Had an old fish tank laying around, and now im building Vietnam / American war models, i was keen to get a diorama going. After visting Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam, i saw a scratch built model of the tunnels for a learning display. Gave me an idea to build something similar , but my own design. I made the base with foam and cut out the tunnel system, melted in the road on top by thinners, then gave it a coat of plaster of parris. The dirt around Cu Chi was actually grey clay not the common red you often see. I painted it grey with black wash, but after i collected some red dirt, i couldnt resist laying down some white glue and sprinkling the more common Red Vietnam colour. As the VC had tunnels everywhere, i will make this diorama somewhere else in Nam. Not sure what figures and vehicles i will display, but i know i want some NVA / VC below ground and in the gun bunkers. Maybe place a tank and an APC on top with a few troops running around and some special forces in contact.
I made a triangle bomb bunker underground with wood and bamboo roof gun bunker. A crawl tunnel that the rats were almost too big to crawl through, a large comms room and some punji pits.
I started placing grass and a small defoliated tree on top with some ferns next to road, but i have so much more jungle to do, i dont know how to make it all. I know Nam jungle was dense scrub, but making 3 levels of growth is going to be a huge challange for me.
