Dog Green Sector, Omaha Beach, June 1944

[spanner570]

Dog Green Sector, Omaha Beach, June 6th 1944

O.K. folks, here is my contribution to the Jan. G.B.

I have a special interest in Normandy and D.Day, as not only have I read tons of books on the subject, but my son has visited the area, being a 101st Airborne nut!

He brought some photos for me to see..Pegasus Bridge, Carantan, Point d Hoc and all the invasion beaches. We were discussing the pictures when he showed me some of Omaha beach and the U.S Cemetery just up off the beach.

I asked him what it was like, he didn't answer.....

My son was all choked up. It was a while before he composed himself enough to talk about Omaha. He said he knew there were many Allied soldiers killed on D.Day, but he couldn't get to grips with the slaughter that occured in minutes at Omaha.

This gave me the idea for the project, so I am going to make 3 small dioramas and give the landing one to my son..

Similar to both Paul and John Reid's 'Story mode' but nowhere near as involved or ambitious, I will try and depict the day of that awful beach landing......

Here are the 1/35 dioramas:-

The landing

The assault

The capture

There will be approx 24 figures, American and German, most of whom will need to be altered from what is in the box, particularily the American landing.

I intend to keep the models simple and focussed, no armour or LCP's., but as usual I will assess things as I proceed.

Lots of new challenges, as not many pictures survive from the actual landing (Thanks to an idiot in the processing lab!) and the sea was rough, so a bit of guesswork is called for.

I will post pictures of the boxes later and the mutilation of the figures!

Cheers all,

Ron

[spanner570]

Here are the box art pictures:-

I made the machine gun group some time ago, and had thought to 'alter' them, but have decided to get a new set instead. Included in the first picture are a couple of figures from my bit box.

Poor pictures, but you can see what they are, just!

Thanks,

Ron

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[Guest]

This is a build I will be following very closely. I too have a big interest in D-day and the Normandy invasion. It is something that I have thought about doing myself, once I get a few more models under my belt. Although I have never visited the area myself, but it is the one place I would truely love to go. If nothing more than to be able to pay my respects to the brave souls that fought so valiantly and bravely for our modern day freedoms we sometimes take for granted.

Andy

[stona]

Not specifically Omaha beach but there are some great D Day photographs here.

Captured: The 65th Anniversary of D-Day on the Normandy Beaches | Plog

Steve

[tr1ckey66]

Sounds like a great plan Ron. I actually think that your 3 dioramas will make more of a story than my one. I'm trying to get more of a strategic overview where you seem to be following a group. Are you depicting the Rangers assault on Point du Hoc or the 29th Infantry landings or both? Looking forward to this...

Cheers

Paul

[spanner570]

Nice words Andy.

Paul, I'm just doing the 29th at Dog Green Sector. Point Du Hoc is around 4 miles west of this part of Normandy. so I will just concentrate on the beach and the immediate area aroung the Vierville Draw. Please don't expect an exact 'Re-enactment' down to the 'enth degree, the dios will just be my best shot at interpreting the landings.....

Ron

[tr1ckey66]

Excellent Ron I'm sure you'll do the US landings proud!

Likewise my efforts will be my best interpretation and, although I'll try to be as accurate as I can, there will have to be a bit of artistic licence.

Looking forward to it.

Paul

[Centurion3RTR]

I always look forward to your builds Ron but i think this one is going to be special.

Have fun, John

[spanner570]

Not specifically Omaha beach but there are some great D Day photographs here.Captured: The 65th Anniversary of D-Day on the Normandy Beaches | Plog

Steve

Thanks for the words of encouragement chaps, could well need them! lol

Thanks also to you Steve for taking the time to post these pictures, great images.

There are very few photos of the actual first and second wave landings on Omaha. In case anyone is interested, here's why....

There were movie cameramen with the U.S. Signals Corps who were in the first wave assault, but when the reels were given over to be taken to England they were dropped overboard whilst being transferred to a ship and lost forever.

The famous combat photographer Robert Capa went ashore with the second wave at Omaha and took 106 still images on 4 spools of film. These were safely delivered to the photo lab. Unfortunately, due to a processing error 3 1/2 spools were ruined and of the remainder only 8 were saved, all blurred due to the same error.

Robert Capa was killed in 1954 filming with the French forces in Indo China. He got out of his jeep to film the action and stood on a land mine...

Ron

[AlanG]

Some more pics for you Ron

Normandy 1944: Photographs - Omaha Beach

[spanner570]

Some more pics for you RonNormandy 1944: Photographs - Omaha Beach

Thanks Allyne, cracking photos.

This set show nicely the gap in the photos of Omaha due to the tragic loss of footage.

The first couple of shots or so, would seem to be from the first or even second wave, see how far the tide is out and how far the men had to go to find cover behind the shingle bank. Also the obstacles are clear of the water. Then we should have had the lost footage....

All the subsequent photos look like they have been taken later in the assault, still a mess though...See how the tide is right up to the shingle, allowing the LC's to get almost right up to it.

Very informative, thanks again Al.

Ron

[spanner570]

I'll have to get moving on this as the bride has the camping maps out!!!

Here is the progress so far:-

I have made a start on the figure alterations. o.O .B. they were not in the poses I wanted, i.e. lying or kneeling, so I have had to alter them.

I won't bore the pants off you showing the alteration of all 20 odd figures, but I will show just two and how I altered them.

No.1 is the squad leader. I wanted him on his knees trying to give orders.

No.2 is wounded and I wanted to try and convey a look of shock and bewilderment at what was going on around him

I have neither the skill nor patience to alter my figures using copper wire to produce great figures like Paul's in his Kursk dio.

I resorted to using a junior hacksaw to cut the limbs, then filed the plastic until the joints were at the right angle, glue them together and finished off using model filler where required.

The pictures show the stages of the 'operation'

Please don't try this at home, if you do, make sure you put everything back where you found it!!!

Hopefully, I will post more progress soon.

Cheers,

Ron

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[AlanG]

Cracking start there Ron

[Guest]

Great work Ron, really impressive.

Andy

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Ron

Great start to the figures. The wire method I adopted for figure alts is only one way to skin the cat! I simply couldn't get the poses I wanted by cutting the parts, but any means to get the effect you're after is a good one and you seem to be mastering this one. The poses look terrific.

All the best

Paul