Ray Anderson

Museum Quality Dioramas Freeze a Moment in Time in 3D

From Engineering to Model Making

Ray earned his degree in mechanical engineering as a young adult, and then worked in management positions within the automotive and aerospace industries for 30 years. From 1972 onward Anderson worked full-time on his miniatures. His specialty was boxed dioramas. Ray first won a “Best of Show” award in 1968, and his work would continue to be rewarded over the years in both England and the USA. He was the second person to be made a Grand Master of the Miniature Figure Collectors of America. Ray’s book, The Art of the Diorama, was published in 1988 by Kalmbach Books, and it remains an outstanding reference for miniature figure makers and diorama modelers. Material for the book was drawn from articles that first appeared in Fine Scale Modeler magazine.

An Interest in Building Began Early

Mr. Anderson recalled that even as a child, he always had a workshop and a passion for building things. In his teenage years, he entered the Fisher Body Coach contest that was sponsored by General Motors. The company would supply plans for a vintage coach that represented the “Bodies by Fisher” model used in early GM cars. The coaches were quite ornate, and Ray completed a beautiful model which is pictured below. Unfortunately, it took quite some time to build, and by the time Ray was done the contest had been discontinued. Years later he worked on full-size cars including the restoration of a 1925 Grand Prix Bugatti. Moving forward, Ray’s interest would shift to live steam. He completed a miniature live steam locomotive using a set of plans and castings from Little Engines of Lomita, CA.

A Start in Modeling Figures Leads to Dioramas

While staying in New York once, Ray saw some beautiful 54mm lead Napoleonic soldiers. He felt inspired to make something similar. However, most of the lead figures that Mr. Anderson saw were crude, with their clothing often made from lead toothpaste or paint tubes. Luckily, it was around the same time that Ray discovered some very detailed plastic Napoleonic figure kits made by Historex. These figures could be modified by adding dissolved plastic with a brush, and clothing could be made with plastic-coated Kleenex. Additionally, hair, fur, and other textures could be added using the hot tip of a soldering iron. He found that the settings could also be created with Durham wood flour putty. These developments would allow Ray to begin producing his boxed dioramas, as he was able to create detailed figures along with an appropriate surrounding.

Creating an effective diorama required solving many problems for Ray. Lighting could be controlled using small, cool long-life fluorescent lights. Easy access to the scene could be achieved with magnetic latches on the case front. For the backgrounds, a lot of experimentation went into the painting techniques. By manipulating color and perspective, he was able to achieve amazing results—such as simulating a 2000ft deep canyon in a space only 1-1/2 inches deep. Ray also developed techniques using clear resin to imitate water in every form—from quiet pools to raging waterfalls. He had gathered the tools and materials needed to model nearly any scene. Ray even attempted to show the passage of time in his work, making two dioramas of the same scene, but as they might appear 100 years apart. His work often included an element of humor as well, which helped to engage the viewer on a more personal level.

In addition to his favorite subject, the American West, Ray depicted a wide range of scenes in his works. He made dioramic scenes of historical significance, fantasy scenes with dragons, and even an outer space scene featuring a stranded astronaut. Almost any subject can become the basis for a well-told story taking place inside these small dioramas.

In his book, Ray offers some advice to diorama builders in saying, “Always—that’s ALWAYS—make sure that each diorama you set out to build has a story to tell!” Ray took his own advice when considering how he could make his hundredth diorama particularly special. He decided to model the High Altar of the 17th century Benedictine Abbey in Weltenberg, Germany. After completing the Altar, Ray said he lost some of his interest in building more dioramas because he could not find a subject more difficult than that one.

What Makes a Successful Diorama?

In his book, Ray cites ten important elements that make for a good diorama subject. After building many pieces, he noted that the following things will help any diorama:

1. Tell a simple story. You can hold the viewer’s attention for a minute or two at most, so the clues to your story must be simple and obvious. However, the conclusion may be left to the viewer’s imagination. Fairly frequently, real incidents are used as the basis for a scene. It’s hard to come up with stories that are more compelling than some that have already occurred.
2. The piece should be as small as possible to create a personal, intimate feeling. The figures should be “small jewels,” not “statues.”
3. The scene should surround the viewer, making them feel close to the action instead of remote from it.
4. Ornate building interiors are generally more effective than outdoor settings. 
5. There should be many minute, eye-catching details. Ray calls them “Campbell soup cans,” like the one he included in the foreground of a scene of an old, abandoned house. It added a spot of color on the ground and is something that everyone recognizes.
6. Lighting should be indirect, often coming from the side to provide high shadow relief.
7. Most scenes can be effective without dramatic action. When dramatic action is required it should never include violence. Those can take place “off stage” in the viewers’ imagination. 
8. Elaborate costumes are great attention-getters and crowd pleasers. This makes scenes from the twelfth to eighteenth century highly suitable.
9. The proper balance of construction time is approximately 50 percent for the scene and background, and 20 to 30 percent each for the figures and the outer case.
10. The overall effect of the diorama and the outer case should be that they were created during the period depicted.

Ray notes that like any long list of rules, these aren’t meant as strict guidelines for every single diorama. Rather, understanding the reasoning behind each tip is key to understanding what makes an interesting scene. Ray also feels that an element of humor should be included in each scene if possible. He says that, “While many viewers are turned off by serious or unpleasant subjects, humor has universal appeal. Humor also helps break down the ‘fourth wall’ by providing the viewer with something he can easily relate to.”