This is the lathe in the woodworking shop .This whole idea evolved from a pic that a fellow sent me of a shop in a museum in Sweden ,I think it was.The storage space for the woodworkers carving tools etc... and the prop being given its final coats of varnish all came from that picture.

A Blast from the Past!

Once in awhile I like to post pics that have never been posted before for those who are building or are comtemplating building the Nieuport 28 or Albatros in 1/16th scale.I hope you find them helpful as I know I sure did like seeing pics of other guys work when I was building mine.

Meet Hooter the barn owl!
I picked up Hooter ,the barn owl at a local dollar store.He is pretty well modeled in pewter and easily fits into 1/16th scale.After I remove the foliage from his feet, I plan to paint him in barn owl colors and perch him somewhere up in the hangars rafters.

Nice owl. I like the extra touch. You have a very impecable eye for detail.

Engine room doors

This is a pic of the interior of the engine shop doors.I have yet to add the hardware and some final weathering which will be done upon installation.
Right now the plan is to leave these doors open so that the engine can be more easily seen from the loading dock ,as well as through the wall panel windows.

I finally found the scale button and reduced the pics by 50%(harder now to see the mistakes)
This is the exterior of the same doors.I havent quite decided to show the nailheads on the green exterior as they are not as noticable as on the light grey and besides they probably would be covered with paint.Maybe just a few rusty ones along the bottom may be in order.I have yet to finish weathering this panel.

Here is a fun project! I was looking around for a design of a worktable on wheels that I could use in the engine shop.Because there is only limited space in the shop ,I need something small but efficient.So I thought why not design my own? there must of been at lot of this going on before the days of Walmart so I decided to give it a go.
Whenever I am in a craft store I tend to pick up wooden odds and ends that may be useful in the future.This is a piece of hardwood(birch) that had already been shaped as you see in the pic.I enjoy carving wood so I took out my trusty #11 xacto and a pencil and began to design something.I wanted a workbench that would be convenient to use and had some storage space as well as drawers.I like the idea of the round shape in a confined space so that you would not be constantly stabbing your legs on the sharp corners.This is a rough idea of what I came up with.Looks like fun!

Next step

I decided to weather the doors afterall.They just didn't look interesting enough for my liking.
Funny thing about weathering,the more subtle you try to be in your work the longer it takes to do.Beleive it or not ,there is over two hours of work(fun) to add what looks like a few nail holes to the L/H door.These jobs I usually save for a time when I can listen/watch TV at the same time as it really does not require a lot of brain power to do ,just patience.
The secret is to build up the weathering slowly.On those visible nail holes I used very watery raw umber over and over until I got just the right look.You don't want just a dark point but a soft , weathered look.I will now take a little burnt sienna pastel and further soften a few of the fake nailheads at the bottom to give it a slightly rusty look where the door may have come in contact with water.
Raw umber in its various watery consistencies really makes the best crud and in heavier applications great WW1 mud.Various other earth tones, and black and white, can be mixed in to produce a variety of colors.
In my opinion if you are trying to simulate wood in scale it is best to use wood and not some other medium .There really is no substiute for using the real thing if your looking for the nice weathered look.For barn siding,old fences etc... use it dry with no sealers.Paint it with watery gouche acrylics or watercolors and seal over with a fixative if you must.
The most important thing is not to rush .I happen to like weathering,fooling around and being creative with it.I know that there are probably lots of you who would rather do the airplane or car part.But for dioramists it is most important to treat each part you are doing with equal precision, yes even that board behind the toilet in the washroom that hardly ever would be seen.You must be consistent in the quality of your work and not just blow it off because it is not your favorite thing to do.Some of the best advise that I was ever given is to "Treat each part with respect and as a little work of art of its own ,take the time to do it right ,and in the end your final composition will truly be a work of art.

Another view

Just under the table top I am planning 3 drawers(false) complete with pulls.There will be a shelf at the bottom for tool storage.I will put it on the same type of casters as the engine stand has.The tabletop will be covered with oil spotted newspaper on top of which will be those left over exhaust parts and a few tools.The whole thing will be painted Reid& Sons french blue and then weathered.
I find it a real joy to sit down with a knife and carve something every once and awhile ,although if I was to build it again totally from scratch ,I would use basswood as it would take about half the time.Unfortunately ,most of these craft store parts are made of birch which can, for a novice ,be a little hard to carve with just an xacto.I recommend that you change the blade quite often to avoid having to force the tool and remember for safety sake always carve in a direction away from yourself .

The above is a pic of the Nieuport 28 model that I built 4 or 5 years ago for a diorama.It is in 1/16th scale and is adapted from a Model Expo kit.
I am posting these pics for your info only ,as I really don't recommend this kit other than as a starting point for a semi-scratch build .I won't repeat all of that here but you can see from the pic the metal fittings leave a lot to be desired.

The table carving is really a creative solution. I think it will come out really well.

I think the two hours of work on the door is a big plus. I agree with you on the weathering, add it slowly and build the layers. Afterall in real life the weathering didn't happen in 10 minutes.