_GOTOBOTTOM
Dioramas: Buildings & Ruins
Ruined buildings and city scenes.
Hosted by Darren Baker
realistic iraq dio
chrisht
Visit this Community
Gauteng, South Africa
Joined: December 14, 2006
KitMaker: 181 posts
Armorama: 159 posts
Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2006 - 02:46 PM UTC
what would the most realistic depiction of the war i n iraq be? in the desert on dirt roads or in urban terrain such as baghdad or fallujah?
Jamesite
Visit this Community
United Kingdom
Joined: December 05, 2006
KitMaker: 2,208 posts
Armorama: 2,152 posts
Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2006 - 03:53 PM UTC
Id say it would depend on what stage of the war you wanted to depict.

The initial stages of the war (like the first gulf war) would primarily have seen combat in the desert. After the defeat of the Iraq military and the fall of Sadam almost all combat has been occuring in the urban environment against insurgents etc.

If you're not atempting to depict a combat scene, i'd say you could happily go for either, though again, the military presence will always be primarilly where the problems are, and so i'd say that the above guideline would still probably ring true.

Hope this helps,

James
chrisht
Visit this Community
Gauteng, South Africa
Joined: December 14, 2006
KitMaker: 181 posts
Armorama: 159 posts
Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2006 - 04:40 PM UTC
it did thanks. i decided to go for urban terrain. A Marine M1A1HA on a highway going towards baghdad. the question now is how do you weather a road to have lots of bulle holes, blast holes and dust on?
SGTJKJ
#041
Visit this Community
Kobenhavn, Denmark
Joined: July 20, 2006
KitMaker: 10,069 posts
Armorama: 4,677 posts
Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2006 - 04:57 PM UTC
Well, if you are talking of damage from direct fire the road would show very little damage. Small arms fire, hand grenades etc. would do very limited damage to the road, so the key is not to overdo it. A bullet hitting a concrete highway would just scratch it and fly up wards into the air again.

Now, if you are talking about air to surface weapons from helicopters and/or planes it will be very different as some of the recent pictures from Lebanon has proved. The whole road could be gone!

Artillery and large calibre HE shells might also cause larger craters in the road.

I guess the key is to think the story through and decide what kind of damage you want to know.

chrisht
Visit this Community
Gauteng, South Africa
Joined: December 14, 2006
KitMaker: 181 posts
Armorama: 159 posts
Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2006 - 08:15 PM UTC
that makes sense. i'm just thinking of small arms and grenades. but how would you make the sratches on the road?
troubble27
Visit this Community
New Jersey, United States
Joined: October 10, 2003
KitMaker: 783 posts
Armorama: 637 posts
Posted: Thursday, December 14, 2006 - 11:07 PM UTC
I would tend to think it would be difficult to depict an actual scratch in asphalt from a 7.62 bullet in 1/35. It would be extremely small. Perhaps just s small white or light grey streak painted with a needle. Whenever trying to create a dio, especially a modern one, there is LOADS of referance pictures everywhere on the internet to look at. Generally, to be historically acurate, I try to find an interesting photo of my subject matter (in your case an M1A1) and recreate the picture or a portion of it. AFV Rob posted a great video of "thunder Run" with the camera on top of an M1A1 cruising to Baghdad. You might want to have a look at it. I am sure you will find a scene you would like to re-create. As well, you can have a look at Militaryphotos.net, and webshots.com if you need referance photos. You can spend hours looking at both sites. Have fun, and post some pictures for us when youre done!
jantkowiak
Visit this Community
North Carolina, United States
Joined: May 30, 2005
KitMaker: 113 posts
Armorama: 73 posts
Posted: Friday, December 15, 2006 - 12:58 AM UTC
Hello, chrisht.

I might have another idea for you, and it's a true story of the same tank on the same highway at the same time you were thinking about doing anyway. I got this straight from a briefing I attended by the commanding officer of the tank division that captured Baghdad. He planned and executed it. The night before the first drive into the city, they sent unmanned reconnaissance flights down the highway to check it out. They knew that the Iraqi army had blocked it with concrete jersey barriers at intervals. One single row of them in your diorama would do it. Behind those were rocket grenade teams who planned to encircle and destroy any tanks that got held up there. (They were convinced the US didn’t have the political will to win.)

The commander of the lead tank was a lieutenant fresh out of West Point, determined to carry out his orders to drive straight into Baghdad as fast as possible and stop for nothing. So the lieutenant came up on this first jersey barrier at full speed. It lifted the front end of the tank up into the air and at the same time knocked over the barrier, which slid forward from the impact. The full weight of the tank then came down hard on what was left of the barrier, exploding it into dust. The Iraqi rocket teams, meanwhile, had decided not to play chicken after all and watched with gaping mouths from the sides of the road, not even attempting to engage the tank.

In spite of having had “their bells completely rung” by the ride, the tank crew continued at full speed down the highway.

Although the initiation of hostilities in Iraq has come under serious question as has the conduct of the war since the fall of Hussein, I have absolutely no problem with engaging the Iraqi army with the objective of removing Saddam. The tactical story of the capture of Baghdad as told to me by its architect is rife with fascinating diorama opportunities. Send me a PM if you would like any more information.

Happy modeling,

John Antkowiak
Manassas, VA
troubble27
Visit this Community
New Jersey, United States
Joined: October 10, 2003
KitMaker: 783 posts
Armorama: 637 posts
Posted: Friday, December 15, 2006 - 06:22 AM UTC
John,

Holy shiite! That was a good story. The Iraqis probably just dropped their weapons and surrenderd LOL They are well experienced in that LOL

Gary
 _GOTOTOP