I bought the M1151 from Academy and i must say what a nice kit for not a lot of money.
The kit is straight OOB and went together with no major problems.
I was stuck with how to display it but when i went to the IPMS at Telford Uk i found a couple of Legend ODA figures and this put my thoughts in motion and what you see below is very much still a WIP and is not at all accurate in any way shape or form but i like it and it shows the "A TEAM" in Afghanistan in a patrol base getting ready to go out on an OP.









The figures are a mix of Legend and Blackdog and the guy with the Barratt is a
Masterbox figure with the Academy figures head.

I look forward to comments.

Neil

First off, I love the angle of the lighting. It definitely conveys a sense of early morning.

I have been working on something very similar to this with my Legend figures, and an M1114 and M1152. It is of an ODA (my own) performing the PCI - Pre Combat Inspection.
I think your dio may look a tad more plausible if you have everyone in a circle.
The guy with the Barrett is way out of place. He's not even pulling any kind of security. The up gunner would face the circle as well.
The site is a little confusing. If it's a RON site, there'd be no tires and boxes there. If it's a more permanent site, I can assure you there'd be a lot more creature comforts. SF guys are hard, but only when they have to be.
I think it might look better it were a desolate abandoned house in the desert, no tires, no boxes, no trash - that they've used to RON. The not yet rolled up sleeping bag supports this well.
The walls of the house would be far smoother (worn from the rain) and jagged along the top. Put the house on a slightly larger base, and (as much as I love it) remove the flag.
The exhaust on the wall is a very nice touch, by the way.

Not that I want you to use all my ideas, but the Academy figure is giving the thumbs up. In my dio, one man in the circle is as well.

Even an ODA goes throught the most elementary checklist every time. It's sounds like this:

"Hey sir, is this gonna be a stand up fight or another bug hunt?"
"Everyone got eyes?" Everyone physically touches their eye pro.
"Everyone got ears?" Everyone physically touches their ear pro.
"Everyone got a long gun?" Everyone does a press check on their rifle.
"Every got their pistol?" Everyone does a press on check their pistol.

And so it goes until you do the comms check. Each team member's call sign is called out, and he acknowledges verbally, and also gives a thumbs up. It's usually at this point you discover dead batteries, lost crypto fill, and loose connections. This is the point my guys will be at in my dio.

I like what you have done. I think with a few tweaks it can look far better.

EDIT: Don't want to hijack your thread, but here's what you can do with that Academy gunner. This one is supposed to be me during the checks. I haven't decided if he's in the turret or in the circle yet. Both will work.

Hi Rob.

Thanks for the input very useful indeed,theres not a lot i can do with the walls as i dont want to mess about with them.
The idea of it being RON site is a good one so think i will get rid of the wheels and boxes and have a think about what to put in that space ?? maybe a well ?
I will re-arrange the figures into a circle as you suggest and your comments on the Barrett guy are spot on i didnt think he looked or felt right so for him im afraid he,s gona be RTUT!
One of the legend figures is a K9 handler would the unit have a dog with them ?? if not then the dog im afraid will have to be put to sleep.

Thanks again for the info im always open minded to ideas.

Neil

We brought a dog handler with us on occasion when looking for explosives, so he would certainly fit right in.