Models in the workplace

In the mid seventies we were working on algorithms for the trackers on IR imaging guided anti-ship missiles.  We had a hybrid setup on the lab mini-computer.  We were using a tv camera to simulate IR, on a motion controlled carriage.

We needed targets.  We did not have very elaborate graphics software in those days, so I bought some small ship models- probably 1:700- don't remember for sure.  We had some IR recon photos of ships of those types, FLIR pictures. I painted the models in shades of gray to match the flir images.  We had the company photographer photograph the models and provide us positive transparencies that were then back illuminated, as targets for the TV camera.  Worked fine.  Don't remember what happened to the models once we had the transparencies. I remember seeing them stored in the lab for awhile but then they gradually disappeared.

The reason we did the models rather than use the flir imagery itself was that these were early flirs, not very high resolution, and we wanted to test tracking in the end game, close to ships. The ship models were very detailed.  Okay, we might not have had the heat signatures perfect, but we made some guesses at how the images would look at higher res, based on the photos we had.

Wow, it's kinda funny how you keep running into your online buddies in the same posts, talking about the same things!!  As a lifelong armor builder and Soldier, I never thought that my model skills would be of any use to anyone other than me.

As an anti-tank platoon leader, I saw that our ability to ID tanks was pretty bad.  Every Soldier was pretty proficient at IDing tanks with the GTA card deck; three views, all line drawings.  After a few sessions, you could memorize the deck and move onto the next gunnery skills test.

I went to the local TASC and pulled out a box of the 1/35th scale of ID models and found that they were useful, but only up to a certain point.  Like some of you guys, we set up a scaled distance range and used these TASC kits augmented with my armor kits to make tank ID more of a challenge.  Our Dragon and TOW gunners ate the training up and improved their skills.  After the ID became more proficient, we'd set up 'shoot/don't shoot' scenarios, placing the models in hull down positions, moving to cover at X speed, etc.  Like you guys, it was a proud moment when my model building combined with my real world job to improve training.

Thanks for sharing your stories, guys!

Dave 

When I was assigned to a couple units in the military, I used to use my modern armor builds to teach classes on vehicle ID. It was also a great way to give a practical application exam by giving the soldiers in the class a set of binoculars, have the models placed on the ground a distance that would represent a realistic tactical scale equivelant and have them attempt to identify the vehicles.

Ditto... Battle-Focused Training... I built many an AFV kit for that purpose...  Even took it to the level that would force the Soldiers to ID the country that was using a particular AFV, rather than just "Friendly" or "Threat", since at the time, we had some "Friendly" countries that used "Threat" armored vehicles, as one Egyptian Armor Major pointed out to me once, after he'd watched several Soldiers ID the T-62 as a "Threat" vehicle...

Add to it that you just don't see the AFVs in silhouette, so you needed to be able to ID a tank or PC when it was in hull-defilade, moving towards or away from you, at an oblique angle, etc... Soldiers that had memorized the entire deck of Armored Vehicle ID Cards didn't fare nearly as well the first couple times through the Battle-Focused version I'd devised...    (Oddly enough, even I didn't get a 100% first-time GO, on my own course, once my assistants had moved them around) 

I still have gobs of Micro armor; literally hundreds of US and Warsaw Pact armor and support vehicles. We used them on those huge terrain boards at Fort Knox and the ones we had in Germany. It was helpful moving the little metal tanks over the terrain to illustrate where we needed to go and how best to get there.

The Armor School used them extensively to train tankers and cavalrymen in tactics.

When I was assigned to a couple units in the military, I used to use my modern armor builds to teach classes on vehicle ID. It was also a great way to give a practical application exam by giving the soldiers in the class a set of binoculars, have the models placed on the ground a distance that would represent a realistic tactical scale equivelant and have them attempt to identify the vehicles. It was very effective when coupled with radio message training. Ages ago, when I went thru the Expert Infantry Badge course the testers at the Vehicle Identification and Call For Fire tasks used Micro Armor models (those tiny things for anyone not familiar with those) during the test at those stations.

In my line of work, models have always played a part. Fort Knox created all sorts of vehicle ID models and cast them in resin and put into sets that were distributed to units in the field. While crude by any standard, before the collaspe of Soviet Russia, it was all we had to identify enemy and other friendly nation's armor.

At my workplace, there are several models I built still on display. Most of my co-workers would ask if  I would build them a model of a vehicle they may have served on. I've built M60A3TTS, M1IP, M1A1, M1A2, M113A2 and various Bradleys for friends to display on their desks.

Models have been used in this manner for far longer than they have been for our purpose. It has always been an effective way to convey an idea for whatever project someone had in mind.