our airmail pilots is here to pickup a pretty good load today.Airmail is becoming more an more popular these days .I hope it is just not a temporary novelty that will soon wear off with the public.A lot of guys around here are literally risking their necks on a daily basis to try to get this stuff through in all kinds of terrible conditions.Pilots are being lost all the time and at an increasing rate.Boy it sure would be nice to have some type of navigation equipment other than dead reckoning railway tracks and rivers etc...


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## JohnReid

For those just tuning in to this thread,you may think that I have finally cracked up and am living in another world.Actually the museum asked me to come up with a storyline and caption some of the pics at the same time.They plan to use some of this dialogue in their presentation for educational purposes.I have recently learned that these dioramas will not be going directly into classrooms for strictly educational purposes as I had originally expected but are to be exhibited instead on the main museum floor,hence the need for an expanded storyline.


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## JohnReid

The spirit of our times is best reflected by this note left behind by one of our fellow airmail pilots down south and was recently posted to the company bulletin board.

"Beloved Brother Pilots and Pals".(to be opened in the event of my death)

"I go west,but with a cheerful heart.I hope what small sacrifice I have made may be of use to the cause.When we fly we are fools,they say.When we are dead we weren't half bad fellows.But everyone in this wonderful aviation service is doing the world far more good than the public can appreciate.We risk our necks,we give our lives,we perfect a service for the benefit of the world at large.
They, mind you, are the ones who call us fools.But stick to it,boys.I'm still very much with you all.See you all again."

Leonard Brooke Hyde-Pearson


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## JohnReid

Here at the dispatch office I like to keep a file for our pilots to refer to for airport information .Most of this has been compiled by the pilots themselves and sometimes through bitter experience.
Someone one day should put this all together into a proper manual of some kind.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Now that we have finished our initial walkaround of the hangar it is time to invite our guests inside.
Billy Bishop our host for this occasion is welcoming his fighter pilot friends at the door of the dispatch office.The old Model T has just pulled up to the door after a open air,bumpy ride to the airfield from the ceremonies in town.Luckily it is a warm day for November 11th and besides these guys are quite used to conditions like these,in fact they look like they rather enjoyed it.
Just to Billy's left is Eddie Rickenbacker. The others are mutual friends of them both but I haven't got their names yet.


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## JohnReid

Canada Aviation Museum names new Director General
April 29, 2010, Ottawa - Denise Amyot, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation, is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Quick as Director General of the Canada Aviation Museum.

“Mr. Quick brings a heartfelt passion for aviation to his new position at the helm of Canada’s national aeronautical museum,” says Ms. Amyot. “With his extensive experience within the public and private sectors, and more than thirty years as a professional artist, Mr. Quick is uniquely qualified to guide the Museum in showcasing Canadian achievement and innovation.”

“As museums,” says Mr. Quick, “we should not only function as stewards and guardians of our collective past, but be proactive in introducing future generations to the tools that will help forge their future. We should act as extensions of established learning institutions, helping to shape the future and engender pride in Canadian endeavours by telling the stories of those who have dared follow their dreams, and by showcasing the next wave of exploration and innovation.”



Deeply involved in Canada’s arts and culture sector, Mr. Quick has been painting professionally since 1978, and has been a professional aircraft and military illustrator since 1984. He spent 27 years in the Canadian publishing industry, including senior positions with both McClelland & Stewart and Stoddart Publishing. He has also worked within the public sector, including positions at the Department of Canadian Heritage and the National Gallery of Canada, prior to becoming Associate Director General of the Canada Aviation Museum in 2008.

The Canada Aviation Museum is Canada’s finest aviation museum, with an internationally renowned aeronautical collection. The Museum, a component of the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation, is located at the intersection of the Aviation and Rockcliffe Parkways, just ten minutes from Parliament Hill.

It is really nice to know that a fellow artist is finally running the show!


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## JohnReid

Meet Harley the company mascot.His bark is worse than his bite ! All the employees love him ,in fact if you look closely through the engine shop window you will see a picture of him hanging on the wall.One of the pilots took it of him sitting in a mail plane cockpit usually however he sits here on the chair just inside the dispatch office door and keeps it warm for the pilots.


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## JohnReid

This is where Harley and I hang out most of the time here in the dispatch office.Today it is pretty quite but it can get busy in here at times especially in bad weather.
One of the pilots was just here and told me a pretty funny story that he had heard.It seems that these two guys were out practicing their wingwalking routine .The wingwalker began climbing a seven foot ladder atop the upper wing of the plane as the pilot prepared to execute a loop but he fell off in the process and landed in the cockpit on top of the pilot.One of his pant legs slipped over the control stick."There I was my flying controls up the wingwalkers leg wondering how the hell do things like this happen to me.I told him to hold on and I will try to land." They did with the pilot holding on to his leg and the stick too.


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## JohnReid

This is the view through the dispatch office window.You can just see the back of Harley's head and ears in the lower left corner.This inner door looks out upon the main hangar floor.As you can see the boss allows me to park my motorcycle against the carpenters shop wall.The inner window on the right looks out upon the carpenters shop itself.During the winter we leave this window open to provide heat for the office .The window does have shutters though when things get too noisy.Providing heat to the hangar floor can be a problem on very cold days.We have a removable tarp on the carpenters shop ceiling and another coal stove in the engine shop which helps with the heating also.


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## JohnReid

A friend asked so I thought that you guys would find this of interest also.

Hi Jason ! these dioramas were originally made for kids and were to be displayed in a classroom setting.The teacher of course would be there to answer questions and help tell the story.I was planning to do a small booklet with a lot of this stuff in it for the teachers reference purposes.

The museum has since changed its mind and they now plan to display them on the main museum floor,maybe even one in their new lobby.The plan now is to do some kind of audio/visual thing where you push a button to get pictures and some of the storyline.I don't know exactly how all that stuff works and it should be interesting to see what they come up with.

These dioramas were made for my own picture taking purposes as well and I lit them in such a way as to have a more dramatic effect.Unfortunately I think that a lot of this will be lost with only natural light.Also such areas as the carpenters shop,engine shop etc... have only somewhat restricted views.Therefore to really appreciate the dioramas there will have to be some kind of slide show and dialogue to accompany them.

Cheers! John.


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## JohnReid

Here is a better view of the carpenters shop from the office window.You can just see the back of the bosses gray hat that I swear makes him look like a gangster.Along the right wall you can see some carving and lathe tools with the lathe positioned in the background.On the workbench we are making a special prop for a racer pilot who is experimenting with a new design.The shop is not big but it is cosy and warm and besides most of the big stuff is done on the main hangar floor.A lot of the guys use it as a lunch/meeting room as well,you should hear some of the jokes and stories told when the ladies are not around !


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## JohnReid

On the top R/H side of the pic you can see the dispatch office door that opens onto the hangar floor.The boss looks like he is discussing the next booze run .As you can see the carpenter's shop is a closed unit separate from the main shop floor.The door on the left leads to the WC/coal storage room which then leads to the backdoor.
As you can see part of the tail of the Canuck has been replaced with a JN4 wooden one.Interchanging of parts is a common practice around here depending upon what is available at the time.Pilots will often ask us to change the flying characteristics of their airplanes to suit themselves.Often the C of G will be modified to carry heavy loads or make the airplane a little more unstable for some of their aerobatic maneuvers.


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## louspal

Really fun and atmospheric. Great concept and painstaking detail. Nice, making the history come alive w/ Billy Bishop.


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## JohnReid

Usually things are not so neat and clean around here.We have taken a little time to clean up some of the junk that was lying around.The prop designer has been hard at work trying to shape the prop to the proper specifications using mostly hand tools in the process.

Note: I included this pic in the storyboard line up mostly because I like it.Some of you guys may have noticed that the view from the carpenters shop windows looks out on to the hanger floor and not a wooden wall as depicted here.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Its been a long night for Chester chasing all those mice around the shop.Now he is flaked out near the stove ,in his favorite spot, sucking up the heat.

Note: I have put 4 animals in this diorama for the kids to try and find ,with various degrees of difficulty ,and Chester is the most difficult.I find that kids love this kind of thing and it really is a great way to get them more involved in the diorama.


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## JohnReid




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## bob8748

Fun idea with the animals! Any thought of doing a stone wall for this one? I used to do that in real life and want to try it. I was looking at a retaining wall you had done before. 
Inspiring work!!!


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Hi guys ! I had a little fun with this picture.If you look closely at the newspaper you will see pictures of the first men on the moon.I just couldn't resist making this prediction.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Well here we are back in the engine shop again.The WW1 era Mercedes engine is undergoing a bit of a tune up after being mothballed for awhile after the war.There is lots of surplus stuff like this around now,including pilots and airplanes.For a lot of us it has been a real struggle to stay in business.It seems that hardly anyone is interested in aviation these days apart from its entertainment value.I guess that people are just fed up with war and anything that was associated with it,including airplanes.Even the Wright brothers are having doubts about the whole thing and are saying maybe it was a mistake to help invent such a tool of destruction.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Ya know sometimes I wonder if I am going to way too much trouble with this diorama to tell a basically very simple story,an airman's return from the war and his continued relationship with his backyard Flyer.At times I wonder if there is enough of a storyline to justify such a huge space.
Rockwell's painting is tight with lots going on ,mine is spacious with little going on.His painting is of a joyous occasion ,my diorama is somewhat the opposite,just a GI and his thoughts for the future.
It is an old story told in many ways before.The split in the road and the road not taken tells of fateful decisions made that change everything forever.
I remember as a child being around men such as these,how important family and just being alive was to them.A lot were great fathers while others were just lost in their memories. I remember how important things like growing a community garden was to them,how they tended those gardens and how everybody respected those tiny spaces .I have included a garden in this diorama for that very reason.
Roads,gardens,airplane it just grew over time I guess.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Just outside the engine shop they are loading on some of the salvageable parts and pieces from the JN4 to put in storage.Hank the barnstormer is trying to make a little time with Cheryl our wingwalker who is probably wondering why do I put my life in the hands of this good old boy every season ? These wingwalkers are quite a bunch in fact just the other day I received a letter stating "when present wing walker is killed I want the job."


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Sorry but due to my workload I haven't been able to keep this thread up to date on every website.However you will find the complete story over on :

http://www.theaerodrome.com


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Sorry about the quality of the pics but I should have better ones soon.

This pic is of the back of the Albatros hangar diorama "Some Say He Walked Away."

It is an aviation expression meaning any landing is a good landing as long as you can walk away.


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## JohnReid

On this latest diorama that I have been working on,I have only now just completed the story.The rest of the story was already worked out but the backyard of the grandparents was only finally figured out yesterday.
The time of year depicted is early spring .I thought of a Victorian gazebo of some kind but it was just too big and fancy and would have drawn too much attention away for the main storyline,the airman and his airplane.I then thought of a tool shed with a rake laying around ,a typical springtime chore in this part of the world.Then a few starter plants under a small glass box to add a little color.But I needed a little something extra for viewer interest.After much thinking about it I decided to use the gazebo roof that I had already underway before I changed my mind.I cut it in half and made two completely different things out of it ,a bird bath and a fishpond which I am working on now.The garden shed is also underway.Just these three items will take over a week to do working everyday but my personal guide has always been to put as much thought and work into the small everyday objects as the big fancy cars or airplanes.So here goes... Hope you enjoy watching these items take shape.This backyard has been one of the most difficult things to get right,to tell an interesting story but not distract from the main storyline.
I work this way with only a basic plan at the beginning and just let the story develop over time.This gives me the maximum of opportunity to changed things and also keeps it interesting for me right up until the end of the project.


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## JohnReid

I have found a cheap source of scale plywood as well as some preformed shapes that could be used for modeling.The largest pieces of plywood that I have found so far is the size of a standard tissue box.It is first quality clear wood about the color and consistency of basswood and It is available from about 1/64 to 1/4",some is quite stiff and some really pliable .Some shapes such as small bird houses or boxes make good starting points for scratch building or can be torn down for sheet plywood.I have also found some pretty nice dowels but no actual scale lumber yet. Cheers!


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## JohnReid

This is the latest addition to the diorama ,a bird bath and a fish pond.Their grandsons made them for letting them use half of their backyard for storing and selling wood.
The bird bath is obvious but I will tack a No Fishing sign to the tree for the fish pond.You can see that these are scratch built as they are not perfectly round etc.. but neither would they be in full scale ,when cast in cement by amateurs.It will also require a little building up of the landscaping and some leafing up around the edges when it is finally installed.I left a slight cupping in the center to indicate greater depth below.


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## JohnReid

"Storyboard dioramas are full-blown,highly detailed dioramas whose sole purpose is to tell a story ,with or without a vehicle as a focal point.This type of diorama uses any combination of structures,scenic techniques,vehicles,and other peripheral details to deliver the point.Overall composition and visual impact play a key role in the storyboard diorama.This is the Unlimited class of diorama building."

Ken Hamilton.

In my research I have found that this is the first use of the term Storyboard Dioramas .Ken coined it way back in 2001 in chapter one of his great book " How to Build Creative Dioramas."


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