Good Morning Campers, Point Man here. I was able to get quite a lot of photos at the Ft. Thomas show and I thought that I would start sharing some of them in the UPDATE. You can get a pretty good overview of the show by clicking on the link on the home page, but there are enough photos that I can fill in a little more detail on a good number of the displays that were there. We're going to start with my own display since I know it best.
My display was about Vietnam as told through my online series; VIETNAM STORY. The display was composed of a 1:6th diorama and 1:1 scale elements. My display included an information board that tried to explain just that.
Knowing that kids and adults would be viewing the display. I tried to give them a little bit of information about the real world history which provides the basis for my story. Since they would be looking at a diorama depicting a Vietnam firebase, part of what I wanted to do was explain what a firebase was. A portion of the board was also dedicated to talking about my 1:6th version of Vietnam.
In the series, Firebase Cooper is a base that supports brown water navy operation in one sector of the Mekong Delta. The base provides artillery support as well as logistical support for the Navy river boats. My particular unit of the 9th Infantry is there to protect the base.
The model of the base was built from insulation foam, which was mounted onto two frames made of a cheap pine. The resulting two-piece diorama is very light and easy to move. Once I had the general shape carved out. I covered the foam with a light layer of joint compound and then the entire thing was painted.
After a coat of latex paint was brushed on, I used various colors of spray paint to create the look of clay. Some texturing was then added with a white glue/water mixture to seal it.
Then details such as the boards on the ground, the oil drums, crates, etc. were added to the scene. The 155 mm howitzer is the Hasbro Korean gun. 155's were used in Vietnam as well. The observation tower is from World Peace Keepers. Both pieces were supplied to me by Dr. Zorkon. Thanks Doc!
The hardest, most time consuming part of the project was the 155 sandbags that grace the diorama. These were all sewn, filled and tied by Mrs. Point Man, who deserves the credit for making the diorama work.
As I said earlier though, the diorama was only part of the display. The other part consisted of the information board and the 1:1 display. The largest part of this section was the torso mannequin with the Vietnam Jungle Jacket (3rd pattern) and gear. I thought having a uniform as part of the display would be a neat way for the kids to see the connection between real world and the 1:6th models.
There were a lot of parts to the display, weapons, personal items, gear (such as the butt pack and flak jacket in this photo. A lot of personal gear as well - sunblock, a radio and a copy of Life Magazine from 1968, a packet of letters and a pack of Kools.
The centerpiece of the display was three glass cases. What most people viewing the items didn't realize was that all the items in the cases except the medals and patches were reproduction items made by myself. There were ration pack items and Vietnam personal documents. The center case contained "Doc's Diary" from VIETNAM STORY. It is an exact 1:1 reproduction of the diary in the story. I had to explain to several people that it was not a real diary, which gave me a chance to tell them about the website and the story.
Overall, I found building the display to be a very satisfying project. First of all, I needed the diorama for my story anyway, so it was just a matter of adding a 1:1 component to it for a more "educational" display. And the great thing is, I already have my display for next year done. I might change out some of the actors so that the scene is a little different, but it will be a whole lot easier to get ready for next year than it was this year.
That's all for this time, until next time, have a good one!
That's all for this time, until next time, have a good one!
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