Category Archives: Finished Works

Design & Construction, Finished Works

Jedi Starfighter Revisited (1:20)

This diorama will be a familiar sight for readers of my book Diorama Design. It was originally created as a daytime diorama which worked with available light. I decided to modify the lighting design to make it suitable for nighttime viewing. 

Some additional illumination was given for Obi-Wan Kenobi and his friend by recessing a string of pot lights into the base. There was just enough room to drill between the figures and make four small holes. I set the LEDs in place with a dab of clear epoxy and fed the wires underneath to join up with the existing circuit. 

The next step was to balance the brightness of the various LEDs. R4’s main light was a bit too bright so I toned it down with a drop of red acrylic paint. The pot lights were muted with a dab of white. 

As I discussed in a previous post, dioramas lend themselves to tinkering. Whenever you come up with a better way to convey what you want to depict, it’s time to make an upgrade.  

If you’re interested in the fine points of lighting dioramas, there’s a chapter on it in my book Forced Perspective Dioramas. It’s available on Amazon. 

-Ivar

Design & Construction, Finished Works

Harrier Ascendant (1:144)

Introduced in the late 1960s, the Harrier ‘jump jet’ was a major breakthrough in military aviation. It was the first jet fighter capable of taking off and landing vertically. This unique ability made it ideally suited to carrier operations as well as land based close support roles. Whereas a conventional fighter squadron could be grounded by knocking out a runway, the Harrier was immune. It could operate from a field clearing and land anywhere a helicopter could. 

To this day, no other aircraft has been able to duplicate the Harrier’s success. The new F-35B, which weighs twice as much as the Harrier, rarely exercises its vertical take-off capability due to the massive fuel expenditure required. Due to this limitation, the F-35B is referred to as a STOVL (Short Take-Off Vertical Landing) aircraft. Close, but no cigar. 

I was able to see a Harrier do a vertical take-off one autumn many years ago at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada. It was an unforgettable sight. 

-Ivar

Design & Construction, Finished Works

Fifth Gen (1:144, non scale)

The Sukhoi SU-57 is a Fifth Generation aircraft which represents state-of-the-art fighter design. Although it has yet to be sold to any foreign buyers, this scene shows what it would look like in Estonian livery. 

Most dioramas are constructed on a horizontal base. This makes sense for a military or automotive scene because the vehicles interact with the terrain. But when we see an aircraft in flight, it’s usually framed by the horizon. The ground isn’t important, so I left it out.     

For tips on how to optimize the visual impact of your work, see my book Diorama Design. It’s available on Amazon and Apple Books.

-Ivar

Design & Construction, Finished Works

Thunderbird 2 (1:2500, non scale)

Gerry Anderson’s classic series Thunderbirds captured the imagination of many a young boy, and we watched mesmerized as the Tracy brothers piloted their wondrous vehicles to the scene of a disaster to save the day. The most distinctive of these was Virgil Tracy’s Thunderbird 2. This green behemoth was International Rescue’s heavy duty transporter, able to carry specialized equipment in an interchangeable pod. With its forward-swept wings and beetle-shaped fuselage, nothing in the skies (real or imagined) looked quite like TB2. 

The beloved program was rebooted in 2015, featuring state of the art special effects and updated vehicle designs. One of the biggest successes of the new Thunderbirds Are Go is the reimagined Thunderbird 2. It’s still big and green, but the new design is less bug and more machine. Christian Pearce, Senior Concept Artist at Weta Workshop, gave TB2 some well thought out nips and tucks to bring it into the new millennium. He beefed up the engine nacelles for a more muscular, broad shouldered look, and flattened the roofline for a sleeker overall profile. These tweaks give Thunderbird 2 a fresh look while still staying true to the spirit of the original design.  

This forced perspective scene shows Thunderbird 2 on its way home after another successful mission, trailing exhaust plumes as it passes over a city. 

For tips on how to optimize the visual impact of your work, see my book Diorama Design. It’s available on Amazon and Apple Books.

-Ivar


Design & Construction, Finished Works

No Way Out (1:35, non scale)

This forced perspective scene was inspired by the classic TV series UFO. Pursued by one of the alien craft, Straker and Ellis have taken refuge in an abandoned factory. The saucer hovers ominously at the far end of the factory, blocking the only escape route. 

The shimmering blur effect of the spinning UFO, which I recreated here with the help of a low rpm electric motor, was one of the signature visuals of the series. The superb miniatures created by special effects director Derek Meddings and designer Mike Trim gave the show a sophisticated look which put it in a class by itself.  

This diorama is the second I’ve built which is based on UFO. The first was SHADO Yards. 

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

-Ivar

Design & Construction, Finished Works

A Different Fate (1:72, 1:600)

In the twilight days of WWII, Japanese aircraft manufacturer Kyushu Hikoki K.K. completed two prototypes of a remarkable interceptor called the Shinden. Featuring swept wings, a six-bladed pusher propeller and canards on the forward fuselage, this innovative design held great promise as a deterrent to the B-29 bombers which had begun high altitude bombing of Japan. However, the Shinden wasn’t put into production in time to fulfill its intended role.  

This forced perspective diorama presents a ‘what if’ scenario based on the Shinden entering service sooner and changing the course of the war in the Pacific. A lone Shinden prepares to pounce on Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber tasked with dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. 

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

-Ivar

Design & Construction, Finished Works

Mirage (1:24, 1:200)

Returning from a treacherous sortie in North Africa, a battle-weary Junkers JU-88 pilot sees something . . . someone . . . in the desert. She looks like a girl he once knew. He briefly considers asking a fellow crew member to confirm, but decides against it. It can’t be her. 

Mirage is an exploration of how far the eye can be pushed to accept forced perspective. Ordinarily, forced perspective dioramas contain larger scale elements at the front and smaller scale elements at the rear. Here, the differently scaled elements are equidistant from the viewer when looking at the diorama head-on. The illusion of perspective is strongest when viewing the diorama from the girl’s side, as in the photograph.

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

-Ivar

Design & Construction, Finished Works

Black Squadron (1:121, 1:144)

The Death Star trench, as seen in the climactic battle of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, is a unique visual which sets the sequence apart from all other dogfights in cinema. The trench is one long blur for the most part, looming dangerously close to Rebel X-wings and Y-Wings as they conduct their attack runs. It gains even more menace as Darth Vader’s squadron moves in to intercept. How do you translate this into a static model?

Well, you could build a very long miniature set, like the special effects crew did for the movie. Or just model a short section of the trench, which Bandai offers in kit form. But that doesn’t do justice to its limitless length, or capture the photographic motion blur which smooths over the intricate details of the trench on film.

I decided to use forced perspective to convey the vast length of this architectural marvel. Scratchbuilt trench walls recede in scale to a vanishing point in the distance. To give the impression of motion blur, I made simple ‘streaks’ with no details. Vader’s ship is a Revell kit and the two slightly smaller scaled TIE fighters are from Bandai. The total length of the trench is 38cm (15”). 

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

-Ivar

Design & Construction, Finished Works

Yavin Flypast (1:72, 1:144, 1:270)

In this scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Rebel X-Wings and Y-Wings fly past the planet Yavin on their way to intercept the approaching Death Star. Here we see the Rebel attack force assembled together for the first time, and anticipate the thrills of the coming battle. So important was this shot to George Lucas that he revised it for the 1997 re-release of the original Star Wars trilogy to take advantage of the latest advances in computer generated special effects. 

This is a forced perspective diorama using vehicles scaled from 1:72 to 1:270. I decided to show the X-Wings with their S-foils in attack position—the definitive look for the X-Wing.  

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

-Ivar

Design & Construction, Finished Works

Contemplating Gotham (1:35, 1:700)

The Batmobile is back. This is the same 1:35 Bandai kit which I used in Batmobile Winterscape, a large tabletop diorama featured in Diorama Design. Now repurposed for a more compact wall-mounted display. 

A white metal Batman figure joins the Batmobile against a forced perspective backdrop. LEDs were used for lighting. The case is acrylic and birch wood. 

If you like to build dioramas and want to learn more about how to optimize the visual impact of your work, you might like my book, Diorama Design. It’s available in both ebook and print formats at Amazon.

-Ivar