Heroes of the Home Front (2 Viewers)

[Rob]

Residents of London and its suburbs in 1940 faced many dangers , trials and privations. Death from the skies, sudden loss of friends and loved ones, accidents in the blackout, homelessness, food rationing, lack of sleep and the constant fear of what may confront them each morning following the previous nights air raid. On top of all this there was the danger from Unexploded bombs. Unexploded bombs had the potential to cause havoc.As well as the fear, anxiety and inconvenience the UXB caused they closed roads, railways, Gas, water works and factories vital to the War effort. The public need help.

Step forward the men of the Bomb Disposal Squads. These incredibly brave heroes of the home front risked their lives day after day to clear the streets, roads, railways and rooftops of these lethal time bombs. Learning as they went they had to keep up with the Germans who contrived new tricks and booby traps designed to kill members of the Bomb Disposal squads.

Here in a typical London suburb we see the BDS in action. On its discovery every UXB was rated by its location and what infastructure or industry it threatened. This rating decided its ranking in UXB's to be defused.Time was often of the essence as often these bombs could explode almost straight away while others were set to explode up to seventy two hours later.

 

[Rob]

The building has been propped by the BDS to stop it falling in on them during their work, the BDS often had to carry out repair or support work once they assessed the situation. Once the surrounding area had been made safe, the Bomb Disposal Officer would send others away from the excavation, no point risking more lives than they had to. During the operation a member of the team would be behind cover listening from a distance and would alert the officer if the clock started ticking.

 

[wwiibuff]

Great thread and great dios and pictures Rob. Nice tribute to those heros of the war.

Tell us more about the dios themselves and how you put it all together. Excellent work my friend.{sm4}

 

[Rob]

 

[Rob]

The whole operation is carried out with the full co-operation with Police and ARP services who cordon off the area and keep the public away. The bomb is made safe and the public can go about their daily routine again.

Guys, I couldn't make this dio without featuring the two Tillys, but in reality no vehicles would be as near as this to the UXB for fear of vibration starting the clock again.

 

[Rob]

 

[wwiibuff]

I guess I posted too soon Rob, didn't know you had so many pictures to post.^&grin More excellent pictures. Thanks for taking the time to make them and then share with us.

 

[Partner]

great dio Rob , I really like the officer with his greatcoat over his arm .

Great job
Kirk

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Excellent work Rob, from the supported building, to the rubble to the seamless English Village backdrop.

Terry

 

[Mitch]

Rob....

Simply superb dio and, a great narrative to the brave brits who faced what Hitlers Luftwaffe chucked at us night after night for a very long time.

This is the best dio that you have created by far and the groundwork is excellent well done!!!
Mitch

 

[rossim1]

Very nice work rob, looks great in every way.

 

[Rob]

I guess I posted too soon Rob, didn't know you had so many pictures to post.^&grin More excellent pictures. Thanks for taking the time to make them and then share with us.

great dio Rob , I really like the officer with his greatcoat over his arm .

Great job
Kirk

Excellent work Rob, from the supported building, to the rubble to the seamless English Village backdrop.

Terry

Rob....

Simply superb dio and, a great narrative to the brave brits who faced what Hitlers Luftwaffe chucked at us night after night for a very long time.

This is the best dio that you have created by far and the groundwork is excellent well done!!!
Mitch

Thanks guys, thats really so kind of you and I very much appreciate those words.

Duke,

What happened was way back at the London show Christmas 2010 Andy told me what he had up his sleeve with these sets and asked me about the tv series ' Danger UXB' I picked up a set for him and also got myself this dvd;

It features loads of films for the WW2 Bomb Disposal Squads, identifying, uncovering and defusing all types of Bombs. Straight off I knew I wanted to ' dig a hole' for this one.

So I dug a sqaure-ish (!) hole, painted it with the excellent Tamiya Terrain paint and then lined it some wood from Hobbycraft. I then added more Tamiya mud for effect and glossed it all to hell and back to try and give it a real wet look. The wall and path are both JG miniatures products. Both are excellent of course but I just felt the path was a little too Green for an English path and the Wall a little too white. So I ' concreted up' the path a bit, and gave it a few dirty washes.I also repainted the wall a darker colour and am happy with how they came out. The building was from Verlinden and I had fun blacking it up, Gordon's diorama of a couple of months ago gave me encouragement to have a go at doing broken windows and I hope you think they look ok as I wasn't sure myself.

As well as Tamiya terrian paints I can't say enough good things about MIG weathering powders (black burnt building) Hudson and Allen Brick rubble ( really good stuff, covers well and you get loads in a bag- all in pic is just half a bag) and of course Vallejo paints.

The rubble is a right old mix! I started with a layer of rubble from last year when we had our bathroom renewed..(.yes I went round with a dustpan and brush saving loads of it , yes I know thats sad!) on top I put many many matchsticks I burnt with weathering powder, on top I put H&A's brick rubble and bricks.

Another product I discovered was UHU POR , a special glue for polystyrene (or foam as my US friends call it). Its expensive but works very well and does not melt the poly as others do. Hope some of this may be of help.

Oh , and believe it or not, my wife made the road block!^&grin

Rob

 

[UKReb]

Rob

An oustanding piece of work. That's a real professionally executed diorama and magnificently tells the story. And what a story to salute.

Bomb disposal experts admitted when the first bombs fell on England they didn't have a clue how to disarm the unexploded johnnies-This was real dangerous on the job training and over 700 BD personnel were killed trying to defuse them but they must have saved literally thousands of civilian lives and kept the Metropolis moving. Your diorama reverently honours those brave guys. Well done old mate!

Oh! and by the way its fairly obvious you don't want any tutoring from me on diorama groundwork. So what else are we going to talk about in the National's bar next month?

Bob

 

[Rob]

Very nice work rob, looks great in every way.

Thank you :smile2:

Rob

An oustanding piece of work. That's a real professionally executed diorama and magnificently tells the story. And what a story to salute.

Bomb disposal experts admitted when the first bombs fell on England they didn't have a clue how to disarm the unexploded johnnies-This was real dangerous on the job training and over 700 BD personnel were killed trying to defuse them but they must have saved literally thousands of civilian lives and kept the Metropolis moving. Your diorama reverently honours those brave guys. Well done old mate!

Oh! and by the way its fairly obvious you don't want any tutoring from me on diorama groundwork. So what else are we going to talk about in the National's bar next month?

Bob

Thanks mate, coming from an expert as yourself thats a real compliment. I really wanted to try my best to honour these heroes because as you say they kept things moving and saved countless lives while they were at it. And it wasn't just the big bombs they dealt with and it wasn't only during the War. Those small but lethal Butterfly Bombs killed many children and remained a real threat to them for years and years after the War as they hung in trees, laid in hedges, fields and rivers. And of course even to this day as building for the Olympics and extending the Underground continues more and more German bombs are discovered and even the odd Army/Home guard weapons stash , all these still have to be made safe.

So my friend, the topic over a G&T in London will be Trees and undergrowth! :smile2:

Thanks again Bob

Rob

 

[uksubs]

Excellent work Rob ^&cool

 

[Rob]

Excellent work Rob ^&cool

Thanks Neil:smile2:

Rob

 

[Rob]

One last thing, in case you've spotted the two different bombs, I made one up without bricks at the base so it would blend in with my excavation base. All these sets from K&C are really good, can't wait to see where this range goes next.

Rob

 

[wwiibuff]

Rob,

Thanks for the "how to" info on your dio. It's always fun to find out how other collectors go about putting together a scene. Sounds like you have been wanting to do this type of dio for some time, with the research from the DVD's and talk with Andy and all. It sure did turn out great. Nice touch having your wife contribute with the road block and also saving some of your own "personal" rubble to use.^&grin It's nice to have the better half be supportive of your hobby!:smile2: Mine is for the most part, although she has not helped me with any dio type work just yet. Maybe one day.{sm3} Those are some great figures and Tilly's from K&C and your arrangement of the whole set up is superb. BTW - your broken windows look great too. Thanks again for posting.

 

[waynepoo]

Rob,
Outstanding mate, you've out done yourself......{bravo}}:salute::
Wayne.

 

[breslau]

Rob - a stunning diorama and well photographed. You should be very proud and, like Mitch, I too think it the best diorama you've shown on the forum.