This diorama depicts the crew of track C14 having a c-ration breakfast and engaging in other morning activities. My friend Bill Rambow was the gunner, and later the driver, of C14 which was a track that had a 106mm Recoilless Rifle mounted on the right side of the gas-powered M113 belonging to C Company, 2d Battalion, 47th Infantry (Mechanized), 9th Infantry Division. This diorama features the entire crew and C14 as the vehicle appeared in July 1967.
This diorama took a little over a year to build. Originally, when I started to build the M113, it was going to be the commander's track which Bill eventually was the gunner and later the driver of as well, but that was towards the end of his tour in Vietnam. As I was building the M113 and was converting figures while developing the layout of the diorama, I decided to change from the commander's track to C14. Bill had sent me some pictures of the crew and it was decided to depict them as they were in July of 1967.
In regards to the M113 model, I used the Academy ACAV model and backdated it to a gas-powered M113 by changing the gas tank and making the headlight guards out of wire. I wired the interior, put in the radios, added stowage, and changed out the normal troop seats with boxes made of wood. C Company made it SOP for all of their tracks to have their troop seats replaced with boxes that helped organize the load of ammo, pyro, and explosives for each track. Bill actually made these boxes for this project just as he had made the real boxes back in 1967. I loaded these up according to the load plan and when I made the seat covers, I made them so they were folded back exposing the ammo cans, grenade shipping containers, radio accessory bags, and claymore mines stored in the box seats. On the floor against the engine access panel are three rows of 106mm rounds topped with c-ration, beer, and soda cases. On the right side of the interior is a scratch built 90mm recoilless rifle hanging from the wall, laundry bags, butt packs, and other gear. There is a cooler on top of the battery box. On the floor is a lightweight rucksack with frame. Taped to the gas tank are two centerfolds, one being the Playmate of the month for July 1967.
On the top of the track you will see the 106mm recoilless rifle, gun tub for the .50 cal machine gun (it does not have the front shield because this interfered with the operation of the 106mm RR, slave cables, shield for an M60, ammo boxes, and Bill's personal items inside the gun tub. On the gun tub is the name of his girlfriend at the time, Lee Anne. On top of the drivers hatch, the Soldier on guard is preparing to eat a c-ration breakfast. There are the individual meal box, the accessory packet which is open showing the pack of 3 or 4 cigarettes, a regular size pack of Marlboros, and the July 1967 issue of Playboy. Flak vests a stewn about the deck. The aerial recognition number 14 is on the troop hatch. On the side of the hull is the driver's (Bud Tucker) wife's name, Patsy. The star has been covered with some mud to keep it from being used as an aiming point. On the trim vane is a poorly rendered Panther (2/47th Infantry "Panthers") but that is what it looked like. The crews' pioneer tools are placed through the tail light guards for easy access. In place of the shovel on the front, the crew had placed the tripod for the .50.
On the ground, from left to right are Marvin Cato playing with a yo-yo to break the monotony, Reddick looking at him while smoking a cigarette, SGT Hester (the squad leader) talking to the Soldier on guard, Doc Payne eating c-rats and talking to Bud Tucker who is sitting beside him, Bill Rambow smoking a cigarette while waiting for his coffee to be ready who is also watching Billy Washam feed a dog a c-rat pork slice. On the back ramp of the track is the platoon sergeant, SFC Richardson, preparing to put some Grape Kool Aide into his canteen when he gets distracted by Washam feeding the dog, and on the top deck is a Soldier who was a transferred to the unit whose name is not recalled. On the ground in terms of accessories are several sets of web gear, flak vests, weapons, boxes of ammo, grenades, and explosives, medic bags belonging to Doc Payne, and ammo cans that had been brought on the overnight ambush patrol that Washam, Reddick, and Doc Payne had just returned from. Washam's M60 is in a state of partial disassembly for cleaning. A case of c-rations is opened and individual meal boxes had been passed out. Some of the cans are out, and one can is being heated on a stove made from an old c-rat can with holes poked into it. The canteen cup of coffee that Bill is heating up is on one of these stoves as well.
For the groundwork, I used DAS clay putty that I got at Hobby Lobby because I had recently seen it used in a diorama book I had recently purchased. I really did not like using it. It did not cling to itself, so the pieces had to be glued together for them to mesh. The good thing was that I could place the figures and the model to get their imprint, and then remove them so I could paint the ground and add the vegetation. There was some change to the material that occurred while it dried which caused the M113 to not sit quite like I had wanted it to as well as some of the figures requiring the pins in their feet to be cut smaller to get the figure's feet to be deeper in the foot prints. Since the monsoon season was going on during July, this diorama depicts a day when there was a break in the rain and the ground dried up a little bit. There is still some muddy areas. In reality, soon all of it would be muddy again as the rains returned shortly after breakfast. The grass and sparse vegetation was common in the area where the company laager site was located, probably due to the herbicides that were sprayed in the area at an earlier time.
I took the photos at the barracks, so there are some distractions in the background. Perhaps I can get some better pictures later when I bring this diorama home. I had entered it in the Austin Model Show on the 24th of September and it won 1st Place in the Armor Diorama category as well as Best Diorama.
