"The horror... In the jungles of Vietnam, the enemy is everywhere..."
Towards the Do Lung bridge...
"When we wage war, there is a time for pity and for tenderness; and there is a time for ruthlessness, well, what some call ruthlessness but which in many cases is merely lucidity. That is, a clear vision of what needs to be done and, directly, quickly, consciously, seriously."
Colonel W.E. KURTZ.
The release of the TAMIYA model of the American Vietnam PBR (river reconnaissance patrol boat) provided an opportunity to create a diorama depicting a scene from the Francis Ford Coppola film. On the way up the Nung, at the bend in a branch of the river, a helicopter burns, hanging in the trees, while Vietnamese civilians salvage anything that might be usable or moneyable. All this under the indifferent eye of the boat's crew, who continue on their way...
The diorama is created in forced perspective, using several scales.
A few quick sketches are useful for managing the diorama's configuration.
Similarly, drawings of the crew and props will enable you to modify the figures and provide the necessary detail...
Stills from the film will help with realization and coloring... The Vietnamese boats, in 1/35th scale, are VERLINDEN & DES KIT resins. The children are made from 1/48th scale figurines.
TAMIYA's PBR has been modified to resemble the film as closely as possible, as have the figurines. This is no easy task, since from one sequence to the next, several ships have been used, with significant differences in detail. The cabin roof is eliminated and remade from EVERGREEN brand rods (in the film, it burned). The fins are made from dried mimosa. The motor is added and made from surplus box parts. The bottom of the boat was cut out (waterline) before being inserted into the diorama base.
VEGETATION
The decor is composed of heather gathered from the forest. The coconuts: the trunks are maple sticks surrounded by a thin strip of overlapping bandage gauze. Palms are made from dried mimosa. Banana trees are made from feathers. There are two brass photoetched trees. The tree supporting the helicopter is a dead bonsai to which leaves and branches have been added. The whole is painted in several different greens using HUMBROL oil paint, starting from the darkest to the lightest shade to create a beautiful harmony. Dead trunks and branches are retouched after drying. The landscape in the background is painted with LIQUITEX acrylics, reinforcing the jungle's effect of depth.
