I am wanting to capture a idea I got from some of the news footage when the war first started.

There was platton of marines on a berm covering a town, and the Abrams moved up and were clearing (destroying) some of the buildings. I have the Abrams and some figures. My question is would it be good enough to model the bearm and with the Marines behind it and have the Abrams nearby getting ready to move up.

I feel like a couple of buildings would really add alot to it but I am worried about the size if I add the buildings. I couldn't have the scene right on top of the building and if I would scale it correctly there would have to be a good distance from the bearm to the town.

Do you guys think I could do it up nicely without the buildings or do you feel like I need them to really capture the scene. If so how would you go about it.

Thanks for any ideas...

Tom,
I wouldn't use the building if your concerned with the scale. The basic idea of the berm is fine, play with that.
Add a Palm grove, or a wall, or maybe a corner of a house, something that is off balance.
I'd put in a LV instead of an M1A1, or even a M60A2 with the react armor would be different.
You don't see many Iraq dio's with the M60's in them.

Anyways, those are some ideas to look into.

Have they use the M60A2 in iraq? I know out at 29 palms there was still some in serveice in 1998 but they were used for training, typically the enemy. I wasn't aware we actually had any deployed. Interesting, I will have to do some research.

Did a little research, the M60A1 was one of the first tanks to cross into Kuwait with the Marines in 91'. D company 2nd tanks battalion from what I can find. Got into a 2 day tank battle at the Kuwait airport with the loss of only one tank and no crew. I did not know that very interesting.

However I am wanting my Dio to be during the invasion into Iraq in 2003 so I think I will go with the Abrams.

That is a good idea for a future Dio with the M60. From the pictures I found though they were using the reactive armor in 91' though and the kit I have is supposed to be set during vietnam, funny thing about that is Wikipedia says the M60 never was deployed to Vietnam?

If a tank is clearing/destroying buildings you're going to need a ton of empty space. In that theater the spaces are large and empty. If you do it accurately with buidlings you'll end up with a huge diorama with a lot of empty spaces. I'd opt for just the berm. Or, do a post diorama, and have the platoon and M1 entering the destroyed village.

For an idea of how much space you'll need look at the feature "Hold On Hold On". I think he did a good job keeping the subject tight and the way he depicted the space by narrowing the diorama almost tieing two dioramas into one. Plus he didn't have the horizontal space required by soliders. Soldiers will go 'wide' while the M1 will be forcing 'deep' space.

As far as I know, no M60s (A1, A2, or A3s) have ever been deployed as part of OIF to Iraq. That's why you don't see any OIF dios with M60s in them. In addition, the M60A2 never had reactive armor--the Marines added ERA to the M60A1. The M60 has been retired from active duty for a long time. M60A1s and M60A3s would be correct for Desert Storm, however.

Lucas,
Thx for setting me straight on the M60's, I knew it was one of the family, but couldn't remember if it was A2's or A3's.

Thanks for the feedback guys,could I do the dio with the troops and the tank with the assumtion that the enemy or building is out of the scene?

Have a small bearm with ground trrops behind it with the tank sitting next to it and the tank commander talking with the troops behind the bearm. I know this would probaly be done over the radio in a real situation, but I am trying to stay somewhat small with my idea. At the same time I want to be able to tell a effective story.

Tom,
I agree completely with Scott

Hi Tom,
do the bearm with the M1 and Marines but see if you can get a photo of the house/ buildings and use it as a backdrop. there are plenty of photos online you could get.
hope that helps too,
Kenny.

you could easily do the scene with the berm on one side the M1 (or whichever tank) near the opposite side. Put in some hints of being outside a city, broken down vehicle, extra 'stuff' on the side of a road (don't even need to show the whole road).
Then make a name plate and call it "Clearing xxxx" where xxxx is the name of the town.