Well Mike, looks like the Ayes! (Or aye) have (has) it! Who knows, maybe I'll build another one of these some day - not for a while tho! Maybe then I'll try to lower it and turn the wheels - whoa - slow down!

Thanks!
Nick

Now with the new pic involved I can see the difference a lot better. I like the way it looks! I think it is worth the effort and actually think maybe a bit more "sag" is in order? My cargo truck in Desert Storm was always riding low from all the crap I had to carry for the platoon.
J

The one with the sagged/lowered suspension looks awesome. It's more realistic. All of them look too notch tho. Great work!

OK - good! glad you guys like it. Next time I might try to get it lower....I think it's as low as it will get in the rear, as the upper A-arms are pretty close to the floor of the bed - as for the front, yes, I'll bet it could be adjusted further - and though even only a model that much adjustment would pull the camber quite a bit, so the top of the wheels would be tilted inward....uh...yeah...Anyway, Jerry and Dustin, glad you guys like it.

A brief update on the dio idea - please see the sketches below, which are derived from the map on the previous page and from reading the story. Bottom line, the squad is on top of a bluff - maybe a couple thousand meters from the T-55s, and, out of their line of site, located just behind the ridge/crest - so, they can see down, but the guys/T-55s at the bottom of the hill/valley, can't get a clear visual lock on them - please see below:





hmmm...something new happening in the gallery...??? cant see properties, but, can see image URL....??

hope this works!

NIck

Hi Nick

Been following this with interest. Your dio sketches are really cool and allows one to visualise the final product.

Looking forward to seeing design translate into reality.

Keep up the good work!

Regards,
Kobus

I like the plan so far. I appreciate when somebody goes to the lengths that you did on researching the event and area it happened in. Kudos!
I am aware we are all constrained by the limits our hobby imposes on the scale of a scene,hence the vehicles all being bunched up like this. In reality military units like to keep a nice"interval" between the soldiers and /or vehicles. It presents a more difficult target for any enemies. I just say this here so folks realize this aspect of out hobby cannot usually conform to reality.
Can't wait to see more on this Nick,
J

Hi Kobus, glad you like the sketches. I wind up fooling around with placement for quite a while before it's something I can settle on. Thanks for sticking with this build, as the dio is finally underway!

Hi Jerry - yeah, you nailed it. This thing would be huge if I tried to be truly accurate. As the story goes, the supply truck serviced the squad while they were in a fighting position; they ran out of Javelins and ran low on ammo, and needed more. It sounds like a stalemate had occurred. The T-55s and the squad were each out of clear line of sight.

Apparently the main highway was elevated on a berm, so the T-55s sat (sought cover) on the "other" side. If they tried to make a run for it (assaulting or escaping) the Javelins would take them out. Similarly, the smaller and less armored GMVs would have been foolish to lead a direct assault. So, they each stayed in place, just waiting for the opportunity to hit. The GMVs could have easily escaped, but, that would have left the highway open - which would have meant a key supply route would have been left open. At one point, prior to the T-55s arrival, the squad held the intersection, but, when faced with holding against the T-55s - they moved out! But, not so far as to lose general control. The Javelins kept the tanks pinned.

To your point of grouping the trucks, the book cites random artillery fire periodically hitting in their general proximity and "dirt showers" covering them. For whatever reasons, the enemy artillery men we're having a hard time correcting. I'm guessing the crest/ridge had to do with this. That is, they (the GMVs) sat somewhere behind the ridge. This let them see what was going on, be somewhat screened from view, and not resulting in a column of GMV silhouettes to be picked off.

Learning the story of this has been just as interesting as the build!

Ok - for now, off to the real job...hectic couple of weeks coming up!

Thanks for checking it out
Nick

Any more updates???

Inquiring minds want to know!
J

Hey Matt, Jerry - thanks for the inquiry!

I've been dealing with my real job, so....this "job" went on hold - I hope to make some progress on the dio base this weekend.

I'll post something next week - although, it might not be that exciting! I did start "making" my tall grass....that's been not very fun or interesting.....some might even say tedious! I now have a small pile of my very own, custom made (haha) woodland scenics clumps of grass waiting to be "plugged into" a diorama!

The plan is to build the base/topography with carved pink foam over a wood base, then "plant" the field of grass.....but, before I plant the grass clumps, more to do:

1) fill big gaps in the pink foam with lightweight spackle
2) apply some fine acrylic pumice to the trail and here and there
3) do the same with a layer of coarse acrylic pumice
4) maybe add some sand small stones etc ? I don't know yet...?
5) begin painting....

And - make some more figures!

So, looks like I have some work ahead of me...funny, before I spelled all this out, I thought this was almost done - haha! Nope

Thanks for checking it out -

Nick

Ow ? So creating dioramas is not your real job ???But what do i know ? Small country , small mind i guess

Take your time Nick !

Cheers

Kurt

Hi fellow dio and model builders,

I have to apologize in advance - this is not one of my best posts! The images are not that great, and the process might be consider dull. Nonetheless, I'll post on - please have a look:



Yes, as I tend to do, the base is carved up pink foam insulation. It is good to use for a variety of reasons ranging from being light yet durable, to the fact that with enough time it can be made to look pretty good. The downside, this process makes a big, big mess! pink particles, dust, nuggets etc everywhere!

Next...making grass....lots of grass...looks like I'm tying flies! but, not....just lots and lots of grass:



These are made with Woodland Scenic grass with a blob-o-CA...the CA is good at the base as it's firm and can be pretty easily stuck into pre drilled holes in the foam.

Next - adding some texture - I'm using lightweight spackle to fill obvious gaps, then troweling on fist, a coat of fine pumice acrylic gel, followed by a layer of coarse...woo hoo, exciting - uh, not really. Sort of slow going, but nice results:







Slow going or not, the results seem to be good - and this stuff sticks! no flaking or peeling at all.

Finally, one more layer. I'm sorry about these truly awful pictures. They look like a lunar landing! Ok - check them out, last layer before paint:







Again, sorry for the crappy pictures, but, you can see the results of the form plus texture.

Next up, begin painting, and make some more figures.

Thanks for having a look -

Nick

:-H

Hi Nick ,

i see that you use also insulation foam , great idea only be sure that the surface of the foam doesn't absorb the paint if it's mixt with thinner if you know what i mean , otherwise there's a big chance that the foam is going to melt away.... That is why i only used water to dilute the acrylics and to paint the cloud on my last diorama.

But something is telling me that you know what you're doing. Nice texture and the scenic grass looks very promising....

Cheers
Kurt

Sometimes what seems like a boring update post to you may be the post that really really helps someone else out a lot. So post away brother! Nice to see you back on the board. Tumbleweeds have been blowing through here lately.
J

Hi Kurt - Thanks for having a look! I'm with you on the paints, I mostly use water based acrylics - they seem to work out just fine for me - and they don't "eat" foam haha! I like this pumice gel for the base. It's also an acrylic product. I'm anticipating shading with the paints -darker colors at the base of slopes, and places where I want to show erosion and ruts, and lighter colors "on top". We'll see how this works out. I don't want the whole base to look like a big chocolate bar with weeds growing from it!

Hi Jerry - thanks for taking a peek! You no doubt are right about the value of process pics - I say you in particular, because I love your WIP photos and have saved many of them in my reference file!

OK guys - I need to go to work! have a good one

Nick

Hi Nick

Thanks for the update - learning a lot and taking notes for future reference

Keep up the good work mate!

Regards,
Kobus

Hi Nick ,




Yes , that's the way the result will be awesome ....



Ow no way , that is such a waste of taste !
Kurt

Looks great, you've definitely done your homework on the terrain and the vehicles. All I can say is OUTSTANDING!

Hi guys and gals - -

First, Kobus, well, I hope this ifs helpful - who knows what you might wind up building!

Kurt - well, Kurt, these builds can be about patience as much as anything...deciding what to do and then actually doing it!

John - thanks very much! For this build the homework and research was very interesting - and contributed quite a bit to what I'm actually trying to build here - in fact, it's a direct reflection of what was written to have happened - No, all I need to do is get my butt in gear and finish!

OK, on to the actual project. No, I didn't forget about this, but I did run out of enthusiasm - not for the idea, but for the current task, which is making grass. While easy enough to do, it is very slow going and almost demoralizing - what you'll see below is about 30% of what I'll need to finish. This includes the use of four bags of Woodland Scenic grass - I knew this would require a lot of grass, but man - this is a LOT of grass!

Please take a look:

















So, over the weekend, I kept adding grass and the above shows where I ran out. I think the good news is that the result seem to be pretty good.

In the bigger picture though, I need to add more. You might recall, the dio itself requires four GMV's, an M1083+trailer, and at least a dozen figures (mercifully, I'm done with most of these tasks), but the whole thing won't look done until ALL the grass is done.....so, I need to buy more and keep going -

thanks for checking it out -

Nick

Looking great

Looking good. Wondering if using a broom woulda been easier...

Lookin very good Nick!!! I also hate planting this stuff. I see you have avoided for the most part,the "clumpy" look that Romain was always reminding us about. Some of your pics could pass for the real thing here. Nice!
J

Hi Nick

First of all - Happy New Year!! May 2016 be a fantastic year.

Thank you for the pics - your diorama is looking awesome - with the right background I'm sure a lot of people will think that the photos were taken at the real battle.

Keep up the good work - can't wait to see this finished. I'm sure it is going to be epic!

Regards,
Kobus

Hey Nick!! Nick-eeeeee!!
What's up man?
J

Hey Jerry - thanks for the kick in the butt! Was suffering from some tedious landscape induced loss of mojo!!! No more grass!!!! I'm hoping to get back onto the build this weekend. In addition to the grass, I was getting sloppy with the ground plane...so, it will get some attention too....then, I need to make three or four more soldiers....ugh! That said, prior to getting into the landscape, I was pretty pleased with the build - I don't want to get lazy and sloppy!

Again, thanks for the kick in the butt! I will finish this build right
Cheers
Nick