Fire base

Would they have left that tree line?  Been to that museum in the late 90´s Good on you to try to save a part. I´m sure there are folks here that can help.

                                             Regards, Mac

They told me that they had tried to guess about how many sandbags alone were on hte firebase but gave up after the numbers hit the thousands, each one hand made.

I think that the reason there are so many armored cars there that shoudn't be is because the Verlinden vehicles were hard to come by so he just used what he could get.

That's a really ambitious diorama.  What scale is it?

I have to wonder what sort of personal demons the builder exorcised as he made it.  It is obviously a labor of love/obsession and I truly hope that the builder found an inner peace working on it.

ajlafleche wrote:

There are a few vehicles that don't belong in it but most people wouldn't notice. This statement really bothers me about a museum exhibit. An exhibit it a museum has a cachet of accuracy attached to it. It's not some kid's display of what he thought would fit in a firebase because he built the models, it's a museum display.

Some museums don't have the available funds to pay the "market price" for an accurate diorama.  If the builder served in Vietnam, then the diorama belongs in a museum because the builder is conveying his image of the war.  A comparison can be made to the sailor built models exhibited at museums; while some of these sailor built models are not up to todays standards (PE fittings in 1:350 didn't exist in 1790), they are an accurate representation of the ship the sailor served on.

It wasn't started to be displayed in a museum it just worked out that way.  These guys try but sometimes they just don't get it when it comes to models.  I gave them several for their display on the understanding that they were to be displayed in a manner where they could not be touched.  That didn't work out. Many of them are hung from the ceiling and many of them are broken.  I think that in this case they are concerned more that it was built by a vet than it's accuracy.  I need to go over there again and try to talk to them again.  They have admitted that it needs to be cleaned up and repaired but nobody there can do it.  Most of them are involved in other projects to keep the grounds and other displays going. They have a small fleet of jeeps that someone has to use to get a few of them working as well as a few other projects that are behind.  They mean well but they are ex-warriors with little or no concept of what to do with a model.  Maybe if I can get it cleaned up I can make it a little more accurate.  I have never been on a firebase but I do know which vehicles should not be there at least.

we'll see.

There are a few vehicles that don't belong in it but most people wouldn't notice.

This statement really bothers me about a museum exhibit. An exhibit it a museum has a cachet of accuracy attached to it. It's not some kid's display of what he thought would fit in a firebase because he built the models, it's a museum display.

I often read justifications for building busts of Hitler or tanks os an SS division because "we're recreating/preserving history." But here's a museum whose staff should know better allowing inaccuracies in a display.

I'm in Orlando and the museum is open to the public most of the time, especially on weekends and various holidays, no admission fees. It's not a large place but they are in the process of acquiring more land and at this time restoring a A-4.

They have an operational Pibber boat and various vehicles.

Their website is listed as a national vietnam war museum if you want to look it up.

Near the huey is a statue of a German Sheppard and is a monument to the K-9 units from all the branches.  They have also rescued the Orlando Vietnam memorial from the junk yard where it was left during a removation in town.  If I got the story right. 

where are you located?

is it available for viewing?