Some impressive building going on here Bert. The extra loads each wagon are carrying look really good. Sometimes I wonder how they move at all with all this extra kit on.
One small observation though about the Dio base. The corners between the slopes look pretty tight. Would the LAVs turning circle cause problems in those areas as I would imagine alot of manoeuvring would need to be done to get round ?
Thanks for your encouragements. And indeed, part of why I like making these is all the stowage that was available to place on them.
The corners are 2 the lengths of a LAV. I have been searching the www but could’n t find the turning circle for a LAV. I did find it for a BTR90, which is also 8 wheeled, and is about 1 m longer than a LAV. The BTR has a turning circle of 14 meter (if using only the front 2 pairs of wheels). A LAV is nearly 7 meters long, about 1 m less than a BTR so I thought the corners of my dio should be ok, tight, but ok.
Still wondering about setting, Middle East of former Yugoslavia… beause this will affect the colors I will paint them…
In former Yugoslavia it will be the 3 color NATO scheme, in Middle East I can also choose sand… or I might go crazy and use the nicer color schem of the ESCI box… or go completely overboard and use all color schemes…
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The MERDC scheme on the ESCI box was only used on the earliest production vehicles in the mid 80’s. It was replaced by the NATO scheme in the late 80’s. The overall sand was painted on as needed.
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Hmm, than I probably won’t use those colors, tnx.
The turning radius is 51’ or 15.5m whichever you prefer.
HTH
Tnx, so if the road in the corner is 2x the length of a LAV, that’s about 14 meter, which makes it very very tight…
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Tight but do-able with a good driver and a good vehicle commander guiding him through the manoeuvre…and you have enough vehicles for some to be static giving cover if needed…
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I get the picture in my head… a LAV parked at the end, doors opened, crew all over the road to direct/assist the drivers… nice idea, tnx!
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If the scouts are dismounted close the doors and scout hatches. We never left them open if there wasn’t someone occupying them when I was in Iraq. It’s always tempting to leave them open to show the interior detail I know but it’s not how the Marines do it.
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I don’t know Marine SOP on ground guides, but in the Army, it’s usually the TC who dismounts to ground guide the vehicle when necessary. A second crewman will dismount if need be, placed to the rear offset when backing, and never between two vehicles or some other crush spot item.
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Thanks for your expert advice! I have noticed there are some real experts on this forum regarding these matters. Me, not having been in the army, have a vivid imagination that might win from reality 
just because I think it will look nicer.
But like I said before, your input is appreicated very much! As was the advice about machneguns by Stikpusher and white4docs earlier advice on PE sets.
My “problem” is that I don’t necessarily need to build an ecact replica of the reality, I build mainly something that will look nice to me. If I can combine the two things I will, like not using all 3 color patterns that were used… mind you… I am writing this while I am not 100 % sure I won’t
And yes, I do admire the builds I see here where people do everything they can to duplicate the real thing, unbelievable sometimes… as we say in the Netherlands Ik neem mn petje voor ze af ( I raise my hat for them… I know, sounds silly but actually is a Dutch compliment 
)
There are a few similar phrases in English. “Hats off to…” or “a tip of the hat to…” Basically it is older sign of respect to tip or remove the hat from ones head. Think of a cowboy tipping his hat to a passing woman, or folks removing their hat for a passing funeral procession.
And in the long run, build your models and diorama to your hearts content. It’s your vision after all.
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Been working on the dio a bit, and actually found some pictures… sorry about the bad light… it is still unpainted paper…
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Wow that looks great !
Some great ref pics you can use there. Your rock faces are almost identical as they are already
Excellent work on the vehicles and hillside , keep goin man , lookin good .
Excellent job of groundwork:+1:
Yes, nice groundwork. As you say, some trees, grass, stones etc wow this will be a great build! /Erik
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