If I wanted to build a dio with forced perspective, ie.; putting buildings, figures, vehicles, etc., behind the main feature, to give an impression of depth, I suppose the only way to do it is in a box diorama to control angle of view, otherwise, it ends up looking like a silly mistake. And if I make a box diorama, I have to include lighting to control the lighting in the rear areas. Is all this correct, or can it be done reasonably well without the carpentry and electrical work?

I have seen open-topped forced-perspective dioramas - mostly large ones in museum settings but at least a couple in model show settings.

The ones that were displayed at eye level (standing viewers) were fairly effective, but I've seen a couple of them at shows displayed on tables so that the viewer could look down at them. To me, this destroyed the illusion of distance that the forced perspective is used to create.

So, IMO, an effective forced perspective dio can be constructed without being totally enclosed (with the required carpentry and lighting work), but to be effective, the view still has to be limited and controlled.

Most of the best forced perspective dios that I have seen at model shows were "boxed" - totally enclosed with viewing windows and internal lighting.

However, I've never built a forced perspective dio myself, so all I can comment on is what I've seen and my impressions.

HTH,

Forced perspective is used on (model) railroads by controlling the height of the benchwork and the terrain rise with multiple scales so that may be a better option if you can control the height of the viewing angle too.
I also remember seeing a Dio a while back with a curved c-shaped background and modified 1/700 groundwork with 2 1/48th aircraft on acrylic rods that looked fantastic.
The Shadow Box method is the easiest to control the view with though so you're correct but you're also correct that it's more of a PITA to put together. On the plus side, the dio is protected and stays dust-free!
Charlie

This link;
http://www.msgvalkenswaard.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31:gb-veldhoven-1935&catid=11&Itemid=122&lang=nl

As well as this one;
http://members.tele2.nl/peterdillen/perspectief.htm

was found by Robert Blokker while we were discussing forced perspective in his Post Card Challenge campaign.

Some pretty good ideas, I thought. Don't be afraid to be artistic with you 'background' view. You can easily attract attention to a given point, perhaps a knocked out tank farther back in your scene, by making it slightly larger than it should be when you factor in its 'distance' from the main scene, while still keeping a properly scaled diorama.

If you Google M. C. Escher's work 'Balcony' you should get a pretty good idea of what I'm rambling about.

Good luck with your diorama.