Some of you were tracking the “Vietnam 60” campaign. This was going to be my entry, but a series of delays and difficulties as well as an expanding vision for the diorama made finishing on time unfeasible. So with the extra time and space I’m free to realize my vision for this diorama.
The title is from a popular song of that time by The Marmalade. It’s a melancholy song that isn’t often in the popular Vietnam soundtracks and playlists. I suggest listening to it and you can see why it was popular with the troops.
This is only indicative of the final layout. The figures and bamboo are set up in positions that won’t fall over. The emery board is there to keep the photographer upright. This will take weeks or months to complete. I’ll keep posting progress photos.
I remember the song well Travis @Apache26, I was just hitting my teenage years when this was playing on WZZQ Jackson, MS if I recall right, your fig.s and Mule are looking like a great start, best of luck on the progress of your dio, been following along with your build.
Looking good! It’s tough to capture how scraggly troops look after a couple of weeks in the field, but you’re getting it done. I also like the detail on the equipment and C Rat boxes. Even the color contrast between the receiver and handguard/stock on the M-16’s is correct (looked at a photo of my weapon taken in May/June ‘70 to verify that). Nice work.
Good to see you still working on this and the progress you are making, Travis. I am looking forward to seeing more of your progress and ultimately the completion of this project.
Thank you all for the kind feedback and the encouragement! Yes, I’ll have much more foliage to install. What I put in there is only a slight representation. I have about a dozen bamboo stalks and many “tree trunks” to plant once I install the plaster ground. Hand painting the bamboo stalks almost broke me from modeling! Not really, but they are made with the really soft, rubbery plastic and the paint kept chipping off in spite of the multiple coats of primer. It took me hours to paint them.
I bought a package of a couple of hundred of those bamboo stalks on AliExpress, too. They were really cheap! What kind of primer did you use on that soft plastic?
I just used a standard paint-on primer. I believe I used Tamiya’s fine white. I’ve read in the past that the best primer for soft plastic is actually model railroad scenery glue but I haven’t tried that technique.
Not much in the way of an update, but more to keep the thread alive. Right now I’m doing more mundane detail work; painting weapons and rucksacks, folding more C-Ration boxes for GI trash, etc. So there’s not much to show. I’ve been scouring photos of the Cambodian incursion so I can get the foliage correct. I realized that what I hoped to use for the brush wouldn’t work, so with the help of @ReconTL6 I found some good places for scale leafy plants. This set back my plan to get started on the base. More to follow in due time!
