So he was one of “those kind” of COs…
I have had a couple of those toxic types.
Usually when someone tells me a figure I have made looks like someone they served with, it is usually someone they liked. It sucks that this figure looks like someone who sucked.
Hello James!
I like your work here a lot, and I’ll be watching with interest.
I like building and painting figures, too - maybe you’ll find this interesting: Good Morning Vietnam! - 1:35 Vignette
Good luck with your build and have a nice day
Paweł
Thank you, Pawel.
I will be sure to check your site to see your previous work.
Nothing major has been done since I added the sandbags to the roof other than making a doorknob that I shaped out of spare sprue and a small piece of sheet styrene. I think it turned out fairly well.
And here are some additional photos of the layout from various angles. Now the painting can begin…
I got the structure primed the other day and spent about an hour painting it tonight. I still have quite a way to go, but this photo is a pretty good example of the process - the black primer, the brown basecoat, and subsequent layers of lighter colors to try to replicate the look of new lumber. Not sure how effectively I can pull that off, but hopefully I can make it look pretty close.
Hello James!
That hut starts looking really good! Makes me want to build something similar myself - for a “base” diorama some day.
As for wood I use a different method, I paint the object light colours first - sand and grey, and try to show some grain, even make some lines using a crayon, then I put a strong brown wash on top of that, works quite well.
Good luck with your build and have a nice day
Paweł
I just might try that method on another project that will also include a similar building facade. Thanks for the suggestion.
This is Sunday evening’s progress - the wood on the front is pretty much done. I still need to paint the roof supports in the wood colors. Then it will be on to the doorknob, corrugated tin, and sandbags followed by the concrete floor.
I think the wood looks halfway decent. I wish I could paint straight lines in between the boards but for some reason I have always had a hard time with straight lines.
Will there be white painted rocks by the pathway?
It looks like it needs a mop rack by the door too.
No painted rocks, but depending on whether I make this the S1 shop or one of the Line Company orderly rooms, there could be some tubes that powder charges came in stuck into the ground and painted white.
That would be around back. Some of the battalion’s structures had a 55 gallon drum serving as a trash can if there wasn’t an actual trash can and BN HQ sometimes had captured enemy crew served weapon on display out front.
Depending on time frame and location a lot of bases hired Vietnamese women as hootch maids to do laundry and housekeeping jobs. Things like mops and brooms would be kept around the showers/latrine areas. Building might have a sign, such as orderly or supply room. Just a thought. Wayne
Hi, Wayne.
This building is at Camp Bearcat mid to late 1967. It will have a sign above the door saying either “Panther S1/S4” if I end up having this facade be the rear of one of the wings at BN HQ or “Orderly Room” if it ends up being one of the Companies.
It is funny that you mentioned hoitch maids because after this diorama I am planning on a vignette of some hootch maids shining boots and laying out uniforms on sandbags to dry.
Coming along very well. Just for the heck of it, I looked at some photos I took at Cu Chi Base-camp (home of the 25th Infantry or “Cu Chi National Guard” as we called it). I noticed some hooches had sandbags on the roof, some did not, so no wrong answer here. I really don’t recall many white painted rocks except for the hospital area at Cam Ranh and while passing through Long Binh, but my Wife said I’m not a “detail person” so may have just missed them. I do remembered hootches had sandbags/sand filled drums around them, but don’t know if that was SOP at Bearcat. Anyway, looking good, great job.
Yeah, in my time frame, 71-72, they were pretty common, along with daily hire workers. Will try to find my pics of the hootches we lived in or were redoing to turn over to the ARVNs. As always, you’re doing great work. Wayne
I appreciate your input Wayne and SFCJJC. I have been finding, just at Bearcat alone, there were several variations of the same type of building for the same purpose. I imagine a lot had to do with who built the building and what materials they had available. I really wish that my dad’s slides hadn’t been damaged in a flood because he had thousands of slides of all kinds of stuff including the various sorts of structures at Bearcat. Since he was part of the ADVON, he helped construct a few of the early structures in the 9th Admin compound. He had pictures of guys framing the buildings all the way through completion. I remember him saying that since there were so many structures being built that 15th Engineers had a couple guys show people from the various units what needed to be done and unit members took part in much of the construction.
Here is the progress I made on the structure today - painted the rafters and roof support, the corrugated tin, the sandbags (they are the green synthetic material ones), and the doorknob as well as doing a bit of touch up on the wood on the front. I still need to add the sign above the door and texture and paint the concrete. I hope the bare wood looks convincing enough.
The tops of the bags would have faded rather quickly in the sun and weather with the lower part staying darker. Hope that helps. Wayne
Today’s progress consisted of fading the tops of the sandbags as Wayne suggested, touching up a few places on the wood planks, and making and painting the sign which is made from sheet styrene. I applied several coats of light blue before adding the letters which were dry transfers. I then applied a coat of AK Interactive’s Ultra Matte varnish before gluing it to the building.
2d Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) 9th Infantry Division headquarters building was a H shaped structure. From the front there was only one entrance in the center of the H. However, there were doors at the rear of the two outer sections. One housed the S2/S3 shop and the other housed S1/S4. This building facade depicts the S1/S4 side.
Classic “James” work already and standing by for more. Excellent, James!
