I've been thinking about building a small dio in a box, with one side open(shadowbox?), but I have no idea about the techniques for this. I've heard a little about double borders, box-in-box, electrical systems etc etc.
Can anybody tell me more about shadowbox techniques, or knows where I can find some interesting sites / books etc?

There was also someone on Armorama working on a shadowbox scene from A Bridge Too Far (with an umbrella officer) but I could'nt find that forumpost anymore... Someone remember this one?

Thanks!

Paul

Ola Paul

Funny you say this as I`m more or less also am plannign a Shadowbox. I have the Hot to built Diorama`s book from Sheperd Paine and he dedicates a whole chapter of the book to building Shadowboxes. If you are interested PM me.

What will the subject of your Shadowbox be? I myself are planning/thinking of making a failed escape attempt by 2 polish officers from the Castle Colditz.

Robert is right,

the Chapther from Shep Paine is a "must read" when you're gonna start a shadowbox.

From experience I can say that the planning stage is the most essential stage when doing shadowboxes. Screw up in this stage and you'll run into all sorts of dead ends later in the building proces.

My advice : Take some cardboard and scratchbuild the scene you're going to depict in cardboard. This way you can look at it from all sides and you'll see the things that you must deal with in a later stage. Doing this, you can avoid running into trouble at a later moment in time.

Making a shadowbox is hard.... most of the time with shadowboxes it's not only the composition that makes or breaks the scene (like in regular dioramas), but it's also the lighting that is equally important.... It can be done, but it takes some good planning.

Please excuse the questione, but what is a shaddowbox?

Shadowbox is basically a diorama in a box with one side exposed for viewing. This setting allows for using different techniques and creating different moods. It is excellent for adding lights and making a night scene for example.

Thanks Marty, for the description of a shadowbox.
I was writing it also, than saw you just been a few minutes faster than me :-)

Meantime, I did found that thread I mentioned!
It's TOKE's shadowbox discussed in his thread More on the Arnhem setting. There's a picture also, so Ekke, you can see it there also.

Robert, Danny. Thanks for mentioning that book. I go try at my LHS to see if they can get it.

The plan I had was to make an evening scene of a little alley/street for the 'On 2 wheels' campaign.
There must be a streetlight in it as well as some light behind a window and perhaps the headlight of the bicycle I want to model.

Making a mock-up with cardboard is a good idea!
I think I go for that!

Ah thanks, sounds like an interesting way to make a "different" dio!

"Googling" arround on the internet, I found many shadowboxes with displays medals and fishes...


But here's a link to a realy great 1:35 shadowbox!

Paul

Here or some more shadow box dioramas as featured here on the site in the past





and another one



https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/199

In addition to Robert and Dannys recomendation of Sheps book I can also recomend Ray Andersons "Art of the Diorama" from Kalmbach.

Although a little old it helps you with layout, electrecity and inspiration.

My problem was wanting to depict daylight which took some experimenting, maybe more than a normal scene. If everything goes as planned I will post an update during the coming week.

Heres a link to a post on another forum regarding this topic.
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4835&st=0

Wow!
Thanks for share those inspirating pictures and links!

Paul

I'm (slowly) working on a shadow box, too. Mine will also use forced perspective. I'm trying to model a picture I found of German infantry setting an ambush at a cross street. They are set up behind a motorcycle and doorways. I plan to try for a daylight scene with some kind of smoke effect, but haven't spent much time thinking about that aspect yet. This is also my first attempt at scratch building buildings. There's a couple pictures of my current mockup in my gallery, no shadow box, but the perspective I plan to use.

I second the recommendation for Shep Paine's How to Build Dioramas (there's also good info on forced perspective and lots of other good stuff). A cardboard mockup is a must.

Hey Tom,

I saw the pictures of your test setup. Thanks for sharing!
It gives you the feeling to hide for cover like the other soldiers, so it's very good positioned IMHO. What depth have the scene?

Paul

Thanks, Paul. That's the feeling I'm looking for. The depth is about 12" (300mm). It's still a little longer than I wanted, but it didn't look right shorter, so I'll live with it.

Here is a piece I did on WWI incorporating a shadow box with a conventional diorama.

I think that the guy in the red fez is screaming because he lost his hand. :-)

Great dio by the way.

Ray Anderson's book is fantastic regarding shadow boxes and many other ideas. Keep in mind the critical need for perspective. Everything is foreshortened in a box. Floors tilt up toward the back. Ceilings down. Walls in, etc.

If you have lighting, you will need a false inner box inside the outer box. Spend the money on Ray Amderson's book. You won't regret it, unless you see how good he is (was?) and decide to hang it up.

Sealhead

Bob,
That's an amazing WW1 shadowbox. Great use of lights.

On the street it's the murder on Ferdinand in Sarajevo in june 1914, I asume?
And the fighting soldiers are some sort of vision where the murder is gonna lead to, am I right in that?

The last picture, is that a lighting deviece? Can you tell us more about that? What sort of lights did you use?

Thanks in advance.

Paul

Paul,

Yes, it is the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and yes, the shadow box portrays a portent of things to come.

The lights are cold cathodes which is a cross between flourescent and neon. I chose them because they give off very little heat (none actually) and have an average 20,000 hour life expectancy and are relatively cheap.

You can buy them from here:

http://www.voodoofx.com/fiberfx.htm

They come in different colors though I prefer to use white and then use lighting gels to color them. I can control the colors better this way.

I am doing a larger shadow box now on an incident in Belgian in August 1914. I will post pictures of this in progress piece when I get a little further along. I will use cold cathodes for that as well.

If you have some experience with DC electronics hooking up the cold cathodes is easy. They require a "driver" which is essentially a step up transformer as they need 1200 volts to operate. The power input source is an AC/DC converter putting out 12volts, 800ma.

I highly recommend them for shadow boxes as incandescents put out a lot of heat and may require fans to cool the box.

Can any of you tell me what the name of the book is and the ISBN #? I've been thinking of making a shadow box and could use the info.

Ray Anderson THE ART OF THE DIORAMA Kalmbach Books 1988

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0890240922/104-1779486-6426346?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Thanks Bob!