28mm Streets of Hue

Thank you. I just finish the USO street section (20cm x 10cm). I will paint USO NAM instead of USO SAIGON on it, if I use it for Hue diorama.
Next will be the MACV building, two houses along Highway 1, in front of the Duy Tan Hotel and the Esso gas station at the crossroads.

To the US  embassy, I will just add a 20cm wall section in which I will do the breach. I add a tower to improve the similitude with a medieval castle. the (future) embassy building will be a simple 20cm x 10cm block with a swimming pool on the top.


I also started the buildings in front of the "big gates": a MACV building (doors, curtains, fences and pergola still to do) and a house part of the compound. Another house is WIP as the Esso gas station for which I only have the pole in 1/43.



When this street section will be over, I will progress to the rest of the town (as the Marines...) to join the bases I already made.

excellent stuff

I have just been catching up - what amazing work!

You are the architect of the forum!!

Tom

Hello, my last addition to my WIP diorama is the (similar to) Esso gas station at the corner of the Hue MACV Compound. Not a lot of photos from it so I extrapolated.
I used a Esso pin, Esso pole from a 1/43 garage on eBay and broken window is made with a mobile phone protection screen that I found in the street (very realistic indeed). The Esso tank is not accurate but I only had that. Some barbed wires, some tyres and this base will be complete.
Walls texturing is only plaster + PVA glue: I just tapped slowly with my finger: it is fast and enough for my painting rendering objective.

Looking good.

Very nice!

Really nice. I love gas stations in Vietnam games. I also have an Esso station. I would love to have the signage for a CALTEX station.

With my Esso station, one of my friends who was also in Vietnam questioned Esso being there. I have no recollection of seeing an Esso station myself, but I had found a photo of one, so that solved that problem.

Tom

Thank you. Since the beginning of my diorama project, I use mainly this bank of images ( here by searching "esso" in this gallery https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=13476480%40N07&view_all=1&text=esso ). I can find photos of quite everything I search there (like Saigon US Embassy, civilian trucks, Hue citadel walls, city life scenes, etc ) very complete. This allow me to be close to historical accuracy.
There are also some photos about CALTEX. ( https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=13476480%40N07&view_all=1&text=caltex )

Great-looking buildings.

I read the book Fuelling the War by a Shell executive.
Mostly post 1970 but interesting none the less
Fuelling The War: Revealing An Oil Company's Role In Vietnam https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/075677473X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VCK5W75DYRH0GW8BAZQ5

Richard those photos you provided links to are great. I love all the scenes not just the Esso and CalTex signs. They brought back memories of my time there near the end of the war, '71-'72. Thanks for providing those links.

Tim, I never would have thought of there being a book like Fuelling the War. I may not want to buy it, but I would like to get it from the library, probably via inter-library loan. Thanks for providing that link.

Tom

Yes. Definitely a library rather than buy. It is of interest but doesn’t give much in the way for gaming. Lots of politics.

Hello,
I have completed my first display diorama, that is a street section of Highway One in front of MACV Compound. Some extra elements will be added after, like trees.
I will finally start painting... It is very long indeed. Not sure to extend it soon.
It is 1m x 80cm. I then realize what would take a decent wargame terrain for the battle of Hue in 28mm... For the new city battle, to have the MACV Compound, Chemistry and Music rooms, University, Jeanne D'arc and Le Loi schools, the Post office and the Treasury buildings plus the Parfume river bank with some old French villas (where VCs were entrenched), it would take easily 3m x 1,6m in 28mm.

And for my second display diorama, that is a Hue or Saigon street section, I just finished also the street corners. Will see the final rendering when painted and completed with advertising billboards.
They are inspired by pictures of that time.

Beautiful work Richard! This is a thing of beauty indeed.

Incredible attention to detail.

outstanding!

Thank you. Painting job has started. Always with several shades of grey and turquoise. It is a kind of primer job because I don't exclude to highlight the buildings more if too dark all together. On historical photographs colors of the buildings are more beige, ivory and white than grey. But grey is a good base. I will test later with some advertising hand painted shops signs/billboards.

Here with Gringo40s figures:

And an update for shop fronts: I tempted to reproduce a pattern that I could see on many pictures.

outstanding indeed

Beautiful work.

Interesting pattern, was it historically glazed porcelain tile? Seems a very Art Deco sort of thing I've seen in other French Colonial remnants during the 50s and 60s, like Algeria. Nicely done!