**Finished!!! 07May09** Taking Cover Hue 1968

I agree with your suggestion. Finding Viet Nam Era figures is difficult. Unlike some of the very skilled modelers on this site I am not so skilled in Frankensteining and reposing figures.

The figure I have is posed as if he is leaning up against the wall. I will try to find others that might fit in with the plan and to emulate the picture.

Thanks for your suggestion

Brian

I am not very good at modifying figure positions so I am going to make the ground work fit their positions.
The figures don't have any deuce gear so I am scrounging all of that from other figure kits.
The palm tree is scratch-built from coaxial cable, twine, and tissue paper.
The wall is going to be thinset that I have already poured. At scale thickness of 1:35 the wall will be approx. 11 inches wide.

Here is a mockup.

Here is what I have so far 

He will be an M79 "Blooper" Gunner. In Vietnam the grenadier's primary weapon was the M79 and his sidearm was the M1911 .45

I am considering slinging an M-16A1 across his back as if he picked it up off the battlefield.

Additional deuce gear will be canteens, gas mask carrier, butt pack, compass case and possibly M16 pouches

The M-60 gunner will be carrying a couple of spare bandoleers of 7.62 ammo. All I need to find now is his A-gunner.

Tonight I am working on the foliage for the palm tree.

Wow! Thank you for asking. I served twenty years and 4 days in the Marine Corps. I recently retired as a Gunnery Sergeant. I am a veteran of the battle of Fallujah, in Iraq during November-December of 1994. (Correction 2004. )I was wounded during my tour of duty and subsequently medevaced on January 1, 2005. There is nothing worse than being separated from my Marines.

The motivation for this vignette came initially from the special category for the contest I am going to enter. Vietnam 1960-1975. I wanted to connect the Marine Corps to my entry for the special category. Naturally the Tet Offensive and the battle for Hue city came to mind. Many Marines served during the Vietnam War and their service is little known or recognized.

You are absolutely correct that the Battle for Hue was a turning point in the war. Also it is the foundation for the tactics that we use today in clearing a city house to house.  These same tactics that Devil Dogs discovered under fire in 1968 are taught almost 40 years later to the Marines who are entering service today.

My "Motivation" is a silent salute to all service men, and women who served during America's most hated, and disputed aremed conflict. It is also a tip of my cap to those Marines who fought one of the most courageous battles in the anals of the Marine Corps.

Their bravery, and sacrifice is toasted at every Mess Night, and gathering that Marines assemble at. Their blood, flesh, Honor, Courage and Commitment will never be forgotten as long as this Marine still draws a breath.

I am a veteran of the battle of Fallujah, in Iraq during November-December of 1994.

Might wanna reload and shoot that alibi, Gunny...

Good catch Hammer.

Let's See 1994. I was just a young Sergeant, not quite in charge of a whole lot of Marines just a small squad of coxswains in Small Craft Company. Fast Forward 10 Years and 2004 is the date I am looking for. So Many Years, So many dates hard to keep em' all straight in my addled infantry brain. Must of been the RPG that rattled my brain housing group.

I am very chagrined.

Gamewarden5 wrote:

Also it is the foundation for the tactics that we use today in clearing a city house to house.  These same tactics that Devil Dogs discovered under fire in 1968 are taught almost 40 years later to the Marines who are entering service today.

That’s very cool, I remember watching a documentary on the Battle of Hue and they’d fight for streets, houses and blocks- now that you mention Fallujah and having served during that time period of the Iraq war, it makes sense that you’d model this as a throw back to Marines of the past and present.

Gamewarden5 wrote:

My "Motivation" is a silent salute to all service men, and women who served during America's most hated, and disputed aremed conflict. It is also a tip of my cap to those Marines who fought one of the most courageous battles in the anals of the Marine Corps. Their bravery, and sacrifice is toasted at every Mess Night, and gathering that Marines assemble at. Their blood, flesh, Honor, Courage and Commitment will never be forgotten as long as this Marine still draws a breath.

I’ve read Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper and am looking forward to reading My Men Are My Heroes. Thank you, and all Marines and members of the Armed forces that have served and are serving our country. I’m really looking forward to seeing this Vietnam tribute piece as it continues. 

Sergeant Major Brad Kasal is one of the Marines I look up too. He is an iconic hero of the Marine Corps. A leader of Marines. Though I have never met him personally, he is one of my personal Heroes. The word Hero is thrown about loosely today. Brad Kasal put his life on the line for his Marines in a no-name house in a place that no one will remember 20 years from today.

When I think of Sacrifice I think of this image.

Looking good and a good idea.  To make your figures more accurate and easier, since they come with all the gear, you should look at getting one of the below sets.  They are not currently in production, but come up often on Ebay and the trade forums.  Either set would work for your needs.  They are much better quality than the blobby Tamiya figures too.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I know Hobby Fan and Verlinden do quite a few Vietnam subjects, and I just nabbed this one on Ebay... 

Legend 1/35 US AFV Crew set(Vietnam)

I wasn't aware the Dragon 'Nam kits were rare these days. I think I've got most of the ones released. The US Marines (Khe Sanh 1968) set would be close to your scenario.

Gamewarden5 wrote:

I am not very good at modifying figure positions so I am going to make the ground work fit their positions. The figures don't have any deuce gear so I am scrounging all of that from other figure kits. The palm tree is scratch-built from coaxial cable, twine, and tissue paper. The wall is going to be thinset that I have already poured. At scale thickness of 1:35 the wall will be approx. 11 inches wide. Here is a mockup. Here is what I have so far

Hey Gunny

I like what ya got going on here... my only suggestion (and I know you said that hacking up figs isn't really your thing, but...) would be to try to drop the legs on the M60 gunner just a bit.  He is exposing a whole lot of vital flesh above that wall.  If they are taking a lot of fire, especially in an urban setting, I'd picture him hunkered down with just the muzzle up over the wall.  That way, only a bit of his helmet would be exposed.

SEMPER FI

(I retired after 20 years, 7 months, 19 days, last April...)

I ordered the Khe San set of figures this morning. I don't think that the standing gunner in my current mockup is going to make the cut. His original body position on the PBR has him manning a .50 cal and leaning over to his right pretty hard. You are right on the money about exposure over the wall. Keeping a low profile would be very important to preserving his present living/breathing condition.

bbrowniii~ congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your honorable service. My retirement ceremony was March 20th, 2008 and I actually transferred to the FMCR on July 1. I wish I could say I am enjoying the retired life but I work full time and go to college full time using my GI Bill.

Lastnight I spent time making the palm fronds for the palm tree. I have about 24 fronds of various sizes shaped. Now I have to make them look like palm fronds. Tedious, Tedious, and more Tedious!

Tonight I am going to cut out the actual base that this vignette will be built on and wrap it in bass wood strip. I am also going to try and get the wall sections cut so that I can start making this thing look like something other than a piece of cardboard and some foam core board.

I will update when I can.

Brian

Gamewarden5 wrote:

bbrowniii~ congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your honorable service. My retirement ceremony was March 20th, 2008 and I actually transferred to the FMCR on July 1. I wish I could say I am enjoying the retired life but I work full time and go to college full time using my GI Bill.

OOH-RAH brother, and right back at ya.  Thanks for your service to your Country...

Yeah, I retired out of the SMCR, so: 1) I don't get my pension for another 20 years or so and 2) my former unit is working up to deploy, and it is killing me to be sitting on the sidelines...

I think that set of figs you have ordered will work well.  You might also see if you can track down a set of legs from a kneeling guy and combine it with the upper torso of the 60 gunner...?

Hey Brian,

Those palms are great!  What are they made out of?  Paper?  Foil?  You're doing a heck of a job on 'em

I originally made the palm tree trunk more than 3 years ago when I came back to the hobby. I had built a HMMWV Avenger that I was going to put into a small diorama and I found this article on armorama.com that showed me how to make a realistic looking palm tree using jute twine, coaxial cable, and tissue paper. The leaves (fronds) are tropical looking silk leaves I picked up at Michael's on sale. The colors and general shape make them easily modified to look like any number of tropical foliage.

If you would like to read the article where I learned the technique the link is below.

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=75 

Brian

psstoff995 wrote:

Awesome link- thanks for the tip

Tonight I cut out the plywood base and I have cut the sections of wall out of pre-poured skim coat. I am starting to carve in the brickwork.
 
 [imghttp://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr288/bavindicator/Hue_Vignette/WallSection.jpg[/img]

I have cut most of the large palm fronds, and am working on the medium and small fronds. I am also researching the look of elephant grass and bamboo so that the palm tree does not look too out of by itself in the middle of a concrete jungle.

Thanks for all of the encouragement and following along.

Brian

HeavyArty wrote:

Looking good and a good idea.  To make your figures more accurate and easier, since they come with all the gear, you should look at getting one of the below sets.  They are not currently in production, but come up often on Ebay and the trade forums.  Either set would work for your needs.  They are much better quality than the blobby Tamiya figures too. Good luck and keep us posted.

Maniac,

Thanks for the kind words. This is only my second diorama/vignette. I truly repsect the guys that do this alot. I am slugging away.

I finished the wall pretty much. Here is the other section of wall that is on the side away from the Marines who are battling tooth and nail. You can see all of the bullet strikes from incoming enemy fire.

The rest of the night is going to be spent on cutting palm fronds.

Semper Fi

Brian

Gamewarden5 wrote:

I ordered the Khe San set of figures this morning. I don't think that the standing gunner in my current mockup is going to make the cut. His original body position on the PBR has him manning a .50 cal and leaning over to his right pretty hard. You are right on the money about exposure over the wall. Keeping a low profile would be very important to preserving his present living/breathing condition.

Why not do as you said with the ground and make the wall work with the gunner? Just give him more cover to explain being up so high, or put him in a bit of a hole, either way it gets more of him behind cover.

Interesting idea for a dio. I like painting figures and I'd like to do a diorama myself, but they seem so labor and space intensive. I hadn't considered doing little mini jobs where you just see a little piece of the action.

model maniac 96 wrote:

Nice, How did you do those bullet holes??? Thanks, Jim

The whole section of wall is a work in progress. Here is how I made them. I had poured a slab of water mixable skim coating about a quarter of an inch thick. I can't remember what the original intent was when I poured it because it has been sitting in a drawer for about six months. When the idea for this vignette came to me I used the slab as part of the inspiration. My mockup gave me the approximate size of the pieces I would use. I cut the skim coat out with a jig saw (ruined a blade in the process).

Next I measured an actual cinder block to give me an the scale size of .442X.241 inches. I transferred these measurements to the wall sections with a set of dividers and scribed the lines into the wall with an old nail.

To create the impacts I punched a random pattern of holes with a punch all that were deep enough to wedge in a dental pick. To get the chippin effect I literally pried out the chips with a dental pick.

I also filled the holes on the other side of the wall where the air bubbles from pouring the skim coating were very large. To fill the holes I ground up the chips from the tops of the walls and the bullet impacts to a fine dust and mixed it with white glue to form a spackle paste and did a suitable patch job.

Thanks for asking~

Brian