"Memories of Flying School"

[JohnReid]

Thanks for your kind comments John! Yes,all three dioramas are being donated to the educational department of the CAM in Rockcliffe .Hopefully they will be there by the Spring or Summer of 08.Cheers! John.

[John Gilinsky]

Knowing how famour you will be become like Captain Siborne with his Waterloo Model do you mind if you tell the forum members a little bit of your biography? How and why you came to model these dioramas? What motivated you and influenced you? Past dioramas done and of course FUTURE ones?

Thanks,

John

(of Toronto)

[ wannabe social climbing Brigadier! ]

[NoRemorseDK]

The detail, the craftmanship......I'm at a loss for words to praise your work

[JohnReid]

Hi John! Well I have been in and around airplanes all my life.(I have seen 68 Christmas seasons so far!)My dad was ,and my brother and I are all pilots.Dad was RCAF and TCA/Air Canada, my brother is retiring from Air Canada next year. I took a different route working in general aviation doing everything from sweeping hangar floors to flying instructor.For the past 22 years my life has been devoted to art ,mostly bird sculpture and dioramas .

In the 1960's dad and I and a wonderful artist and craftsman,Al Pow,completely restored a 1929 Beech Travalair biplane over a 10 year period.The airplane is now on permanent display at the Reynold's Museum in Alberta.

I started doing 1/16th scale dioramas about ten years ago when I retired from teaching decorative bird sculpture and wanted to do something different.I just combined what I knew about aviation and art and developed something that was new and different from what was already out there.Basically I took what the doll house guys and gals were doing and married that up with what the traditional modelers were doing and created what might be called a modern type of shadow box.I set the whole thing up as a stage,lighted it as you would a movie set and sat back a played producer and director of my own one frame movie where the storyline is the most important element.

As for the future I have a commitment to the RAF in London to do them a diorama for their museum.As long as the old eyes and hands hold out I plan to keep building.

Cheers! John.

[John Gilinsky]

Jolly good show ole chap! I know that you know that Billy tried to make a living right after the war doing survey, aerial pr work commercially and locally and even offering short flights for novices in southern Ontario (and possibly elsewhere). Perhaps if it is not too late you might wish to take a closer look (if this is necessary!) at some of the signage etc.... You might wish (just an idea) to add a small or even larger group of starry mouthed eyes opened women and children etc...gaping at the Bishop the hero and airplanes! I am sure such scenes occurred during 1918 to the early 1920s and beyond! I can send you a list of 1920 pcs from different towns that he flew over taking pr photo pcs if you like.

Best wishes and I fervently wish that you live long and prosper!

John

Toronto

[JohnReid]

Thanks John,Billy B is already in the diorama greeting friends at the door of the office! Yes I know he operated a service after the war out of Toronto.I think he had a serious accident and was out of flying for a long time.My dad knew him well,in fact I have a pic of them together at the RCAF 401 Sqdn mess around 1950.I would be especially interested in any pics that you may have of airfields and hangars of the era,as well as airport ground equipment ,trucks,cars etc.... Happy Holidays. Cheers! John.

[John Gilinsky]

AS we both know: Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is the best first place to start and even searching online for photos of what you are after. Also try McGill's online huge db of Canadian historical pictures (over 130,000 px) including some great ww1 stuff (you are in Montreal lucky you!). I know that a good many photo postcards were copyrighted during the latter part of 1919 and throughout 1920 as part of the business venture of Bishop's company which I believe went bankrupt after only a couple of years. I still think that gaing wide eyed "civilians" would make your dioramas NOT dollhousie but even MORE realistic and appealing than they already are. Your work is NOT excellent: it is FANTASTIC!

Hope the above helps: P.S. I am not really into aviaition but I am sure that there are some Canadian collectors of CEF AVIATION stuff who have wonderful things they can show / loan etc....to you.

John

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Turtledeck tarps!

The tarpaulin has been trimmed and a batten nailed down along the edge.I want the canvas to look relatively new so I don't plan to weather it too much.Because the canvas is so loose looking I will bend and shape some wood battens over the turtledeck.I sort of compromised on this as the tarp may be a little bit too crinkly but I like the weight between the stringers look.

One thing that I found out is not to worry about laying down wax paper ,if you seal the wood well with lacquer the glue/water mix will not stick the tarp permanently to the protected wood.This is useful to know when making removable tarps or shaping tarps over any object.

Note: while I try my best to keep all the websites I post to updated (29)as often as time permits,for day-to-day pictures and text please see:

http://www.theaerodrome.com (Forum,Models) Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Beginning the upper wing center section.

[susanhemmings]

John,

I, like others, remain stunned at this craftsmanship.

Absolutely wonderful work.

Well done.

Susan.

[JohnReid]

I have been thinking about the wings and ailerons.Do I make all of them,some of them or none of them.I could fake some wooden crates and be done with it.

What I think I will do is leave the fuselage closest to the side of the case free of any wings so that this side of the fuselage will be easily viewable.Two wings will be in crates and attached to the other side of the fuselage.On the other two wings I will leave some of the crates plywood panels open for inspection and they will be resting up against the hangar wall .I will place a rolled up tarp somewhere near the cockpit part of the fuselage.

I really can't see the point of building open wings which are basically of the same design as the center section which is already available for closeup inspection.More than likely at this stage the wings would have been already crated anyway.

Maybe I will build the other wings later and put them in the rafters of the hangar.

[JohnReid]

Because the Camel/Truck is basically one piece rather than 2 separate entities,I will have to treat them as such from here on.One way or another I have to build the undercarriage which is where I will concentrate my efforts for now.Then the

Model T truck will be put on its wheels and I will decide the rest from there.

I will have to re-think the center section on the fuselage idea ,mainly because it looks way to vulnerable and unrealistic stuck out there in the wind.

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

[ian turner]

John,

I was just caching up with your thread. Well, it has all been said already, so I can only just add my name to the accolades.

I really cannot help believing that the whole thing comes to life at night, when all are asleep. The engines start, the figures chat, the doors creak, the mice squeek. (Hey, where's the mice, or have I missed them!)

Keep up the good work.

Ian

[JohnReid]

I think that I am pretty much on track to finish the diorama by mid-year.Once the Camel/Ford is finished, I have the horse and it's rest area to do ,and a few more figures to modify and paint.The rest is just installing what is already made.Hooking up all the lighting should be a lot of fun and of course taking a lot of pictures of the finished diorama.

I have some minor stuff to do on the Albatros and Nieuport dioramas .After that it will be coordinating with the museum staff as to how they want to display them.

__________________

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)

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

Thanks Ian for your kind words.The mice? good idea.I once did a chair with some stuffing pulled out where mice had been.

[mastermindmichel]

I think Ian has a point, John... More rodents please!

And oh yes... your work is still near perfect. I salute you!

[JohnReid]

[JohnReid]

I think that I will now finish off this little horse-tub area .

All the major components of the diorama are now build and just need a little finishing.The lighting is 95% done and just needs to be hooked up.

There is still quite a bit of work to be done on the landscaping around the hangar but this is usually fun to do.

Oh! I almost forgot the guys on "tea time" have yet to be positioned and painted.The end of February and I think that I am just about on schedule .

This is an exciting time to finally see it all coming together.

Not a lot of creative stuff left to do so......

Now my mind is starting to wander to the backyard flier project ,which I am really looking forward to as the storyline leaves me lots of room to be creative.How would I have designed my flier ,in my backyard, had I had been a young man back then?(1917)

[JohnReid]