The subject of this diorama is a U.S. Army field artillery unit deployed in the field during REFORGER '88. (he massive annual NATO exercise in Europe. The title "On Guard. Sir" is an actual artillery unit's motto. As a former artillery soldier in the South Korean army. I was assigned to a 105mm howitzer field artillery battery, and have wanted to do such a diorama for some time. I built the M110A2 using Italeri's M110 and VPs M110Al & A2 conversion kit (VP 0423). This kit was one of the easiest conversions I have ever dealt with. It was difficult to find detailed Ml 10 photos, but Mr. Verlinden's diorama from Showcase #4 helped me get my M110A2 in good shape. In addition to this self-propelled gun. I used the M548 from AFV Club and a M151A2 trailer from Tamiya. All the figures were fashioned from modern era VP soldiers using VP 0539. 0552. and 0585 Desert Storm figures. In my opinion, VP's Trees & Hedgerows (VP 0639) is the best scale foliage available. They were used throughout the diorama with no modification. VP's Desert Camouflage Net (VP 0582) was used for the netting, adding cilantro spice leaves to simulate the plastic leaves found on modern nets. The poles were fashioned from plastic rod.
