Hello eveyone! Right this is the bit where I beg for your help.....

I am about to embark on my biggest Dio project yet.......Omaha Beach, D-Day......the dio will consist of several sections which when finished will combine a whole dio! From the shore to the defences.
One thing which I am having trouble with is the lack of wounded or dead US troops out there to buy.............

Can anyone suggest any kits which can be easily converted to running/wounded or dead poses, which are relitivly cheap and easy to obtain? (£5 to £12-£15)

also any kits which anyone has used in the past who feel might help with this dio? For example, Barricades, ammo crates, infantry gear, radio equipment.....So on and so forth....

or any problems or tecniques for using Resin? (I'll be using forthe first time on the sea)

I'm trying to do this on a budget (I like the challenge!)and over a long period of time so please be patient for completion!

:-) Thanks in advance.........

Longshanks............

If you want to do it on a budget.... make a plan! Do you really need resin for the water! If its gonna be big .. that could be a lot of resin and up the cost from the start. Water could be made from spackel and painted with layers of water colour tinted gloss varnish. If you want to have detail in the water ... maybe theres no other way around it!
Cheap barricades etc ... Italeri have barricade sets (I think Tamiya have actually something similar. Both also have sets of personal gear with some crates and jerry cans for throwing around. As the dead figures will all be pretty flat, maybe some of the cheaper tamiya and italeri figures could be modified to look dead. Cutting arms and legs at joints like shoulder, elbow, knee, hip etc. joining with wire and filling out with milliput, could do for background figures. After making a few, your skills will improve to make the more central ones.
Take a look at saving private ryan forsome ideas ... holes dug in the sand etc.
Maybe a bit of the alantic wall or a bunker would be another item, easy to scratch and add to the scene.
Im sure you´ll get loads of ideas in this thread. Good luck.

My research and planning have already started about two weeks ago, I'm now looking at a figure/model list so I can get a rough idea of the price I'm looking at........it was Saving Private Ryan which gave me the idea!.........(Last time I look to Hollywood for inspiration!)

Unfortunatly I want to add deatil to the water/shore which is why I chose resin, still it can be done over time and bits brought when I have the money.......another reason why I'm doing it in sections! About a foot wide and two foot long in about four sections. (I should have really mentioned this in my first post- sorry!)

Also my model shop only stocks Timiya and Italeri kits with the occasioanl dragon kit lying around gathering dust! So any kits along this line would be appreciated...........

Thanks so far Plasticbattle for the advice it will come in handy no doubt !

Longshanks:

You have to check out this dio that was posted over on Missing-Links: http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/thread?forumid=272176&messageid=1070610354

WARNING! This thread has some huge photos and lots of them. If you are on a modem, it will take forever to download -- but believe me when I say it is worth the wait!

The dio is named "Visitors to Hell - Omaha Beach, Dog Green Sector, early morning 6th June 1944" and it's by David Spacek. I'd really like to see this one in person.

Thats great, almost the same sort of thing I'm looking for, it's given me some great ideas though! Cheers..........

Until stated otherwise by verdict of Kangaroo Court -
that dio above is THE definitive DDay dio

I have just one question however........Whats up with the little black bags on the front of the GI's uniform? What are they?

Those are M5 gasmasks in black waterprof bags. You'll also note that most are wearing M1926 lifebelts. If you are converting figures for your diorama, these are two items that you will have to add to just about each figure. Also note the light-colored brassards on the soldiers' sleeves -- these were for gas detection.

Thanks Hollowpoint..... I'm glad someone knows because I didn't have a clue..........

I always though the brassards were used to cover up rank and divisional markings from snipers. Learn something new everyday, cheers..........

I think that they are carrier bags for the next-to-useless life preservers that the infantry were issued in case they ended up in the water. You had to open the things up, pull them over your head, and then pull a lanyard to inflate---provided that the bladder hadn't been snagged on something or otherwise holed

HollowPoint -
Were you there?
If so, I want to thank you.

Dang! I'm not that old ... No, I just read lots of books and have watched countless hours of documentary footage.

There are lots of great books on D-Day out there -- as well as a few good web pages. My favorite D-Day reenactor site (29th Infantry Division) seems to be down right now, but for BlueBear, here's a list of gear that was carried by D-Day infantry -- from a 1st ID reenactor site: http://www.geocities.com/eco16thinf/uniform.html Be sure to check out the M5 assault gasmask carrier and the M26 life belt. What BlueBear describes sounds more like a Mae West -- worn by paratroopers and air crews on D-Day.

Here's another great D-Day reference site, the Saving Private Ryan Online Encyclopedia: http://www.sproe.com/

Be sure to check out the uniforms and the screen shots. Also note that this site points out technical errors in SPR, such as the fact that the log obstacles on the beaches are backwards in the movie.

Hardcore

thanks Bob..both of the links are great...how i missed private ryan online encyclopedia till now,it is super.

wow very nice link the on line encyclopedia .Thanks a lot

Glad you guys liked it!

Thanks for your help Hollowpoint................ appreciated........