Shadow box dioramas

[cfesmire]

I think the first diorama I ever built was a shadow box diorama in a shoebox about dinosaurs back in second grade. So it seems the shadow box has been a popular teaching technique for some time.
I built the barn you see with a diagonal cutaway view to be placed in a box with it's viewing area framed. Everything is strip wood and all the joints have been half lapped for strength.



To give a better idea of how this will be displayed I completed the frame (of cherry) that will be the front of the box. Lighting still has not been worked out but the will have to be some in order to view the diorama well.



To give the wood it's color, I used acrylic paints thinned and shot the interior with the airbrush after wetting it all with just water. I was worried at first about it falling apart but had used waterproof glue and had no problem. The Busch Chevy is there just to view composition.





The next few shots are just me fooling around with details after I added some more color to the walls. The hay loft will be decked over and the whitish walls in the back corner have been white washed to represent the milking parlor. Again, just playing around with vehicles at this point.







I think I need to work on the box now which will be painted a black satin finish enamel. Overall depth will be 5 inches.

[cfesmire]

Finished up the box but with the paint still wet I decided to complete the interior by adding the hay loft and Hay (shaved hemp rope), glazed the windows with Sobo glue and glued down most of the details. Still pondering the vehicle but I kind of like this Sylvan '37 Chevy pick up.

[DavidJohnson]

Really nice work, Chester. I enjoy looking at all the details and artifacts. In the final lighting I hope the light still shows between the barn boards.

Dave

[stevette66]

Chester that is absolutly beautiful! Great work and so real looking! You almost feel like you are in the barn itself.
Great Job.
Thanks Steve D

[zeck62]

Very good job , Chester .

Your diorama is very nice and I like weathering and
the many details of interior .

[Albert]

Really nice job and nice images. The look is very realistic... those birds even seems ready to fly

[toadwerks]

*sigh* Chester, you have brought back a lot of memories with this shadow box. It is wonderful! Thanks for sharing and please show us more!

Todd

[cfesmire]

Here ya go Todd, this is just me fooling with the camera.

[skunk]

That's just crazy. I refuse to believe it.

[toadwerks]

In one's lifetime there are visuals and sounds that leave lasting impressions, either because of association or attachment - for instance the photo of the weeping Frenchman bearing witness to the fall of Paris in 1940, an afternoon in the library looking through a book showing Ansel Adams' profound understanding of natural beauty in the context of shadows and lighting, or the first visit as a child to the art museum (having to be physically pulled away from every painting and sculpture), or the incredible passion of Verdi's Requiem. Whether staged or not, the photos, the paintings, the music all bear the mark of the artist.

This is what you do Chester. You are an artist. Your phenomenal modeling skills don't stop with a photo of a finished piece. You weather it, provide a setting, painstakingly adjust lighting and snap a photo, locking a place in time for a lasting impression. Again, you are not just a modeler, my friend, you are an artist. And this shadow box is to me your finest work to date. Thank you for sharing!

May I suggest to the viewer to put on some Percy Grainger (Country Gardens, Shepherd's Hey, etc.) and just stare at the photo of Chester's shadow box...

Todd

[cfesmire]

Thanks so much Todd and everyone for the kind replies. I have to say that what we all admire in our 1/87 models is the ability to see what is as close to the real thing as possible in our little scale. It has always been my endeavor to make the models as realistic as possible. By providing a realistic backdrop for them I hope to give the models more credibility and remove as many questions that may occur as to their size. I'm unable to do this with the models themselves like those great modelers such as Joe Enriquez and Ralph Ratcliffe (and you Todd) so creating a space that they can reside in and photographing them there has become my way of fooling the eye. An artist? I have no idea. One look at this toothless hillbilly might say otherwise.
Oh, somehow you didn't strike me as a Percy Grainger type Todd, a bit foofy and high brow. I usually have some Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong on when modeling.
Thanks again, everyone's comments are truly valued by me.

[Cor_DutchArt]

This looks really realistic!
Especially I like the last picture with the light working.
Great.
But..... when you needs the ladder...