As the blogs are a new feature or more of a reborn feature i felt it was only right that i got involved in some way as the Diorama editor (also to prove if i can do there is nothing to stop anybody else having a go).

So this is the first part in my road to Baghdad Blog, other i have spoke to know the extent that this may go on but here is the first instalment.

I have a simple philosophy when undertaking dioramas it has to be a little different, i don't just build diorama from a certain period i jump around a lot, it help keeps me sane and the interest high

Ill let the pictures do the talking and ill answer any questions, but the kit is the base Tamiya M2A2, built from the box just on a whim, to build some thing and has sat on a shelf for over a year, i may redo it by adding some PE but we will see. Its not yet finished as i have all the side bustles to add and all the storage.

The figure are from various kits, all resin and i have began to kit bash them together, new arms will be done (you can see the basic shape ready), There are more figures to add, but these are the ones i currently have on the go.
The base will be a piece of motorway (interstate).

Its fitted to the wooden base to give me a solid flat base to work from.















thanks for looking

Keith Forsyth

Very interesting dio. May I ask what figures you used as a base for the convertions?

Erik

I like the poses of the figures. They look very natural. Is there going to be any sort of battle damage to the Bradley? How was the crew injured? RPG? Looking forward to seeing how it comes along.

I like the scene very much; very inspirational and unique.... I enjoyed your dioramas in the past and I'm glad you decided to go "modern" with this one. Looking forward to seeing the progress...

I see you have mixed figures from Warriors and Think180; just one note here... Think180 figures all wear MOPP suits that were used in the early stages of the conflict, while Warriors figures' gear seems to be used a bit later in OIF. So, I'm not sure if those guys should "mix". Gino, am I wrong here?

Mario.

the figures as have been noted are from Think-180(now MIG productions), verlinden, warrior and Azimut, with various changes to suit the diorama.

The M2a2 will show some battle damage when finished, it will make a little more sense as it progresses.

I have been using the Concord special Ops books as a reference guide and these have plenty of pictures taken during the "Run to Baghdad" show guys in various different kits, what i will not be able to do is paint them in the new digital camo as I'm sure this was issued later on.


HTH

cheers

Keith

I love the rework on all the figures, I can see the photo in a magazine now. Very life like composition. Having two story lines really makes this 'work'.
Just watch the parallel lines. I personally would like to see some type of 'framing' backdrop, a wall, fence, gate. That's a personal preference thing though.

I'll keep an eye on this build.

Very nice looking dio you got planned there Keith! The figures are looking good and I look forwarrd to seeing this one progress, your diorama's are also nice and action packed!

I would definitely add some etch to the M2A2, theres also a whole ton of other work you could do to make it more accurate-new rear of TOW launcher, correct drive sprockets, correct the bottom line of side skirts etc etc-lot of effort . As to the figures, as Maki has pointed out you have one guy in MOPP gear-I suspect but cant say 100%, if one guy was in MOPP the whole lot would be, and if the others werent nor would he?? Also be careful on the clothing, if these are army guys in the initial invasion they would be wearing DCU's, which don’t have pockets on the arms. If they are Army guys during the insurgancy you can portraiy them in ACU's which do have pockets on the arms, but then you wuld have to paint the ACU pattern. Its probably easier to just remove the pockets from arms and make them 3ID or something during ther invasion.

I like the idea,

I have one question though. Wouldn't the evacuation normaly take place through the backdoor? (Question for one of our forum members on active duty.)
You could make a dio in which the rear ramp has been blocked, fe by building debris, and the vehicle has lost a track or similar.

Looking forward to the follow up.

Great idea for a dio. I agree on updating the Bradley with some of the changes Rob noted. Here is an article by our own Vodnik on updating it.

I also agree on the figures. The uniforms should not be mixed. JS-LIST MOPP suits were worn by all troops up till about 7 APR '03, when we were in Baghdad and the chemical threat never materialized. After that date, we all were allowed to ditch the JS-LIST and wear standard DCUs. Also of note, most of 3ID and the USMC deployed with woodland camo JS-LIST suits. There was a shortage of desert camo JS-LIST and we did not start seeing them till we began received replacements in late March '03.

As to the evacuation of the casualties. It is actually easier to take a wounded soldier out through the top hatch of the turret. The doorway betwen the turret and the troop area in the rear is pretty tight and it is a pain to get into the turret through it when you are not injured. Trying to get a couple guys into the turret from inside to pull the wounded guy out would be almost impossible. Also, if both guys in the turret are wounded and being lifted out, both hatches should be opened. It is also a pain to get between the two hatches of the turret. It doesn't look like it, but the Bradley turret interior is pretty tight.

Lastly,



If you plan on adding the side storage racks, it will have to be a 3-15 IN, 3ID Bradley in OIF 1 (Invasion). Only this Bn had the side racks. They were locally made in Kuwait and only on 1 Bns worth of Bradleys in the PrePo draw fleet from APS-5 in Kuwait had them.

Hi guys

thanks for all the comments, ill try and answers some of them.

I still have quite a bit of work to do on the figures ( may be more than i realised) but the whole point of posting at this stage was to get some good positive feedback.

The base will be quite unique but i haven't started it yet so the wooden base is being used so that i can line all the figures up and get the arms etc. in the right places.

The M2A2 i have used has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while now, but i think i will start with another one and correct and update it to suit (thanks for the link)

i still have plans for the rear doors, but haven't started the figures for it yet as i didn't want to have a lot of unfinished figures to complete.

ill keep posting as i go, but again thanks for all the feedback, any more information on 3ID would also be a help

cheers

Keith

If theres a risk of spinal or neck injuries due to the vehicle shaking violently if hit, the turret hatch would also be the best option as you can simply drag up and out, the turret access from the rear looks like a nightmare, also if the turret is facing any other direction that straight ahead the rear access in the turret basket housing wouldnt be alligned with the turret basket.

Good luck keith-theres a hell of a lot of detailing and correcting to do to get the M2A2 100% correct

What have you got planned with the base then...sounds intreguing!

even with DCU's we sewed pockets onto the sleeves like the acu's have now. kind of a brigade Norm, regardless of what the fobbits said

There was a point as Gino says that they got the order it was okay to not use the JLIST suits. So for a day or so there were guys in full suits, and others in say half, like just the bottoms.

Also, as Gino points out, woodland camo was predominant, but not the only suits. So you could break things up a bit by having a guy or two in desert camo JLIST.

I really like the composition.

Bob

if its not too late think about moving the guys head (one of the dudes whose helping carry the guy coming down from the tank) attention from the middle of no where to paying attention to the guy getting brought down.

I know it currently look odd with the one guy looking away, but i haven't finished all the figures yet so it will make a little more sense as it progresses.

cheers

Keith

Great idea for the diorama. It seems to be very well laid out so far!

Looking forward to see more

hi keith

TF 4-64 arm had A company 3-7 inf attached to them during the invasion. they too had the side bins atttached. their side numbers were 21.
i have a lot of pictures from 3ID if you want me to email them to you drop me a PM


site link 1

site link 2

above are 2 sites to visit to get info on A company 3-7 inf TF 4-64 arm

mark

Oh yes, I forgot about old A/3-7 IN. They were hastily attached to 2nd BDE and 4-64 AR since one Co from 3-15 IN was in Kosovo. In the fall of '02 2 BDE deployed as part of an Intrinsic Action rotation to Kuwait. A/3-7 IN drew their 1 Co worth of Bradleys from PrePo stocks along w/3-15 IN (actually in-lue of 3-15 INs missing Co). They did not have 3-7 IN on their vehicles as bumper #s though. Theirs all had TF 4-64 AR for bumpers #s.

Keith,

Great idea. Looks good so far. A few minor corrections as outlined previously and this will look great!

Hi Mark

thanks for the offer, i have dropped you a PM,

i have also edited your post to make them short clickable links

cheers

keith

Hi Keith, your diorama will be a masterpieces....i like so much your idea and i have all the figures you are using at least (by the way ,the wounded tanker of verlinden is the one passed bomb to one another on a tank? this i havent!!!!!!!!!!), how many other figures you ll use? Which is your compleate idea?I like so much this period and i have all the figures in commerce (resin) of iraq, if you need same suggestion on quality or dimension i am here!!!!I hope to see as soon is possible other pictures of new figures to add to this diorama!!!!Where did you buy the azimut figures? From great model or from adv azimut web page?Bye and thanks Mario from italy.

Hi Mario

thanks for the kind words, the idea has been kicking around in my head for a whilst and i have been collecting as many modern figure sets as i can to be able to complete this project.

The Azimut figures i actually picked up from Euro Militaire in 2006 as that was the first time i had seen them, There are 2 sets and both are very good and worth grabbing if you See them.

cheers

Keith

The on going build of my diorama, as i had a bit of time to wait whilst some bits arrived, i made a start on another part of the scene a M113A3.

I started with a scratch built interior (i know most of it will not be seen, but you will be able to see in side, so i had to fill the empty space with some thing).

here are some pictures of the scratch inside (information taken from pictures on prime portal)













i know there are some simplifications on the interior, but i started with a old Tamiya one, but in the end decided to build a whole new one.

as always questions etc

cheers

Keith

Looks good Keith. I'm sure this will be a very interesting scene. Looking forward to see more progress pics.

Erik

Looking good Keith! Will you be adding the Spall liner to the interior? Maybe im wrong but shouldnt the benches be located in the centre for an A3 model?
Not knocking you build by any means, it looks awsome!

Edit: Dont know if you have seen this Keith, heres some pages from the M113A3 tech manual, you'll have to do some searching but theres should be some useful reference there aswell

tech manual