US Marines in Iraq dio. (just finished.)

Darren

Nice dio.  I like it.  Only two comments - first is that you might consider opening up some of the hatches on the trac.  Very rarely would the crew close up tight like that - it just gets too hot and they can't see all that well.  Second - the Marine Corps has adopted a new digital camoflage pattern different from the one you painted your figures in.  It is not a big deal since the Corps still had a lot of the older style camo around at the start of the war.  One more thought - there is a lot of gear stowed on the outside of that vehicle, which is not unrealistic, however, I would expect there to be a lot more boxes of ammo, chow and water and a few less duffels.  Even on longer ops, most troops carried a pretty small pack since the vehicle would be stuffed with other essentials.  And with all that gear, where are the rest of the guys?

Just , and like I said, I think it is a really nice job, particularly considering you don't regularly build armor.

Boyd

Nice Dio. Did you make or purchase that palmtree. It looks like a purchased one judging by the leaves, if not i apologize. I am looking to buy a palmtree or 2 for a base i am working on and that on looks pretty good.

From the original post ,  ".....The palm tree is from Pegasus models..."

The Dio looks great.  As the others have said, it looks right to me.  Great job for a "wingy-thingy" guy. 

Great dio. I love the wall. So simple yet so real. Maybe have some track marks in the sand? Over all it's great. Thanks for sharing the pics.

Rich

The diorama looks really good. Depending on the year you are trying to represent, the Marine Caammies are fine.   Unlike OIF 1, this time around I noticed that the Marines often wear a brown jumpsuit in lieu of digital cammies.  Also, their body armor is often a uniform brown, but their helmet covers are digital. 

My only FYI's for you would be that almost everywhere you go in Iraq, their is trash lining the roadsides, and that most "roads" are extremely rutted or full of potholes.  This isn't criticism, especially because I have not masted any diorama skills yet, but I hope to give it a shot after this tour is over.

  I don't know how you'd carry it off, but the trash in alleys is usually both piled up and windblown.  Plastic bags and old appliances, car parts, tires, etc.  Also, there are often old palm fronds lying on the ground near the palm trees. 

Yeah, I'm gonna have to echo what most are saying. This is a pretty darn good job. From what I can see, the paint isn't far off. And the green/brown/sand/black patterns are still in use in Iraq (or were when I left in May '05), in addition to the solid sands and light browns. Especially in the USMC. Also, it took the USMC a long time to phase out the "coffee stain" uniforms and phase in the digicammies, especially in the Sandbox. As you might imagine, the higher ranks and PR folks got them first, and these guys with the dusty boots, well they were wearing the coffee stains a little while longer - so I wouldn't fret too much about pattern inaccuracies.

As for the excess stowage, I say bully! The more the merrier. If there's more gear than there are people, well they're lucky they have a vehicle to carry it. But that's not to say that it doesn't happen. It certainly did with me. Also, the other guys could always be off the dio somewhere, or inside the 'trac.

All in all, I'd declare it a successful build!!

~Jerry

Darren I think the whole dio looks great and ditto on the B&W photo I thinks it looks cool, nice job.