Knights of the Sky & Dangerous Skies Exhibitions

 Recently we took a family holiday to Blenheim, which is near the top of New Zealand's South Island. A little-known fact is that Blenheim is home to two stunning exhibitions of World War I and II aircraft. The World War I exhibition is owned by Sir Peter Jackon of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy fame. Not only does it include incredibly rare aircraft (including some which are airworthy), it does so in giant dioramas that tell important stories about the aircraft and the people who flew them.

After the success of the World War I exhibition, the local group whom Jackson contracted to maintain the exhibition added a World War II exhibition. Both are of impeccable quality and offer an incredibly immersive experience. More information can be found on their website.

I personally love the exhibition from a modelling perspective. It offers a glimpse of modelling on a 1:1 scale rarely seen and is a wonderful inspiration for our smaller-scale modelling.

Backdrop painting Part 3

After landing on the final look for the background mountains I started working on the foreground hills. I used the same base colour technique with the palette knife to drag in highlight and accent colours. After this, I started adding some green sections so the static grass and trees I will add later will blend into the backdrop.

The trees in and around the town are more deciduous, transitioning to evergreen trees as the layout moves over the hill. I enjoyed painting the trees and am looking forward to adding static grass to combine the background and foreground. 

Once I've coloured the rocks in the canyon I will paint more rock cliffs onto the backdrop.