12 Inch Square Diorama Contest
Article and Photos by Rich Thom
The SV&W NMRA Clinic’s February meeting topic was the long-anticipated (well, since September anyway) diorama contest, this year shepherded by Phil and Susan Gonzales. The rules were simple: Build a small diorama, not to exceed 12 inches square [ed.], that tells a story. The mini-scenes could be any scale, and any height or depth so long as their footprints did not exceed the specified area. Entry categories were: scratch; kit; kit bash; and humorous.
Attendance on the night was lower than usual due to threatening weather, and we’re sure that several more dioramas were intended to be entered. (Those modelers are invited to bring in their work to the March meeting.) But the ones brought in on this evening were both clever and beautifully-constructed. Awards were presented using “Peoples’ Choice” voting, rather than any formal scoring system. Without further ado, let’s show the dioramas and say a few words about how each was constructed.
Fig 1 shows Cliff Aaker’s O-scale scratch-built station scene. The story: A boy is tempted to pet a frisky dog, left, but his mother, center, is unsure about it. Another pair of passengers, apparently more sure about their petting, awaits the train on the right. Note the stationmaster visible in the window; to see his other side, just turn Cliff’s diorama around …