Building the Battle of the Hue
Bricks cut from cork used to show partial construction of roof
Small details on abandoned roof construction project as battle rages
Buildings showing extensive battle damage during the house to house fighting for the city
Dead Marines wrapped in their ponchos sculpted out of 2 part putty. I made my own as there are no commercial figures to depict this part of the battle.
Details that were made or converted to show objects that can be found on any urban battle field
Communications pole found throughout SE Asia constructed from plastic and detailed with rust colored paints
Detail pieces under construction
Burned out jeep-took a commercial jeep and using wire and metal shavings and mixtures of paint colors turned it into a casualty of war.
Detail of destroyed Jeep-note flattened tires. Burned seats were constructed with wire
Base under construction
Temple grounds under construction using craft store plants
Base under construction built on pink foam insulation. River bank is made from celluclay and water is epoxy magic water product.
Silicone is used to seal the perimeter of the river before ouring in the epoxy, which can leak out of the tiniest pinhole as I have unfortunately found out the first time I used the product
Craft store plants are airbrushed with multiple shades of greens and browns
Various plants and trees bought on ebay are then painted using an airbrush in various shades of green after a first coat of black primer
Celluclay mixed with acrylic paint is used for groundcover. The cracked, asphalt roadway is made from cork and textured with AK Asphalt paint is
Toy trucks bought on ebay can be detailed, painted and battle damaged to heighten the realistic combat scene. to
Weathering and painting battle damaged vehicles and metal accessories done with acrylic paints. Hair spray after a base coat of rust colors can then be scraped off with water and a toothpick to show realistic damaged effects
The diorama in progress realistically shows a typical street in Hue as I saw it in 1969, the year after Tet, where most of the damage was still prevalent.
Construction of the temple. I cast the walls in plaster after making initial clay and wood samples. The gates were from an old Verlinden kit that I converted using 2 part putty. The inserts were from chinese charms found on line.
The road was made of cork covered and textured with acrylic modelling paste and then painted in various shades of black and grey
The right 3 buildings were constructed out of foam core board and glued using Elmer’s white glue. The doors and windows were made from Evergreen plastic strips. The sliding doors are corrugated metal pieces.. The signs were taken off the internet from real VN pictures
The base was made from pink foam insulation, while the stree is made from cork, and the sidewalk from Depron foam board
I constantly dry fitted the pieces as they were constructed to insure the visual harmony and sighlines of the diorama as it was constructed.
I constantly shifted the accessories and figures to make mini vignettes, each telling a story of the battle as it raged on.
The signs were downloaded from the net, then stressed and weather before attaching. Note the battle damage and bullet holes which covered every building that I saw even a year later.Note the rust stains on the doors and windows. The broken glass was made from clear plastic containers cut to size.
The corner pharmacy was made of cork, and the windows and doors made from Evergreen plastic pieces. The coke machine and gas pump were found on ebay and then battle damaged and weathered with acrylics
The Buddhist temple before painting. The gate was constructed from pieces found in a local chinese restaurant I;ve had in my parts box for years. NOticed there are no parallel pieces, which is an old diorama trick.
The scene under construction
Trees found on ebay and painted with acrylics
The string light batteries attached to the back of the walls for easy access to turn them on and off
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