While “Now, Then, Forever” is my first diorama, there are more to come.
I would like to thank the following people for their assistance and expertise on this project. From “Johnny’s Toys,” I’d like to thank Tim, John and Dale for their ideas, expert help and modeling knowledge. Thanks to Ted for his thoughts and ideas on the base and case. Also, thanks to my nephew Chris, for leading me in the right direction.
I built the diorama for my brother Scott. He got into building model aircraft about 2 years ago when he decided to model the 30+ aircraft our father had flown through three wars and his 28-years in the U.S. Air Force. I am planning on building 5 dioramas that depict our dad’s flying days and some of the mishaps along the way.
Scott is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer. He served in the Amphibian Tractor (Amtrac), later “Assault Amphibian” community throughout his 20-year career. In his last assignment, he was the project officer for the development and design of the Enhanced Appliqué Armor Kit (EAAK) on the AAVP7A-1 vehicles. The EAAK is the zigzag armor plates on the sides of the left most vehicle in the diorama. I assumed Scott would never get around to building an LVTP7 or an AAVP7A-1 and I thought he might enjoy them as a couple of bookends for his office. When I spoke with my nephew (Scott’s son) about the project, he thought it would be a great idea if I could find the first Amtrac without the turret. This caused the project to evolve into what would become this diorama, which depicts the transformation of the Amtrac over 60 years, hence, the name, “Now, Then, Forever.” When I spoke with Chris, I had already built the LVT1 with the turret; so then I found out about the Tarz Conversion Set and was able to change everything over to the LVT2. This of course was the beginning of one thing leading to another. Next came the LVT4 Water Buffalo, the LVTP5, LVTP7, and finally the AAVP7A-1. So much for the bookends idea! I have been asked how many hours are in the entire project. I stopped counting at 200, and that was many hours ago.
The diorama is on display at Northrop Grumman’s Marine Corps Support Team office in Stafford, Virginia, where my brother works. They support the Marine Corps in developing new war fighting systems and hardware, so this is a fitting location for display and it is the subject of much discussion by the Marines that visit the facility.
All the models in the diorama are depicted from photos and research obtained from amtrac.org or U.S. Navy or Marine websites.
Any questions, comments, or observations would be greatly appreciated.
Visit my webpage to see my first diorama “Now, Then, Forever”
http://home.insightbb.com/~c.hegland/wsb/index.html
(Click the Photos icon on the home page to view the diorama photos.)
Feel free to email me at c.hegland@insightbb.com