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Omaha Beach dio


GITom1944
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My tribute to the 29th ID in 1/35th scale. I did this around 1994, when I still had patience. The LCVPs are by Lindberg - I modified them in various ways to better represent the kind I saw in period photos. The aft ends were rebuilt to angular shapes, the gun tubs and shields were scratchbuilt, etc. The figures are from various sources, but most of the infantry are based on Dragon Ranger figs. Most have been modified in some way. Jonathan Gawne's articles in Militaria Magazine were my inspiration - especially his info on assault jackets. My primary reference for the LCVP details was a 1945 Navy manual called "Skill in the Surf".

post-2064-1338812096.jpg

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Great looking diorama The detail is outstanding How many figures did you use?

 

 

Tom

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This is an amazing dio! How did you make the water? The detail on the figures is great! This must have taken a LOT of patience.

 

....Kat

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Thanks for the comments, guys. I count 86 figures. No two are exactly alike and almost all were modified in some way. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think the base is a clear plastic poster frame (it might be two side by side). I cut out troughs for the boats and holes for the obstacles. The texture for the water surface is Liquitex Acrylic Gel. When dry, I painted it with artists acryllics,. Later I painted the surface with a couple of coats of polyurethane and touched it up as needed. I created a couple of masters for standing lower bodies for the full boat on the right and 2 or 3 masters of assault jacketed torsos and I made castings out of resin. The gear was made assembly-line fashion. Most of the boat crews have Hornet heads. Most of the lifejackets are sculpted from Miliput. The GI's helmets and gear were mostly from the Rangers sets - I was trying to keep issue items a consistent size but I occasionally compromised. I sprayed the helmets, figures and some of the gear with gloss Xtracolor enamels - mostly because I had created my own water-slide decals for the helmet & shoulder insignia and the "U.S." stencils for the gear, and the enlisted rank insignia. (The "decals" were drawings photocopied onto clear decal film that I later hand-painted.) The pole charges and bangalores were built individually. The satchel charges, wire cutters, M1a1 flamethrowers, Bazooka ammo bags, packboards were scratchbuilt - some items were cast from masters. The gas brassards are masking tape. The figure painting is a bit basic (due to my skill level and tolerance for tedium). I'll post a few more pics shortly.

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Manchu Warrior

Wow, now that is cool. It reminds of one that is, or was, inside the front door of the 5th Regiment Armory in downtown Baltimore. The model was made by high school students and it took them two years. It was than donated to the USS Intrepid Museum but they had no room for it and it was then re-donated to the museum at the 5th. It is huge and when you walk around the back it even has the Germans all hunkered down in their bunkers above the beach on D-Day. Again its a real cool piece thanks for sharing it with us.

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Old Marine

Wow, that is truly an incredible piece of work. You certainly did have patience and a lot of skill to build that. Thanks for showing it that is really a remarkable feat. Well done.

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Brian Dentino

Truly a work of art....the details are just fantastic. I especially like the water rising up on the closeup from a bullet hit!

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Thanks, Brian. I learned the bullet hit technique from another modeler. It is old-fashioned plastic glue from a tube that was allowed to drip & harden.

 

Tom

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