Some items, such as the ration boxes work well printed on card stock. Other items such as the cigarette packages require a thinner paper so that they fold well. I have a little hooked dental pick that I use to get glue onto the smaller pieces. I also use an xacto knife to cut out a lot of this stuff, rather than scissors, but you will have to decide what works best for you.

What you are seeing here today is not scale, so be patient, it is coming, plus a whole lot more.

That’s all for today, have a good one!

I particularly like the chuckwagon pantry insert. This thing is really cool and CK 2 has got some great detail items for his trail cook to make supper with (where are the Bush’s Beans?).


Below, we get a shot of the wagon being used as a supply wagon by some Union troops in a realistic setting. 

I am telling you, this piece can really add a ton of interest to a diorama, whether it is a Civil War scene like this or a Western scene. I do need to get busy and make me one of these.

Great job CK2!

During the Civil War, a traveling forge was specifically designed and constructed as a blacksmith shop on wheels to carry the essential equipment necessary for blacksmiths and artisans to both shoe horses and repair wagons and artillery equipment for both U.S. and Confederate armies during the American Civil War. An American Civil War era traveling forge contained 1200 pound of tools, coal and supplies. These tools and supplies included a bellows attached to a fireplace, a four-inch wide vise, 100 pound anvil, a box containing 250 pounds of coal, 200 pounds of horse shoes, four foot long bundled bars of iron, and on the limber was a box containing the smith’s hand tools. 
                                                                                        - Wikipedia, ©2009 

Fubar IV’s traveling battle forge is a truly marvelous model, pictures don’t do it justice. When you see this piece in combination with his limber and cannon battery, it literally “blows you away” (pun intended). The forge is an exacting miniature replica of the forges used by both armies during the civil war and features miniature tools and a operating bellows handle. 

Construction is similar to his cannon and limber models with wood, styrene and brass components being the majority of materials used. His wagon wheels use a superior technique to most of the homemade wagon wheels out there as his rims are made of a single piece of PVC cut in scale widths on a table saw. The wooden spoke are then pinned to the rim and the hub making for a very durable, functional wheel. 

The frame and box of the forge are made of wood and are accurately detailed with fittings made from styrene and brass. When I saw the model up close I was convinced that all of the parts were actually metal. It is beautiful work. Fubar has included a selections of tools. There is a vise mounted onto the frame of the forge and a anvil with miniature hammers. The vise and anvil are made of wood, but you would swear that they are cast iron because of the realistic painting. 

I won’t even begin to describe how Fubar has created a spring loaded bellows handle. All I can say was that I was very surprised when he removed the top of the forge to show me the mechanism. Speaking of that top, it is made of a piece of card stock, covered with thin copper sheet that you can buy at better hobby shops. It looks just like the real thing. On the back of the forge there is a tool/supply box with a hinged lid. Fubar plans to fill it with horseshoes eventually. 

The final piece of the model is a beautifully done blacksmith with real hair (faux fur) and real leather boots and apron. I particularly like the leather forearm protectors; a very realistic detail that adds greatly to the final appearance of the figure. All of Fubar’s figures get facial repaints with pastels. He does a really nice job of creating subtle life-like shading (most of my facial repaints end up looking like raccoons). He finishes off the repaint with a layer of dullcoat to protect his work. I don’t know about you guys, but I would love to have one of these setups for my 6th Georgia. This is one sweet piece and as you can see makes for a great diorama all by itself, imagine it with a battery of cannon and limbers.


I'll take three thank you, Well, that's all for this time, Until next time, have a good one!

Well... This weekend I have worked on my Vietnam display for the Ft. Thomas show. First, let me update you on the Cooper Firebase diorama. On Saturday I was able to get the holes and seams filled with some joint compound. I didn't use very much, just enough to fill cracks and seems. I really didn't want to increase the weight of the modules if I could help it.

Today, I was able to get a coat of latex paint on the modules, this is how the diorama currently looks. This took quite a while as I used some paint we already had and brushed it on by hand.

Here are the two modules from a slightly different angle. The bunker seems huge, but I really think it is going to be just right once everything is in the diorama. The addition of the tower and the howitzer do a nice job of balancing out the various parts of the scenery. I am planning to spray paint the diorama tomorrow night with a variety of different colors; black, dark brown, medium brown,  and a couple of different shades of a reddish tan. I like to overspray in such a way that all the various layer show up to some degree as I feel it creates a sense of depth (well sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't). Mrs. Point Man started working on sandbags this weekend too. She did the first five of a whole score of what will eventually be needed. This is what they look like. Try to imagine them building up the wall of the trench and gun pit as that is what they will eventually do.

This is perhaps not the most detailed picture, but she has found a material that has a nice scaled appearance of burlap. They have real sand in them and they stack and lay really nice. It is going to be very cool when they are all completed, They will probably make the overall diorama.


I ALSO WORKED ON THE 1:1 PART...
...of my display this weekend. Creating a lot of the paper items that I want to be part of the display.

My research of the various paper cards and documents held by average infantry soldiers during the Vietnam War began quite a while ago as I attempted to find suitable artwork for my 1:6th Projects. I only recently decided that I wanted to have these items in 1:1 scale and determined that I wanted to create authentic reproductions rather than spending the money that would be required to get my hands on originals. The result has been a rather fun and rewarding project that I will be able to show off in my display.

My Ace of Spades Death Card is based on an actual card used in Vietnam, but it is not an exact reproduction. I could have copied the art exactly, but I decided that I wanted a slightly unique look all my own and so I used a more contemporary looking Scull and Cross Bones. The death warning on the back of the card is also in French, rather than Vietnamese. By the way, that helmet band in the picture is made with actual material from the Vietnam War.

RATION PACK ACCESSORIES... to the best of my knowledge, these items are as correct as I can make them. I have had to scale them out from a Cigarette pattern found online. This is a ration pack flip top box of cigarettes containing just 4 cigarettes. It looks incredibly small to me, but all the pictures seem to bear out that this is the correct size. The other items were relatively scaled off of the book of matches. The copy is all correct.

Pocket and Wallet sized cards and pamphlets seemed to be one of the ways that the Army got important information into the hands of the Vietnam Infantryman. Here are four such items, the larges being a little four paged booklet called READY REFERENCE FACTS. There was also the two-sided card called, NINE RULES (of Conduct), another folding card called, THE ENEMY IN YOUR HANDS, which gave rules for prisoner treatment. And finally in this group another folding card which featured tips on Booby Traps. All of these examples were put out by MACV.

Three examples of Wallet sized cards. On the left, a Geneva Convention Card, In the center, a Meal Card and on the right, a Liberty Pass; the meal card is the only two sided card in the group.

The outside of the 4 fold MACV Ration Card and a Business Card for a local Taxi Driver in Bangkok; this was an actual card. Again, you can get the relative size by the book of matches. Everything has been weather to create the illusion of aged and wallet beaten items.


Well, that is what I worked on this weekend. I will be eager to hear what everyone else has been doing. Catch you later,
Have a good one!

I have always been a big Sci Fi nut and some of my favorite characters are from the Star Wars saga, which for those of you into Star Wars, is a collection of stories that goes way beyond what is in the movies; we call it THE EXPANDED UNIVERSE. That expanded universe gives fans a lot of license to create their own characters or different versions of well known characters. The release of Medicom and Sideshow’s Stormtroopers and Clone Troopers thrilled the hearts of Star Wars fans (until we saw the price). They priced me right out of the market. Not too long ago I got my Hasbro figures out of a box in the basement and began wondering whether or not I could improve some of my figures. I knew I could never get them to the quality of the items that are being release now, but I thought I might be able to make considerable improvements. 

The expanded universe certainly gave me a little license to “replace” some items with pieces from the scrap box. The picture to left shows an original boxed Hasbro figures. The basic problem with the Hasbro figure out of the box was the bulkiness of the pieces because Hasbro placed them on a HALL OF FAME figure (remember those? shudder...). For the project to be a success, I would need to be able to cut down the armor and fit it onto a smaller figure. Each of my armor pieces overlaps in back and has a simulated “velcrotype” closure system to make it look plausable. It works pretty well as far as the look goes (not your standard stormtrooper armor, but perhaps something used on the backwater worlds of the “Outer Rim”). 

I found with my first figure that the armor will tighten up nicely around a Dragon figure and they look pretty fair compared to the Sideshow version. I immediately began scouring the internet and managed to pick up four additional Hasbro Stormtroopers to fill out the ranks of my squad. All together my investment in stormtroopers is less than the price of one Sideshow figure. That does fit into my budget. 

One other problem with the Hasbro armor was that there was no shoulder piece armor. I created mine by cutting apart a 21st Century German helmet (one helmet per shoulder). It is not accurate, but since my unit is a specialized unit, I can create a reason for the special armor (ah... that expanded universe). The Hasbro body suits not only have an opening in the back which is stiched together, the legs of the suit are glued to the figure and consequently the boots. These need to be carefully removed so that you still have a body suit when you are done. This is probably the most time consuming part of the entire process. One other warning, the original Hasbro troopers are still fairly cheap, but there is also a later “Trilogy” version which has a few improvements and a much higher price.

This is my communicator trooper without helmet, prior to getting his radio backpack. None of the graphics had been added yet.

Partially completed Sergeant with chest graphic. All my graphics on finished troopers are hand painted, or are computer generated and glued on. The Mandalorian Sculls take a bit of time to paint, but they are not really that hard to do.

Finished officer figure is your basic Hasbro uniform on a Dragon figure with a better pair of boots, a leather belt and a pair of German gloves. I also reworked his insignia and his little data tool.

My weapons are specific to the Mandalorian Mountain Troops. They were created out a variety of German and Modern weapons. It doesn't take a whole lot of analysis to figure out what I used. I tried to go for a family-type appearance to the weapons though, so that they would look like they belong together.


Those of you who have gotten the email UPDATE for the last few months have seen pictures of my finished Stormtroopers before, so I won't bore you with more of them here, I just thought you might like to see how they came about. This is really not that hard of a project and relatively cheap to do in comparison to buying Sideshow or Medicom figures. If you have one, or know where you can pick one up cheap, give it a try. Sci-Fi projects are great because you are not modeling something historic, there is always room for interpretation. I have a few more Star Wars projects in my future (in a galaxy far, far away).


That's it for this week, it all starts again on Sunday night, until next time, have a good one!

Fubar IV’s custom Morgan Earp figure from the action movie “TOMBSTONE” is truly a one of a kind custom. Morgan was played by Bill Paxton in the movie. Starting with a handpainted resin sculpt, Fubar completed the figure with handmade pants, vest, coat, shirt dicky and tie. And yes, he also crafted the gunbelt from tooling leather and made the hat from felt. Pictures don’t do this figure justice. It is incredibly lifelike. You expect it to command you to “reach for the sky”.

Number two in the series, Fubar IV’s custom Wyatt Earp figure from the action movie “TOMBSTONE”. Wyatt was played by Kurt Russell in the movie. This figure is also a beautifully done custom, starting with a handpainted resin sculpt. Fubar completed the figure with handmade pants, vest, coat, shirt dicky and tie. And yes, like his Morgan figure, he also crafted the gunbelt from tooling leather and made the hat from felt. He has truly captured the feel of the Russell portrayal from the film.

Number three in the series is the “Doc” Holiday figure from the action movie “TOMBSTONE”. Played by Val Kilmer in the film, this is another beautiful example of Fubar’s incredible work. The clothes and shoulder rig were all handmade by him. How about that vest? This figure also has real hair done with faux fur. Fubar uses water and hairspray to shape the hair into the style he is looking for. This is just one sharp looking figure, certainly one that I wish I had in my collection. Actually, all three would be welcomed with open arms.

I know that Fubar also had a sculpt for Virgil Earp, played by Sam Elliot. I don't know if he ever got around to doing that figure, but I am sure that it would look as good as these. They are truly THE BEST OF THE WEST. 


Well that's all for this time, until next time, have a good one!

Vietnam Story is the story of infantry combat in Southeast Asia. The story is told through the Journal of combat medic, ‘DOC’ Thompson. The feel of the story is entirely “first-person”. I wanted to create a sense of anticipation in the story by giving it a “real-time” feeling. Writing the first episode, I found that this is more difficult than I anticipated and I spent a lot of time correcting my dialog. 

I have always had a strong interest in the Vietnam conflict having grown up in the generation that watched it on the news each night. I received my Selective Service card not long after the fall of Saigon, so certainly Vietnam was on my mind a great deal during its closing days. Fan’s of Green Leader’s Ultimate Soldier Fan Site have long been familiar with my online comics such as the Haunted Tank and the First Generation. I also did a Vietnam series based on a PBR skipper and his crew. 

Upon moving from Colorado to Ohio, I left the PBR with someone I knew in Denver. After being in Ohio a while the Vietnam bug bit me again and I began to think about improving my Vietnam era troops. As I looked through my Vietnam troops and gear I realized that what I had was all over the board and none of it really looked all that good. I decided that I would put together an infantry squad and that I would try to make it look as first class as I could. I decided how many figures I wanted to put in that squad (based mostly on the number of uniforms I had available) and then I began to order gear from Echo Base Toys. My infantry soldiers would have real canvas pouches, belts and harnesses and the jungle boots would be constructed from real material and leather. I chose to buy TOY SOLDIER gear for these upgrades. I have heard a lot of complaints about their boots as compared to NEWLINE MINIATURES, but the price was right for me and I decided that I would make them work. The figures in my unit are all Dragon figures. I also ordered some olive drab strap material in a couple of different widths from GOOD STUFF TO GO. I used this to put new straps on some equipment items as well as for rifle straps. 

Helmets and helmet covers came from a variety of sources. Actually my favorite helmet cover is the one made by SOLDIERS OF THE WORLD. It stretches on most helmets nice and tight and once weathered with some pastels looks quite realistic. The straping material was used to make new chinstraps for all of my helmets as well as helmet bands. I have seen a lot of different helmet bands out there, but the one on my 1:1 Scale helmet is olive drab in a stretchy canvas-like material. That is what I tried to duplicate. I also used helmet covers from Dragon and Sideshow, all of which got some degree of pastel weathering. 

Unit patches (9th Infantry) name tapes, etc were all done in ADOBE INDESIGN and were printed on fabric paper with an inkjet printer. I also did a lot of online searching to find a lot of different kinds of Vietnam era paper items, everything from military script and manuals to Playboy magazines. If anyone is interested in that sort of stuff, I have some good quality images that I am willing to share, already sized. 

It took me a couple of weeks to get the unit put together and then I pulled out my collection of fake plants and got to work on putting together the four different scenes that make up the first episode. I tried to get the “Jungle” as thick as I could so that I could eliminate as much background removal as possible. After a shoot, I spend most of my “post-production” time in photoshop removing backgrounds and substituting basement walls with realistic scenery. I wanted to cut that time down as much as possible, so I used a really dark background behind the foliage and tried to keep the shots fairly tight. There was still a lot of clipping, but it went fairly quick. The final touch was to add diary pages into the final art. The diary pages carry through a lot of the narration in a first-person real time manner, giving the impression that Doc Thompson is telling us the story as it happens. He also tells us that he is scared and that he worries about doing well under fire. If you write those sort of things in third-person, they come from outside of the character and they are not nearly as effective in their impact. 

Doc Thompson, besides being the platoon medic, is an artist. His drawings dot the pages of the diary. The drawings were actually done in photoshop with a filter. I got the idea for the artwork from an actual medic’s diary that I found online. I just thought that it would add an additional dimension to the character. 

The first two episodes of Vietnam Story have posted on Green Leader’s site at this point in time and the troops there seem to really like it. I think the reason that it did well is that there hasn’t been a lot done with Vietnam storylines in 1:6th even though most of us have some interest in the subject matter. I have several more episodes planned for the series, but haven’t been motivated to build some scenery that I need until just recently. The number of troops in my command have grown as well and though I haven't been able to do all of them with the expensive gear, they all look fairly good. If you haven't seen any of Vietnam Story, you can catch it on my site, which is listed on the Home page of the SSCC.


That's all for now, until next time, have a good one!

This is a subject I have written about previously in the email UPDATE, but I made a little progress this weekend and so I thought I would share. Actually, there were two projects that I have going related to my Ft. Thomas display and I made progress on both. In case you are not familiar with this project, it is two fold. First, I have been needing a firebase set for my VIETNAM STORY series. Patrols in the jungle are all well and good, but occasionally you have to show something else. Second, I figured that the firebase module could serve as a display piece in a Vietnam display for the Ft. Thomas show.

So far, it is just a lot of Styrofoam. The part on the left (pink insulation foam) was the part that I previously completed. It includes a section of trench, a mortar pit or fox hole, a bunker, which opens into a room in the back of the module and a second recessed area that will become a fake bunker. The second section is basically a gun pit for the 155 mm howitzer. Now that the basic landscape for the two modules is done, I will go back and fill in the seams between all the various sections of Styrofoam, then I will paint the entire diorama with some latex paint to sort of seal the foam before spray painting.

Once I have the latex primer on the foam, I will spray paint the entire diorama with a variety of spray paints, starting out with flat black and then going to a couple of different shades of brown. Finally, I found a paint at Joann's called Terra Cotta. There is a lot of clay in Vietnam and during the dry seasons the fire bases were often know for the fine red dust that got on everything. In the rainy season, it was red mud. The Terra Cotta does a nice job of simulating that dry clay soil. 
The finished diorama will have sandbags all across the little ridge that runs along the front of the diorama to build up the side of the trench and the gun pit. I figure probably two layers of bags along the pit and maybe as many as four in front of the gun pit. There will probably be sand bags in a few other spots as well, but along the front is where 90% of them will be.

105 mm and 155 mm howitzers seemed to be the main artillery pieces in Vietnam as far as I can determine. The 9th, which I model, had both. The 155 is one big gun and requires quite a bit of real estate in a module of this size, but I really like the gun and it was a great price thanks to Dr. Zorkon. The good Doctor also provided me with a World Peacekeepers Observation Tower. I had made a tower out of wood, but I really wanted the World Peacekeepers version because of its similarity to the tower I had been using in my background photos.

Right now that howitzer looks pretty exposed, but I think once the sandbags are in place, it should look pretty good. I plan to add a lot of detail to the entire scene. The bunker and the fake bunker will have blackout sheets across the entrances. The bunker with the room will feature a communications setup that I can use in my VIETNAM story. Since it will not be visible at Ft. Thomas, I have a different form of communications in mind. I am thinking about putting a recorder inside the bunker with recordings of Vietnam Radio from 1968 (there's a place online where you can get these recordings). Some of the other details will be fuel drums and gas cans, crates and ammo boxes, ammunition for the 155 mm, barbed wire, claymores, etc, etc. I have a ton to do to the diorama still, but at least we made some progress this weekend. 
The other project was some more 9th Infantry Grunts. My plan is to have two squads of 9th infantry, so that my Lt's platoon, well... looks a little more platoonish. I had five figures that I was working on this weekend and I "completed" four of them. The fifth guy is show in the diorama pictures above. He's got a little detailing to go obviously. Here are the other four.

So far we have the squad Sergeant with a shotgun, a Rifleman, an M-60 Gunner and a RTO. These figures aren't quite as detailed as my first squad (I used Dragon gear instead of Toy Soldier, but I really can't afford any more of the Toy Soldier stuff, plus it's hard to find). Anyway, the guys of second squad are my second stringers and they can be a little less detailed as a result. That said, they are still getting some upgrades on some of the gear, so they really don't look that shabby.


Well... that is what I did this weekend. I would be interested in hearing what everyone else did this weekend. Let's hear from you. Until next time, have a good one!