Thanks again!
Concerning the BAR, as you have showed in the nice pictures (thanks for that), I think we can leave that subject. The figures are like they are now.
Concerning the ground work. As many of you do, I always have an eye wherever I go looking for materials. In total I think I have 3 big boxes just with materials like twigs, branches, roots, dried leafs, soil etc etc.
The most advanced ground work I have done so far is this jungle diorama. Only two things in this diorama is not real stuff (a fern and a palm tree).
I made it 4 years ago, I often got the same question in the comment field on YouTube: doesnât the plants rotten and how do you keep the diorama?
Well, the plants was already dried when I put them on the diorama, once dried nothing happens to them. I keep it in my garage where the temperature is between 2-20 degrees Celsius depending on the season.
By the way, if you want to watch the last part of the video I made of the diorama The Brecourt Manor Assault the link is here:
Cheers
Really nice work! Iâm a huge fan of airborne operations and have spent a good deal of time researching and modeling them myself.
To be fair, I believe it is fact that the BAR wasnât officially part of their gear when they jumped according to the TO&E, but they were âprocured in countryâ afterwards.
@creading, Charles I may be wrong but something about the crispness and clarity of that photo says reinactors to me? Forgive me if Iâm wrong, old eyes, small phone screenâŚ
@Panzer_modeler, Ezra the first BW photo is Staff Sgt George H LOSS (466th PFAB) firing with a BAR during the Battle of the Bulge.
The second photo is actually from a well-known book and itâs not of a Normandie jump but much later, in the 1950âs
Now having said all that, I donât personally care. You can give them both BARâs and itâs still a nice vignette and Iâm not trying to stir the pot, but there is some merit to the claim that on D-Day, they may not have had them. Yet.
I believe it is fact that the BAR wasnât officially part of their gear when they jumped according to the TO&E, but they were âprocured in countryâ afterwards.
The standard US Airborne Light Infantry rifle squad at D-day included 12 men: 1x squad leader, 1x assistant squad leader, 3x light MG crew and 7x riflemen.
From early 1945 one of the riflemen was re-designated as âautomatic riflemenâ carrying a BAR instead of the usual M1 rifle.
Nonetheless, this is still a very well executed, beautiful diorama.
The original point brought up by the OP was that the BAR was not used in Normandy. I do not know either way wether the BAR was used there but showing a pic of the 17th Abn much later in the war does not prove your point, and neither does a pic of a daytime jump which is obviously not Normandy. DDay jumps were at night.
Having wrote all that I would hasten to add the dio is superb and the ground specially very convincing to me. Nicely done!
J
Jerry, Not saying that youâre wrong here. But, IIRC isnât there something in Cornelius Ryanâs book The Longest Day mentioning a guy from the 82nd by the name of âDutchâ Schultz (I think his real first name was Arthur) being a BAR man? I could be conflating two different stories, or he could have been in a glider infantry unit. FOLLOW UP: He was in the 505th PIR, he also appeared in two of Ryanâs books, The Longest Day, and A Bridge Too Far, I may be remembering the BAR from the latter book.
Awesome job. So you used a little artistic license with the BAR. Who cares. There were so many soldiers who took personal weapons into battle. Whoâs to say that this guy didnât jump into D-Day with his favorite BAR from the armory? (I know the weapon and the ammo / magazines were bulky and not conducive to airborne drops) Thanks for posting this wonderful vignette.
Once again,I was not confirming or denying their use in Normandy, just pointing out the pics used as reference were not valid for making the point. Having jumped almost all my jumps using the M1950 weapons case that was very similar to ones used during that time I would say the BAR is too long to fit in that case and cannot be broken down into 2 parts like the M60. Given that jumping with weapons exposed didnât come into wide spread use till later I am remain skeptical. The M1 carbine with folding stock and the tommy gun were both great for jumping exposed stuck through the front harness straps above the reserve 'chute. Of course,any thing can be disproven with pics of exceptions because they were many deviations from the rules. But as I said already. Super nice dio here whatever the weapons depicted are. Very nice.
Eric,
Both the Brecourt manor and the jungle diorama look great! I think I need to take some time away from the model bench to check out a few more of your excellent videos!!
Ho ho this engagement is nice to see! Well for the future I can tell you right away that I always do my best in researching, but as I said before there will be mistakes. The most important is that we do our best:)
But for sure I think this forum is of great help when it comes to questions about details!
Thanks a lot guys!
/Erik
Rick, I am glad you like the work. When you look at my videos keep in mind that I have improved my skills a lot since the first video;) but even they could be a bit of fun to watch he he! /Erik
Erik, fine work, especially with only 7yrs in your boot, pretty fine indeed. Iâd say youâre a natural and will only kick it in the tail and fly a bit higher on the technique scale the more you progress. Wow, what a mouthful, right?
I really like the your figure work and especially the veggie work, impressive. Now, as far as research goes, itâs a personal choice how far anyone decides to go. Personally I enjoy the research, itâs part of the fun of this Sport. Not saying I get it right every time, by no means, but Iâve always loved military history and dig as much as possible way before the last layout sketch is done.
As you know, some of us are sticklers for detail and others just want to build kits, but remember, there is such a thing as âartistic license.â And there you have it!
@DIOWORK - wow, what a great project! beautifully done, on all aspects! And, appreciate the follow up on how you built the scenery.
I enjoy doing research on a project - and as youâve found, there is a wealth of knowledge on this site, and people are willing to share what they have learned in a positive way! On the âoldâ site I posted a few modern conflict builds, and must say, people directly familiar with the subject and geography were very helpful, and their insights added to each of the projects.
Glad to see your work, and looking forward to your next project!
@DIOWORK Yes, please show us more of your work. You did a great job with your diorama, keep it up.
Thank you, take care, and stay safe,
Don âLakotaâ
@Lakota Thanks Don!
Yes I will show you both my old works and the WIP projects that I am up to.
Next up will be a post of the vignette âTank huntersâ in 1/35.
Stay tuned:) Cheers, Erik
