Battalion Aid Station, Normandy, June 1944
After I built my US Army Dodge WC54 ambulance, it deserved a proper historical context — a Battalion Aid Station in a ruined farmhouse courtyard.
In the US Army, Battalion Aid Stations are the first line of medical treatment after battlefield first aid by medics or fellow soldiers. Wars of the 20th-century saw many conscientious objectors serving as non-combatants in the American armed forces, often as medics. Army medics served heroically, charging into battle alongside their armed comrades. Eleven received the Congressional Medal of Honor as a result of their actions in World War II.
My Battalion Aid Station is based on historical photographs from the Western Front in 1944 and 1945, after the Normandy Invasion on D-Day. Naturally, I had to convert a couple of the more immersive shots into black and white:
Though the muddy lane with the M3 half-track and hedgerow was an afterthought — one that nearly emptied my bin of plant pieces — I’m quite pleased with the result:
Because the subject matter fascinates me so much, I built a great deal of detail into this that you can’t see in a single photo. Check out the photoset on Flickr for more.
(I’ll be discussing some of the build process for my improved ambulance separately, because I think the role of constructive criticism in improving one’s models is something that deserves its own post.)
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:35 am
Skateboard ramp tent for the win! That has to be the best parts usage I’ve seen in months. It was such smooth modelling that at first I thought it was non-lego.
August 2nd, 2010 at 4:55 am
that green wall foliage reminds me of the video game MOH:AA (chapter ‘Battle of the Bulge’), where there’s lots of roads bordered by green walls like these. Good memories, and nice to see it reflected in a LEGO brick wall :) But where on earth do you find that amount of tree leaf bricks?
August 3rd, 2010 at 6:02 am
This is one of the best military dioramas that I have seen.