"..., The Last Eleven Are Out!" 1:72 Hobby Boss CH-46.

[ArtyScout]

Hey everyone. Happy New Years to all. These holidays were rough, but I got through it. This simple diorama goes like this:

It's the morning of April 30, 1975, and a lone CH-46 Sea Knight responding to a radio call, during Operation Frequent Wind, lands on the rooftop of the US Embassy in Saigon. At 7:53am, it lifts off with the remainder of the embassy's Marine detachment, and the pilot announces over the radio; "Flight command, this is Swift 2-2, the last eleven are out!" And so, ends America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

 

 

[Tony V]

Manny

 

   Great work ! Thank you for sharing

 

Tony

 

[Proud Kraut]

"Simple diorama"? I call it "awesome"!!! With the clear plastic sticks the CH-46 really looks fliying. Great detail and painting, no "shiny" markings, well done.

Is the base made of wood? How did you do the markings on it? Another great dio, Manny.

[ArtyScout]

4 hours ago, Proud Kraut said:

"Simple diorama"? I call it "awesome"!!! With the clear plastic sticks the CH-46 really looks fliying. Great detail and painting, no "shiny" markings, well done.

Is the base made of wood? How did you do the markings on it? Another great dio, Manny.

Thanks fellas. Yes Lars I did the helipad out of bass wood and square dowels. The helipad markings I did using the Microsoft Paint app, after I saw an old photo. I will be adding the base shortly. BTW, those are the actual number markings from that chopper on the rear tail rotor mount. I basically had to do those one at a time.

 

Semper Fi. 

 

Manny

[mikie]

Beautiful work as always. Well done Manny! 
mikie

[ArtyScout]

Hey Mikie, thanks. Here are a couple more pics from the other side of the chopper and helipad. Also, I tried to include a photo of the helipad markings from the US Embassy in now Ho Chi Minh City. I don't know if this site will take the format of the picture. The photo was taken on Dec. 1994, 19 1/2 yrs. after the war ended. There aren't any other photos of the helipad and its markings. 

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

 

_wsb_706x480_1994+Dec+Saigon+embassy+5.jfif

[AndrewHL]

Love the look of being in flight!
and a but more on last actions of the VN conflict.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayaguez_incident

[Marshallj]

More on the Mayaguez regarding the Air Force Security Policemen killed. They are either omitted from the story or receive "honorable mention." https://www.usafpolice.org/mayaguez-rescue-operation.html?fbclid=IwAR1lj5-S2iOsq-zHZaSWay8l9WNyG3_reMLKgiQnCv3wtc0QVB-T9CSUMmo

[ArtyScout]

I wrote that epitaph to the Vietnam War, only because I consider the Mayaguez Incident, more of the USA's involvement in Southeast Asia, since it was a battle against the Khmer Rouge soldiers of Cambodia and not the Vietnamese Viet Cong or PAVN(NVA). But thank you for your input. I always considered the Mayaguez Incident a mission that was hastily put together with too many contingencies that went wrong.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

[Goofbal19100]

On 1/29/2024 at 3:56 PM, ArtyScout said:

Hey everyone. Happy New Years to all. These holidays were rough, but I got through it. This simple diorama goes like this:

It's the morning of April 30, 1975, and a lone CH-46 Sea Knight responding to a radio call, during Operation Frequent Wind, lands on the rooftop of the US Embassy in Saigon. At 7:53am, it lifts off with the remainder of the embassy's Marine detachment, and the pilot announces over the radio; "Flight command, this is Swift 2-2, the last eleven are out!" And so, ends America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

 

 

do you have any references for the markings 

[ArtyScout]

On 6/5/2025 at 9:08 PM, Goofbal19100 said:

do you have any references for the markings 

Thanks Goofbal. I looked in different places for the Marine Helicopter Squadron and it was HMM-164, known as "The Knightriders" that was in Operation Frequent Wind, and the CH-46 chopper number(153993) is the actual number of the helicopter that landed on the Embassy roof helipad and picked up the last US Marines from the embassy with Master Sgt Juan Jose Valdez, being the last Marine to board that chopper.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny