BSC2022 Mick in Switzerland's Vietnam Khe Sanh Rest Area

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I will join the contest again and it will be another part of my Vietnam project.

It will probably be some sort of accommodation bunkers for US troops, like at Khe Sanh.
I will try not to do the same thing as Tom 

[has.been]

Keen to see you two keeping it different.
I have every confidence you (both) can do it.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I have found a lot of pictures of Khe Sanh military base.

The structures use 44 gallon drums, wooden crates, Marston mats and hundreds of green or beige sandbags.

https://www.gettyimages.ch/fotos/khe-sanh-combat-base?assettype=image&page=2&phrase=khe%20sanh%20combat%20base&sort=mostpopular&license=rf%2Crm

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Here is a soldier weight training during a rest period at Khe Sanh.


and here is a basketball hoop made from a bucket.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I have made some progress.

I will have at least two bunkers - one constructed with box walls, the other with oil drums and sandbags.
These will be two sides of a basketball & weight training area. This is the part for the competition.

There will also be a defensive area with Marston Mat helipad, lines of soil filled barrels, and some defensive trenches.
I am not sure whether these are going to be separate pieces or one tile.
A tile would look better but separate pieces are easier to use later.

I have started preparing components.
Some of these are for the defences, not the resting place.

I need at least 30 x 44 Gallon Drums, 50 boxes, 100 Marston Mats and hundreds of sandbags.


Mass production of boxes. I have a problem with bad prints in the centre, so I made a group of 16 boxes going round the edge.

[Poiter50]

Mick, are those files available to print for we Plebs?

I have made some progress.

I will have at least two bunkers - one constructed with box walls, the other with oil drums and sandbags.
These will be two sides of a basketball & weight training area. This is the part for the competition.

There will also be a defensive area with Marston Mat helipad, lines of soil filled barrels, and some defensive trenches.
I am not sure whether these are going to be separate pieces or one tile.
A tile would look better but separate pieces are easier to use later.

I have started preparing components.
Some of these are for the defences, not the resting place.

I need at least 30 x 40 Gallon Drums, 50 boxes, 100 Marston Mats and hundreds of sandbags.


Mass production of boxes. I have a problem with bad prints in the centre, so I made a group of 16 boxes going round the edge.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Marston Mat by KubFire is free here.
I resized it from 1/35 to 1/50, so each element is 73.2mm long and 11.2mm wide.
I printed them with the short side vertical and the long side horizontal. 6 close together on each side of the bath.
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/103603-135-marston-mat-landing-surface-ww2

Wooden Crate by HeliconOne is free here. I resized to 20x10x8mm and printed 16 at a time at 45^o in the pattern shown in the photo.
These are hollow with 1mm thick walls.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3945435

Oil Drum by Bordorick is free here. I resized to 18mm high and 12mm diameter and printed at 45^o in a similar pattern to the crates.
The lid is separate and I will not need many of them. Most will be filled with earth like gabions.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3912203

Old Steel Bucket by MadHatter_Cloud is free here. I made it 8mm tall and printed at 45^o. This is very thin.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3938181

Sandbags are by TabletopMinis. This set of STL files costs US$1.95. They have 4 different sets. I print these at 90%.
I will use printed sandbags for the bulk but hand make from Milliput for the top layer, damaged ones, corners, joints, etc.
https://www.tabletopminis.com/product/10157_Sand_Bags

[tomrommel1]

Thanks for the links .
I started printing sandbags last night. I will try to make mine look different , too!

[Poiter50]

Thanks for all those links. I was actually looking at Marston matting the other day and hadn't found this one.

Marston Mat by KubFire is free here.
I resized it from 1/35 to 1/50, so each element is 73.2mm long and 11.2mm wide.
I printed them with the short side vertical and the long side horizontal. 6 close together on each side of the bath.
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/103603-135-marston-mat-landing-surface-ww2

Wooden Crate by HeliconOne is free here. I resized to 20x10x8mm and printed 16 at a time at 45^o in the pattern shown in the photo.
These are hollow with 1mm thick walls.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3945435

Oil Drum by Bordorick is free here. I resized to 18mm high and 12mm diameter and printed at 45^o in a similar pattern to the crates.
The lid is separate and I will not need many of them. Most will be filled with earth like gabions.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3912203

Old Steel Bucket by MadHatter_Cloud is free here. I made it 8mm tall and printed at 45^o. This is very thin.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3938181

Sandbags are by TabletopMinis. This set of STL files costs US$1.95. They have 4 different sets. I print these at 90%.
I will use printed sandbags for the bulk but hand make from Milliput for the top layer, damaged ones, corners, joints, etc.
https://www.tabletopminis.com/product/10157_Sand_Bags

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

First bunker made from wooden crates and Marston mat with sandbag roof.



Start of wall for second bunker and oil drum gabions. Empress figures for scale.
The earth and stones are wine corks that have been ground in a Nutribullet.

[Burgundavia]

Very nice. I think you win the unofficial prize for "first to actual painting". Looking forward to the rest of this coming together.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

@ Burgundavia - Thank you.  Actually, I am working on a book and needed to have some Khe Sanh style bunkers to complete the terrain chapter, so it is fortunate that the BSC corresponds with my current project.

[Poiter50]

Printed some drums on Wed, they came out a treat. Used your recommended height which shortened the print time from what I had reduced them to. Still need some more, apparently a 3t truck takes 15 as a load.

First bunker made from wooden crates and Marston mat with sandbag roof.



Start of wall for second bunker and oil drum gabions. Empress figures for scale.
The earth and stones are wine corks that have been ground in a Nutribullet.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Second bunker starts with a plasticard shed and then is protected by dirt filled oil drums and sandbags.



The roof is Marston Mat with sandbags. 3D printed sandbags save time but there will still be hours of Milliput work to come.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Second "oil drum" bunker and basketball hoop built.



And here is the first "wooden crate" bunker.



Now, I will have to decide on individual bases or a landscaped tile.