by Sergio Palumbo

There is a lot to do everyday, here in the jungle still to conquer...I mean, bombing forts, killing enemies, destroying villages, shooting cyborg-snipers up and down...or was it shooting cyborg- snipers,destroying villages,killing enemies and bombing forts just for today...?Well, exactly I do not remember...just let me check the current priorities...

Maybe too many stims taken every morning to let us always be vigilant and aware of every danger around...they start leaving me confused and a bit worried, making me see dangers even where they are not...when I keep going on watch longer than 72 hours my brain just begins frying in a way...as that day when I fired by mistake upon a couple of allied civilian vehicles, completely eliminating them...well, better not to speak about that...stims can make you go over your duty sometimes and forget you only have to fire upon civilians on the other side, not on your own...

Dammit...where is my banknote now...? I just sat here for a while, taking a brief rest,adding some stims more to my drink, and all in a sudden that wind kept it away with it...oh my...!

I'll put into use all the instruments and sensors of this highly advanced All- Ground- Individual-Mecha for my research...well, what do I have here to use?A rocket launcher capable of destroying a drop ship 50 metres long only with a single shot? No, it is not good for it...A twin laser turret ready to eliminate more than twenty jungle legged tanks? Frankly, this is not the case...100 tactical bombs capable of putting to ground an entire military facility...? Not the right option now, probably...An impressive Metal Searcher useful even to find a little coin lost in an underground minefield...? Uhmmm, I'm not looking for steel here unfortunately...

Dammit...so what?I've got nothing really useful for my needs in this cockpit...What about a "card searcher" when you just need it...! Anyway, let me put it clear...

No matter how big, awful and intricated this jungle is...well, in the past this place was much more dangerous than today...there were some strange, colourful animals, tiny little creatures and incredible birds, too, that could make you upset and let you even imagine to see an enemy nearby and fire at will, killing some of your comrades, unwillingly... but after we used that new bacteriadoid products across the whole area, all the animal wildlife once living here has soon disappeared in only a few hours within the entire area...thanks to this scientific improvement, now it's more secure for our men...and there's a lot of silence, anyway...well, maybe there are still some mutant animals, an inevitable remnant of the bacteriadoid products used, but no one among them is capable by now to emit a single bird's song or a cry... I confess that this long silence sometimes make me feel insecure...better when I was listening to the continuous shots fired by my gun, of course...that's the right sound of the jungle I'm used to since I have been fighting in battle...

I have to figure out where my precious banknote could have gone! But it seems that I can't even find it, regardless all this valuable technology at my disposal...but I'll make it, no matter if I have to wipe out all this damn' jungle to get it back...

The main feature of the scratchbuilt mecha in the diorama is part of a plastic bottle, used - upside down- as a cockpit for the pilot. On the other hand the legs are from an old robotic toy. The figures are modified modern plastic soldiers in 1/35 scale from Tamiya, Bandai and Dragon kits with various bags, adds- on and weapons come from some old British GW kits, which were anyway fit for the purpose even though in 1/48 scale. The inside of the cockpit has been detailed with remaining parts from the inside of old tanks and science- fiction kits. I added a camouflage web on the upper part of the mecha, which is likely to be put on to keep the military vehicle hidden in the jungle when not in use.

The diorama base has been made with chalk, some little rocks, flock, two little palms- made with rope and glue for the trunks - and some leaves in plastic on top of them, as well as drybrush, dust and pigments on the surface.The primer is the "traditional" Chaos Black from GW , useful also on plastic not only for game miniatures, and the colors are acrylics Vallejo , GW and LifeColor - with oils for the weathering.

Image: Hiding

Image: Cockpit

Image: Looking down

Image: Rear view

Image: Left

Image: Bird's eye

Image: Soldier

Image: Another look

Image: Birdy, again

Image: Trees

Image: Another view of the cockpit

Image: Right upper side

Image: Starting point

Image: Soldiers

Image: Upper body

Image: Primed

Image: Hatch

Image: Upper portion

Image: Cockpit and driver

Image: Driver