hi Red1 nice cat huh?? meow-meow!
your diorama is my favorite subject,the modern one and iraq war…youve done a great job in there and also fed me ideas,its hard to scratchbuild structures in scale…in the story of your dio.the shoes and sandals outside is a nice touch and it tells what they are doing inside.
hope to see more of your works soon!!
Man, that’s really beautiful! A real sense of urgency and excitement–you’ve really “captured the moment”!
Composition is such an important but often overlooked aspect of dioramas; in your dio, I totally “get it”; you nailed the theme really well.
I’m mostly a WWII nut, so can’t comment much on accuracy like these guys can; I do agree you should man the MG on the Hummer. Other than that, its a great portrayal!
Thanks man,
I’m currently doing some improvements on the diorama actually after getting fantastic input from everyone here. Will be putting up the pics of the modified diorama soon. Some colour changes and re-equipping to be exact.
Yup I’m getting someone to man that .50 cal too!
Hello, new guy here, and far from an expert in modeling but I have been to Iraq twice serving as an infantryman. I was in the initial invasion and have to say that your equipment is very close to the equipment we had the first go round. All rifles we had were M16A2 and M16A4’s, most with rail systems but not all. Platoon Sergeants and some Squad Leaders had M4’s and most of us had M68 CCO sights. Some ran iron sights tho.
The first time out almost none vehicles were uparmored so your vehicle is real close to what we had. Most of the HWMVEE’s we had tho were soft top, cargo M998’s with the doors ripped off but we had some gun trucks like you show here. Only thing is that I never saw one over there with the old style mirror like that on it but it is not impossible I would not think. I do agree you ned a gunner in the truck.
As for the Mosque, it is a very, very rare thing to ever set foot inside one. In two years there I have only been in one and the Commander of the mission was relieved from duty because of it. Not saying it is not possible because we knnow it has happended, but very rare. The building looks real good tho. Just remember most doors in Iraq are just big enough for an average sized soldier with gear on to squeeze into but being a mosque I think it is alright, especially the shoes.
As for any improvemenets, I would add dust. Not so much to the uiforms, but to the vehicle. Most guys had washed their uniforms in kerosine so it keeps the dust off real well. But the vehicles were always filthy. Now I do think your guys look way to glossy but still good. And it would be the propper equipment as stated before. I would however add the NOD’s plate, or NVG goggle mount as was pointed out earlier. There are two versions of the NOD’s mounts. One for the old helmet and one for the new ACH helmet. The old mount is the same one the Marines use as well. The old one is what you would want. It flares out at the bottom some. I could send you a photo of one if you would like. I still have my complete kit from both deployments.
Good job.
Hi DM1975,
Nothing beats the real thing right. Anyway glad to hear a first hand account from a war veteran from Iraq. Maybe we can get you share some more experience over there. I’m still working on the dio and many thanks for your input.
If you have some pics of the old NVG mounts, I’m more than happy if you can share it .
I really don’t have references up close and since I’m working on these right now, that will become very useful for my mods. I’m sure once I have the close up references, the US troops on my dio will have their NVG mounts.
Also I’m scratchbuilding the arms of the guy manning the MG so once I’m done I’ll post the pics.
Thanks.
Very nice job.
Just one thing that I’ve noticed the boots and tyres look some what to “clean” think they need to have a covering of dust and sand IMO
Otherwise a very good dio.
Hi everyone,
Due to great input from guys here, I made certain improvements to the diorama I posted last month. I added a soldier to man the .50 caliber on the Humvee( I’m not sure if the MG can swivel like that but I’ve got not much choice since I can’t reposition my Humvee). Also made some changes the desert camo scheme colour of the overall troops from light brown to light khaki. Also I added a NVG mounts on some of the soldiers to have them have an updated look . The arms of the gunner on the humvee was scratched build from epoxy putty /green stuff.
I did a bit more research and added a little more colour and weathering on the Humvee especially the tyres and boots of the soldiers. I experimented with transparent googles for two of the soldiers using transparent resin for the gunner on Humvee and the African American soldier on the right. Hope to perfect those googles on the next project. Also I read an article on taking better photos for dioramas, and the sunny outdoors was perfect for my project.
Thanks to the everyone who gave great input this past month especially on the equipment that US soldiers are currently using and how to further improve my dio. Comments r welcomed my miniature bros in arms. New photos below guys.
Peace.
Great dio. I love the scratchbuilt arms, really nice work. I agree that the outdoor shots add a lot to the realism. A piece of work to be proud of.
Steve
It looks great now. The added parts make it look even better. The .50 cal ring can rotate a full 360 degrees around, so no issue there. Great job.
Gorgeous, man! I liked it a lot before, but it truly shines now! GREAT JOB!!
One thing, other than this it looks great. The gunner would not be wearing his gear other than helmet and IBA while in the hatch. It keeps you from being able to duck inside in the event of a roll over.
Great work! and I can’t add to the above comments that weren’t already stated.
back to the shoes, did you sculpt those? Nice touch, great forgoten idea in dioramas, and really sets the story line.
I’m impressed. thank you.
Initially I did not plan to fix the pouches but decided to fix it later at the last minute. Should have stuck with the first idea. Thanks for the tip.
Hi SprueOne, the shoes were an idea I was toying with at the start of the project. Didnt seem unique to me till many pointed it out to me. Thanks.
Yup, I sculpted those using clay bits from the mosque construction and some using strips of waste foamboard. All those leftovers headed for the waste bin really works. Lol.
I think you have a winner there. The shoes are a great idea, and everything else looks great too. The paint jobs are good and the vehicle looks weathered enough. I probably would hit the guys up with some dull coat and call it finished. I was going to try and send some reference photos to you but it looks like you have done well at representing an OIF I scene. Good job.
ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS AWESOME, I SHOULD ADD A FEW THINGS FOR ACCURACY, I WOULDN’T HAVE SET YOUR M2 MG LOOKING INTO THE DOOR. BECAUSE YOUR SQUAD IS AT THE DOOR. I WOULD HAVE FACE YOUR M2 OUTWARD TO COVER THE BACK OF THE SQUAD (FIRE POWER), ALSO NOT EVERYONE IN THE SQUAD CARRIES M203 G/L. ALSO REMEMBER THAT MOSQUES ARE “OFF LIMITS” TO “COALLITION FORCES” ALSO I WOULD NOT WORRY TO MUCH ABOUT EQUIPMENT USED DURING OIF, CAUSE OVERTHERE THERE IS A LOT OF MIX AND MATCH EQUIPMENT RIGHT NOW ACU’S AND MOLLE GEAR WAS A “LATE-COMMER” AND NOT EVERYONE WAS OUTFITTED WITH THIS EQUIPMENT REGARDLESS OF SERVICE I.E. NTL GUARD, ACTIVE OR RESERVE. EXCELLENT WORK.
I agree on ur suggestion about the direction of the M2 MG, actually that was the idea I initially had, but due to composition and focal point purposes, I chose to point it towards the doorway like someone suggested. It just supports the idea that the soldiers are about to enter the mosque. Probably if I had a bigger diorama with other buildings around I would have done like what you suggested.
As for the storyline, I chose it because it is controversial(to stirs emotions abit I guess), it may have happened but to what degree I’m not really sure. A bit more minor correction and it should b ok I guess.
As for now, my mind is starting to drift away to the next project.
Thanks SANDMAN.
I can tell you that I have entered a Mosqe in Iraq before twice. Once officially on a raid and once because I did not realize what it was and like a fool I started to walk in. I got in the doorway before one member of my team informed me of what I was doing. I backed out rather quickly. But Mosques have been raided in the past so this is not too far fetched, it is just not a normal occurance.
As for the 203’s I did not ever recognize that. Only one person per fire team should have on of these, so about 1 in every 4 to 5 soldiers depending on the size of the fire teams, which can varry depending on platoon strength. In some platoons the team leaders are the ones with the 203’s and in some it is a Jr enlisted mans job, depending on SOP.
I would deffinately take the gear off the guy in the gunners hatch tho. No one wears it in the hatch. It was the first thing I noticed without even realy looking. As for the guy pointing to the door, sandman is right, but that would be up to you.
Just my $.02… It is still very nice, as stated before.
Hey did you find any insurgents hiding inside? All the info I get is from CNN.
Not a problem man, I’ll just replace the guy’s M203 with an M16 on the left doorway and remove the gear from the MG gunner. About dat guy pointing, he’s held down by bluetack so I’ll just rotate him anti clockwise towards the door.
I was an M203 gunner for 2 years but dat was a decade back. I already forgot how many M203’s were in a squad. Doh!
Then again armies around the world have changed their SOPs and equipment a long way since then. Molle system have replaced the SBO. Standard weapons are laser sighted. I’m just being reintroduced like a new recruit man.
Thanks DM1975 for the update.
I thot of building this OIF dio to brush up my skills for "more daunting dios’’ but somehow now I’m enjoying this subject since it turned up better than I expected, my salutations to the guys in this forum.
Regards,
Red1 AKA sharkreef
BY THE AMOUNT OF SOLDIERS IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE TWO TEAMS, SO 2EA M203 WILL DO FINE. 1975 IS RIGHT NOT ALL MOSQUES ARE WELL IDENTIFIED AND MISTAKES ARE MADE SOMETIMES. THE INPUT ON THE M2 GUNNER IS ALSO CORRECT YOU DONT HAVE A LOT OF SPACE TO HIDE OR DROP IN A ROLL OVER SITUATION SO THE GUNNER IS BETTER TO BE CLEAR OF EQUIPMENT. I WAS AN MP DURING OUR TOUR AND MANY INSURGENTS TENDED TO HIDE IN MOSQUES, AND TOOK POT SHOTS AT US. THATS WHY I PUT OFF LIMITS WITH “QUOTATION MARKS” ONCE AGAIN NICE JOB ON YOUR DIO. HOPE TO SEE SOME MORE OF YOUR WORK SINCE YOU STATED THAT YOU ARE GETTING BACK IN THE SADDLE WITH MODELING.
SANDMAN