Heres the update of my beach scene after painting the cliff and adding the sand







so far, all of this has been scratch built ('cept for the figures in the pillbox)

and its cost less than $10 so far ($4 can of flat gull gray spray, $5 quart of gray house paint)

right now there will be a sandbag MG nest on the left side on top of the cliff along with lots of barbed wire (made 20 ft already!!!)

the seawall will be lined with shingle (any ideas?) and haved again barbed wire stringed across the top. at the blast hole there will be remnants and shards of a bangalore

back past that, there will be a mass of hedgehogs and possibly past that there will be two or three anti landing rails

As far as figure placement goes, im thinking 3 separate german mg teams, one in each pillbox and one behind the bags on the cliff.
There will be 18 or so G.I.'s in there, mostly hiding behind the seawall or behind hedgehogs with a few just starting to rush through the new gap in the wall

still needs weathering and detail work, but tell me what you think and give some ideas to use the space wisely

she's a bigun for sure....where are you gonna display it? Man I get worried with a 7x9 base LOL
Cheers,
B ryan

Very nice, the cliff face came out good, though I would add some more of a sandy color to it, if my memory serves me right, and if anyone who has been to Normandy on a visit, werent the cliffs a sandy/brown color? Unless there are spots of hard rock..

either way, it looks great and the seawall you have constructed will support the figures behind it well.

great job
-shain

I really like the progress you have so far Josh. Is the base in sections.

Now if im totally wrong, feel free to correct me.
But when i was planning a similar diorama, i did alot of research, souley on Omaha, and i found, both from real photos etc, that the cliff's were infact more like sand cliff's at that particular beach, so i think more of a sandy brown colour would be good, maybe even coat the cliff face in sand.

I am also wondering about that low cement wall you have running across it, again i could be wrong, but in no photo's, map's, or any referance, have i seen such a thing at omaha, nearest i can remember was at the british and canadian sectors (was it Juno or Sword) where they landed on the very very small beach that came directly off a beach side town.

Cheers, i am loving the project though

Here are a few observations based on pictures in various books, especially Joseph Balkoski's "Omaha Beach: D-Day."
First, the bluff should be much more sandy and grassy than stony. Many of the accounts by troops mention the grass burning as they moved up the slopes. Second, except for the few sections of beach that had a narrow road running along it, the seawall should be very close to the base of the bluff as it marked the high tide line on the beach.
Third, the shingled portion of the beach had a VERY pronounced slope, which makes sense since it's approaching the high tide mark. The shingle looked a lot like medium to large sized rounded flat stones, much like the ones you look for when you want to skip stones on a body of water.
Just a few points I wanted to pass along. Overall, you're off to a very good start for this project, which is more ambitious than anything I'm likely to try. Keep at it and please keep us posted.

Very nice work so far.

I went to Normandy not even a month ago, and the cliffs definitely were sandy brown, and had a lot of grass on them, especially on the not quite so steep parts.

As for the shingle, you could use a very course sand. I believe Games Workshop sells one made by a company called Citadel.

Thanks for the help

i will definitly make at least the right side (less steep) more of a brown with a few washes of different shades of brown and tan and red

as far as grass goes, there will be maybe a grass mat on top of the cliff and along the top of the right side, this grass will be sprinkled with a little sand to keep the beach look

also, i plan to add some clumps of higher grass along the bunkers and at random spots on the edge cliff

as far as the location of the seawall goes, remember that the area below the wall only represents the very top of the beach, and i have found instances of the wall at approximatly this far out, with a no mans land of empty sand inbetween, were the soldiers were exposed to the pillbox fire, this is why in many instances, the first wave spent most of the morning pinned down

i will however pronounce the slope coming up to the seawall

also, if anyone knows where tofind a pic of a seawall like this, im trying to fimd the right way to incorporate the barbed wire

thanks so far for the suggestions!!!

also for your shingle.. check out the local hobby shops in the model railroad dept..

they sell bags of very course material that is called ballest...

here is an examples on their website..

linkname

it comes in a few different colors..

and very good work so far...

Hi!
It really looks more and more interesting. As a D-Day-oholic it is always a pleasure to see dios from that period.
As for the colour of the sand and beach: A sand colour is always a good base, especially in Normandy since the ground mainly is sand-rocks (i'm not sure of the correct english/american expression for rocks in sandy ground???), so different shades of sand would be authentic. Also be sure to place some tall grass (in different colours) on the cliff aswell as low grass, rocks in all sizes and shapes and of course lots of obstacles, crates and equipment in the sand.

Keep us posted. Looks great

Simon

Man, that looks great so far. I can't wait to see more of this. I think if you follow the advise on the sand color, and adding some grass to the hill side, you will be in good shape. I might suggest you add more figures-on both sides.

I really like your work! It's brilliant! Keep it up!
Cheers and happy modelling!
Prato

stoner,

I have actual pictures of Omaha beach at low tide. I took them on a trip to Normandy in 1979. I can try to scan them an send them to you if you would like me to do so. Let me know.

Dave

dave,

if you will go through that trouble, i would love to see those pics

if you could just post them here, that would be great!!!

Here's a rather large picture I found.

EDIT: Picture too big. Heres the link:

http://www.johnbryer.com/images/john_bryer_omaha_beach_1.JPG