Hi lads I'm new to this site and so I thought I'd start a new diorama too Its gunn a be set at a old abandoned Vietcong outpost in early 1969 at the start of the tet offensive...It will have 2 hueys (a gunship and a Huey armed with only 2 M60s) I'll be using a lot of plus model and VLS extras as well as Czech masters and legend production figure sets and some scratch built huts. I'm also using various decals from print scale and mecmodels and I'm contemplating adding a M113 or MUTT...suggestions and comments welcome
Cheers
Harry

Sounds like a good concept. A couple things to think about though.

First is the UH-1C Gunship (as I am assuming you plan on using). By the '68 TET Offensive, the UH-1C was pretty much gone and replaced by the AH-1G Cobra.

Second is the size. To have all the elements you are planning, the dio would need to be huge. The Gunships didn't stick right with th etroop carrying Slicks. They would circle the LZ from a disctance and provide cover. There would be a few hundred or nare yards between them. In 1/35, thats still a large space. Same for the M113 or the M151A1. The helicopter wouldn't land right nest to them.

Lastly, large dios rarely work well. There are too many things going on to focus the vewer and the scale distances are still big leaving lots of blank space. It is better to do a few smaller dios with only a couple of elements in them.

Ok thanks I'll reckon I'll scale it down...still have the troop Huey and the base but smaller...probably just the Buddha statue and the Huey...one or two trees and no vehicles...maybe a wall near the statue and a part of a river with troops wading through? Many thanks heavy arty you've helped alot

I agree with the previous comment. Here is a thought though. How about making the dio with a built in "background" of posterboard,etc with the gun ship and UH1 in"forced perspective". You could have a 1/48 UH1 above the scene in the background with a 1/72 or 1/144 Cobra even further back,thus the forced perspective. It takes very little space,try it with some pics of the same object in different scales to show yourself the concept.
Anyway,just a thought. Sounds like a cool topic you have though.
J