Hey there John, good to hear the wheels turning again! Great work thus far on the construction of your structures. Looks like you have just as much work to do on your build as I do on mine. When I first started my project I thought one year would be enough time to complete the build (it being my first attempt on something like this) little did I know that realistically one year would result in a 40% completion rate... Life throws things at you from every angle every now and then but it sure feels good when the time comes around to sit, plan, and execute. This is truly the best hobby in the world IMHO.

Stay with it, cheers!

Best of luck, John! Looking forward to seeing progress on this amazing dio! Spent 38 months in Iraq...I know what you're dealing with doing this.

Regards,
Ron

Thank-you, my Brother. I cannot imagine spending 38 months over there. Where were you?

After a good deal of drama with this project, the person who commissioned it initially, and what will eventually become its' permanent home we've been back on the road for several days now. Since the start I've wanted to include a neighborhood type mosque; however, I've discovered that it is OOP and I was not willing to spend over 70 bucks for it. I scored this "used" kit for about half that delivered.

Yeah, to call it used is like saying Ghengis Khan led an active outdoor lifestyle... it arrived today, and I was at the local hardware store about 5 minutes after opening the box for a can of Kilz (and the paint for the bathroom SWMBO wanted, got to keep the boss happy). If you're not familiar with it, Kilz is a primer that hides stains, old paint, etc. After a couple hours with some sand paper and Kilz it's almost ready to start working on, there were a couple repairs to be made and I will have to scratch a railing for the minaret platform as well as a dome for the minaret. More to follow.

Here my personal scratchbuild minaret still in progress. More details will be added.I found the Verlinden too narrow and too low for a 1/35 scale.
Moreno

Lots of great stuff going on here. I was only over there for 8 months so I can't imagine being there longer than that. Holy cow dude.
J

I like what you've done with your minaret. When I first looked at mine I thought the door in the base didn't look quite right, like it was compressed or something; now I know why. What did you use for your spire, if you don't mind my asking? I have several feet of small diameter PVC pipe left over from a plumbing project that looks like it might fit the bill nicely. On a side note, I forgot how bad Kilz smells - the things we must endure in the name of saving money...

John,
the dome or spire, as you called, is much easier than you probably think. It is just a upper part of lemon soda plastic bottle. Then filled the bottleneck with putty and sanded to shape. After that I give it a base coat with some kind of Rust Oleum terracotta spray paint that gives a little rough base, the rest is FOREX sheet, plasticard sheet and rod. Just walk in a supermarket and you find several types, like this I am using for the shrine for example.
Tomorrow I can give you also the diametre of the geberit pipe I've used.
Moreno

Hi John - glad to see you posting. You did pick up a slightly used, low miles fixer upper!! Your approach though makes sense - just reprime all of it and build and paint it the way you want it!

Looking forward to your update
Cheers
Nick

As promised total height 50 cm diameter 6 cm
Good modelling
Moreno

Thank-you for the info, Moreno. The PVC pipe I have is comparable in diameter to what you used, so it will definitely work. knowing that the minaret is undersized will means mine can be a solid one piece spire.

Nick, pics later today. Workshop has aired out, SWMBO was not amused although she thinks I was priming something for the upstairs bathroom which is headlining the honey-do list. I'm not about to tell her that I stunk out the basement area re-priming a model... However, after checking it this morning, it is all dried and pretty white again. Gonna call the rehab of that handyman special a success thus far!

Before Kilz:


After Kilz:


Now it's ready to work on. Not sure what that was I was trying to hide exactly, but I had to give a couple spots a quick second coat to finally hide it. Quick spin down to the local Michael's to pick up some paint, I know I can use model paint but I try to use paint for ceramics on plaster buildings (cheaper for a bigger bottle). Keeps the boss happy (and we all know what happens when Momma ain't happy). Came home to find my package from BNA in the mailbox with the Juweela corrugated sheets I ordered, which was a nice plus. Waiting for the new Masterbox modern figures to hit EvilBay, they'll be useful in this project with a bit of time in Doc's laboratory (insert evil laugh track here). Got to say it's good to be back on track.

First of all, John (and to all of the others here who have donned the uniform), THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your service. As the father of an E-3 (soon to be 4 then 5) in the National Guard, and the son of a USN WW2 veteran, we all owe you a great debt of thanks.

Second, as a first time military diorama guy, I can sympathize how things change and how invested we become in our projects. I constantly have to tell myself to not worry that this is not making progress on a daily basis. I myself will be taking a break to move into a new house and a new work space. It will be great as I will get back a compressor and use (I mean real use) of an airbrush. As John Lennon once said "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans".

I really admire the size and scope of many of the projects here. Just keep doing what you are doing! Look forward to more as it goes along!

John , lookin good , I really want to see this built , looks to be an awesome addition .

Started working on something along the lines of this stand for the project.



These things were pretty common over there, often along the road side. I recall a bunch of them that sprang up on Route Sue near LSA Dogwood, which was in the "Triangle of Death".

Yes,the conex store would be a great addition!!
J

That's what I was thinking. I found a series of diecast street vendor carts and it triggered my memory of the street stands, which were as much a fixture as the kids selling sodas and "icy cream" so I knew I had to include one. The carts themselves are just simple wheeled boxes, easy enough to scratch. Pics of the stand later today once I finish the rough cutting.

How are you going to replicate the flies though?
J

Oh, yeah, can't forget the "other national bird of Iraq" LOL - haven't figured that one out yet...

This is my take on the stand I posted previously, it's just a rough cut for now, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. It's 3/16 inch foam presentation board I picked up from Michael's glued with Gorilla wood glue. The roof will be corrugated sheet which; the counter is just going to be thin polystyrene sheet with stuff for sale added inside and out similar to the idea of the earlier picture.









Any thoughts on this, like I said, it's just in the rough stage plenty of time to make changes? We'll definitely have more as things develop (hopefully the "more" will also soon entail colors other than white).

Lots and lots of cutting going on yesterday - some of it even involved cutting foamboard for the mean streets of Fallujah and thankfully none of it involved me being bitten by the Xacto (the lawn however was not so fortunate). The buildings are all still in a very rough cut stage, we have a multi-story apartment building with businesses on the first floor and a two story building with the owner's living quarters above it. Pics soon after I complete the mock-ups.

Hi John - good to hear you only cut the stuff you wanted too! There was a funny post on the forum recently with members describing various "unwanted projects"! Lots of cut up fingers etc - we've been there! Haha

Looking forward to your update - keep building -

Cheers
Nick

The mean streets of Fallujah are starting to come together, really hit my groove over the past week or so. This is one of the buildings I've been working on over the weekend, like I said yesterday, a whole lot of cutting going on here at Chez Wypyszinski.



The railing on the second floor balcony is of course from Miniart, the leftovers from their buildings are going to be a god send for this project. When looking at it bear in mind that the ground floor is the only one with the walls completely glued at the moment, on the upper two floors everything is cut and placed to check the positioning but this will be the overall layout unless something changes drastically. Comments on the building as always are definitely welcome.

USPS dropped off several pieces of the J's Work furniture they announced some time ago. After a quick once over they look pretty decent; I bought the computer monitor and keyboard, the living room set, and the bed. The bed is the only item that will need assembly. I'll try to get some pics posted once I've had a chance to look them over more closely.

Hey there John, long time brother. Good to see ya back on it. Annual training had me out of commission for a few weeks but I'm also back at it now. BTW, love the new additions added and look forward to how you progress. I will also be adding a street vendor mini market to fill the void on my layout over by the 3 story building. It's a staple scene no matter where your at in the urban middle eastern [auto-censored]-hole.

Till next time,

JGphins

I am sure you could give the overall "feeling" of flies pretty easily... put small piles of them near a puddle or sitting on the food and have at least one figure angrily doing the "fly swatting dance" somewhere. Fine ground pepper specks perhaps? Did any of the locals have fly swatting tools you could hang in their shack? A hanging filthy fly tape roll perhaps? (I have no idea if those are as ubiquitous outside of North America).

Finally, an of utmost importance - THANK YOU for your service and I keep your mates in mind daily for all the vital work y'all do for my freedom. I was unable to serve in the military, and it remains my only major regret in life. At my prime recruitment age it was considered a NEVER for women serving in combat roles in the US military. I wanted to pilot or gunner the Cobras or if I failed out, work on them as a mechanic. I suppose I should praise the recruiters of those days for not giving into the temptation to lie to me and say they personally thought the ban would end in my career-lifespan. At now 48 and fighting a nasty autoimmune disease I have accepted I am no longer considered a potential recruit. Bollucks. I was absolutely SET about only joining up if I faced the same risks AND same cool jobs as those with XY chromosomes. And I really REALLY wanted to work with Cobras! I sorta' won the war but lost my personal stake in it. Instead I salute the hell out of those who did serve, especially those who signed up knowing they would likely get intimate with sand and IED threats. Every service member is my personal hero. Yourself most certainly included.



Snipped for space

@ Joaquin, spot on about the street vendors, those guys were definitely a fixture over there. Learned a loooooong time ago not to ask what something was if it tasted good. Still working on the apartment building, got to get around to shooting a few pics. The J's Work living room set won't work in this project, but it will in a European.

@ Tracy I'd go back without a second thought, best job I ever had (yeah, they got that sentiment right in Fury).