UH-34 in the Padi

[rtfoe]

Hi,
Now with the crew figures done we'll move onto the planning of the dio base...

First I had a piece of plywood measured and cut. I had to make sure while placing the heli that the rotors would stay within the dimensions of the base. I then marked and drew the positions of the helicopter, the raised paddy bunds and the diameter rings that would make the water ridges from the rotor splash.

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After deciding the securing point on the heli and drilling a hole I fashioned a stand from stiff clothe hanger wire and fastened it down with nails...

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I surrounded the edge of the plywood with timber bidding and painted it black with half an inch border edge. This would be where the water and paddy would stop where masking tape would be placed.

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Checked that the heli hover height was adequate and angle satisfactory I moved onto adding the bund...

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The paddy bunds were cross sections cut from strips of polysterene foam glued on and later was carved.

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More to come later. Comments are welcomed.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Hi,
I went back to the heli and did the decals after a couple of coats of Future laid on and cured. The other thing I did was to reverse the main rotor blade sag. The kit came with very nice blades that were bent with realistic sag mounted on the sprue. Unfortunately that was for a grounded heli...mine was in the air so I had to soak them in hot water and bend them the opposite direction just like the accompanying photo...

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I mixed a batch of polyfilla and applied to the base. A large stiff brush was used to apply the filla and also create the wave pattern following the marked circles.

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In between the waves I smoothed down with my fingers. Picking up bits of polyfilla on my index finger I built up some higher waves. All this was left to dry and cure. To avoid cracks was to mix the filla into a thick paste like bread dough.

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Next painting the base and adding the paddy. I hope you guys are able to follow so far.

Cheers,
Richard

[Wouter]

Wow Richard, first of all, nice paintwork, love the subtle preshade. Work on the crew is cool as well. But the really eyecatcher will be the groundwork no doubt. Nice start, really looking forward to see how this one develops!

Cheers

[rtfoe]

Hey Wouter, thanks...ok, this is how we plant paddy...

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...it's literally the same as real paddy planting, stalk by stalk but in this case batch by batch. Before the laborious planting, the base was painted and foliage and grass was built up against the side of the bunds. Then a heavy coating of gloss varnish acted as the waves and waterlogged field. I used lacquer brush bristles for the paddy and initially sprayed them the appropriate green and stuck them in batched using a flat tweezer and gel superglue starting from the outer circle and directed away from the center of the prop wash. I later decided the paint the paddy bristles after attaching them as real base stems of paddy were the same colour as the original colour of the brush bristles.

I used up two brushes for this process.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

I guess nobody likes rugby on a rain soaked pitch. As for football, I once played on a pitch that was one half dry and the other with turf that looked perfectly cut and flat until we ploughed into it...we were knee deep in water. So you could say I have real experience in the dio I'm constructing. :smiling6:

After sticking all the bristles, I sprayed the tips with medium green and then the tops with light green.

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Itrimmed the edges and removed the masking tape protecting the base edges.

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I obviously sprayed the green without the heli in place. The armeture made it easy to remove the heli and re-attaching.

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I would later paint white caps onto the waves. Some vegetation I found and preserved from one of my hikes were attached sparingly along the edges of the bund and around the armeture to disguise it.

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From here onwards the dio stayed this way for the next few years until I started on the figures. Lucky for you you will not have to wait that long...it's coming up next.

Cheers,
Richard

[scottie3158]

Richard,
Lovely work with great patience on the planting.

[Steve Jones]

Certainly a labour of love Richard. You have really captured the moment. Outstanding work!!

[rtfoe]

Thanks Paul(Scottie) and Steve, your comments are so kind.

The crew chief at the window has had his thumbs up for nearly more than two years, so it was about time the reason for showing it is about to be shown....they're the troop that the UH-34 had just dropped off. A squad of ARVN with a US officer in the lead.

I used figures from the Italeri Iwo Jima flag raising set with modifications and back packs made out of two part putty.

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Extra arms came from the box of Preiser figures I had. The radio man's pack was just laminated plastic card cut into a box shape with cut pieces of rod and strips for knobs and buttons.

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I found an M-60 from a set of modern Marines that someone gave to me as spares. I would be arming the ARVN with surplus WW2 arms apart from the M-60.

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The fuselage you see in the last photo was the F-27 I was building at the time. The ARVN are not quite finished yet so stick around.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Hi,

The machine gunner with the M60 or Pig looked a little plain no doubt he was modified to carrying it on his shoulders. So I got some tin foil, cut it into strips and engraved it with the back of a blade. This gave it a pattern that looked like a belt of M60 rounds.

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I draped the engraved foil strips over the figure and also made some hang out of the M60 breech.

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Cheers,
Richard

[JR]

Richard.
Thanks for that explanation of the paddy fields. :thumb2:
Thought the step by step photos of the base and build up to the completed field showed just perfectly the planning needed to accomplish such a diorama. Brilliant.
John.

[rtfoe]

Thanks for commenting John, the dio was done so long ago that I have difficulty remembering the steps and the fact that all the photos from the past forum were jumbled up and not in sequence. Sorting them out again is quite nostalgic. Also reveals areas that I could have improved had I known how then.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Hi,
This is the pre-amputation images. They just remind me of the movie "Toy Story" where I can still hear R Lee Erney's voice soldiering his men (all plastic green GI's) on to save Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

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The Marine advisor officer spots a soft cap or Utility Cover. He carries the early M-16 that he probably got from special forces or Airforce. The ARVN carry pre WW2 carbines and the M-60.

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They all carry packs made from putty and have re-positioned arms and legs. See the guy that's waving...he's the long lost fella signalling the crew chief.

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They'll be sent to the operating room to be amputated just below the knee so that they look like wading in knee deep water logged paddy fields.

Cheers,
Richard

[minitnkr]

Ronald Lee Ermey's voice is truly distinctive and well practiced as he was a Marine Drill Instructor before being an actor. Semper Fi.
PaulE

[rtfoe]

Ronald Lee Ermey's voice is truly distinctive and well practiced as he was a Marine Drill Instructor before being an actor. Semper Fi.
PaulE

Paul, he'll be missed if there's another Toy Story movie.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Super work on the base. Great figures too. Nice.