Egilman

Yeah for the after action resulting from the actual action....

That's a Louisville Ford with a Cummins 6 isn't it? Nice work....

Central Connecticut and Southern Vermont for me, There wasn't any such thing back then...

Chuckle.... "Mort aux cons" Context is everything.... (mostly paraphrased from wiki) Death to the idiots is the name of a Jeep from the 2nd French Armored Division of General Leclerc. During the Second World War, Captain Raymond Dronne of the Free French Forces 9th Armored Combat Company, La Nueve of the Chadian March regiment of the 2nd French Armored Division, baptized his Jeep, "death to the idiots" She was the first Allied vehicle to enter Paris, August 24, 1944, during the battle for the liberation of the capital. Regarding the inscription, Charles de Gaulle would have declared Vaste program or Lourde task in comment, but the forms of the anecdote vary, proposing other contexts. Jean-Louis Delayen reports in his memoirs, (Le Baroudeur - The four wars of General Delayen) having used it during operations in the French Indochina War (Vietnam) the acronym MACVP, for "Mort aux cons, vast program!" (ie The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Program)..... Death to the idiots.... Sounds to me like Capitaine Dronne was being prophetic in August 1944.... (as General Delayen tried to remind the French High Command of during the run up to the Vietnam War) To make it clear, The quote, in the context Delayen used it, represents an ambitious project, ran by idiots and what happened to the idiots in the end..... (there is no evidence that General/President DeGaulle ever commented publicly on it)

Heck, they close the passes around here with 4" of snow on the ground.... But then again an inch of snow closes the schools..... Me? I grew up walking to school in a foot of snow, uphill both ways........ (true story)

Yeah, I'll be working on a project out in the workshop that's going to take a few days, go in at night, and tomorrow, all the tools are picked up and put away. Sometimes not where they belong, so, it takes a while to drag them all out again..... Rinse and repeat the next day.... I'm here to tell ya, it's neat the first few times, then it becomes a real drag to getting anything done....

You have family brother... in spirit at least...

Why thank you Denis, I was thinking about making up a little ammo crate for those and sit it in the back of the Jeep.... (WWII they used wood crates for the shells) Glad to have you join in.....

Ok, step four, initial body work...... Body pan.... Radiator & Headlights Firewall & Tailgate.... Taillights!... Sitting on it's chassis.... Beginning to look like something now, next up Seats and Dashboard.... EG

Yep, cause of their speed they became multi role, (strike bombers and photo recon) aircraft very early in the war. They would fly so close to the ground on recon penetration missions that nap of the earth was considered excessive altitude.... (and one of the reasons pilots loved to fly them)

Well, we split the shift so to speak, one of each, we are lucky we still have hair.... (the psyche people advised not to pull it all out)

I call it creative ignorance, a very useful skill.....

I know, Testors is the closest to fresh OD that has fully cured. Period US OD green goes on very green when wet and when it finally completely cures, is when it leans towards that ever so slight brownish tint. Sun fading brings out the tint even more..... Looks like it is fresh out of the repair depot..... The green on the cable on the winch is a dead giveaway to that, (paint doesn't matter on a winch cable) within six months of use that green will be gone and you will have shiny tempered steel (blueblack gunmetal color) with streaks of black grease from the lube..... Nice work so far, I'm sure it's going to fit right into whatever scenario you wish to put it in...

The yellow in the OD tends to make it crisp, like freshly painted OD that hasn't had a chance to fade yet... Nice touch.....

That was way back up in post #8..... Mahogany it is...

Looks like mahogany to me... but I could be wrong...

Those old kits can take some work to get looking right....

Yep, 1/3 parts glycerin to water, put you lichen/moss in it and bring to almost a boil, (simmering) add your dyes/colors, (I preferred food coloring rather than fabric dyes cause of the sodium compounds used to make most commercial dyes) Let it simmer for about 5 minutes and then let it cool down naturally. Place the lichen/moss on a paper towel to dry.... I've had them last for over a decade in storage that way... The salts in commercial dyes are almost worse than acids over time...

One of the enjoyable aspects of grandfathering....

Congratulations on the birthday... About the rest, No comment.... (absolutely gorgeous though has to be said)

Oh yeah, the back yard is a primary source... I remember one young modeler wondering where I got all this neat scenery stuff and offred to take him the next time I went to get some... when we went he was wondering where we were going cause it was the opposite direction from town where the hobby shops were..... deep in the woods I showed him what and where to collect... At home I showed him how to prep it for use, and at the end, I explained the cost basis and showed him the practical side of need is the mother of all solutions, not how big your pocketbook is...... A lesson he never forgot....

You can also run down to your local Garden supply store and get a bag of dried moss... works very well for foliage also.... (and 100 times cheaper by volume)

Just an opinion, but Ardennes is too late, (winter instead of fall) and by the time of the breakout, the 101st and the 82nd were back in England so that would put it in the beachhead building phase after the landing, just before Cobra.... Outside of the Battle of the Bulge, it's the only time armored units were close coordinating/supporting the paratroopers........ The greatcoats were common amongst the paratroopers as in fall the temps at that time were pretty cold at night and it was rainy and cold most of the time.....

All that's left is to darken the broken brick to match the interior wall brick... (but I understand the need to let the glue wash dry first) EXCELLENT! Your inspiring me brother..... I"m gonna have to break out my WS materials, they have been in storage for over 10 years..... That will fit anywhere in France the day after the invasion, or the breakout, or any number of other scenarios.. What did you have in mind as far as location time period? I know it was early... just can't place it.... Excellent work.... EG

You are going to start your own guild hall correct? collect apprentices and train them, right? A master mason you be, I tell you..... Beautiful work my friend...