The Story of The Figures
A vignette without figures? Hmm.. I think you can do that, but I also think that adding figures would improve the visual interest of the whole display, don't you think? Well, it all depends on the message we want to convey to the audience. The earliest story that I thought about was
A US marine guards a knocked-out tank
I thought that was a poor use of space and quite boring. So after looking at more reference photos, I added to the story:
Several US Marines were inspecting a knocked-out tank while a guard stands by
As I was looking for the figures, I realized that I would be using only 1-2 figures out of a total 4-5 in the box. that would be such as waste! So I then elaborated the story so that can maximize the use of the figures in each box. The story became:
Two men and a war dog came back from a routine patrol when they met several US Marines inspecting a knocked-out tank
After some discussion with fellow modelers, one of them suggested about the role of soldiers who are part of so-called film and photographic units that documents the battlefield. I further elaborated the story:
Two men and a war dog came back from a routine patrol when they met several US Marines, including a person from the film and photographic unit, inspecting a knocked-out tank
US Army versus US Marine Figures
The whole reason I went for US Marine figures to outfit my vignette was because I might have mistakenly interpreted a picture of a destroyed tank with a guard detail as a Marine - and not someone from the Army.
With that being said, I want forward to look for figure kits that would represent USMC in Korea. I found Dragon, MiniArt and MasterBox kits offers late WW2 USMC figures in action in the Pacific. For some reason I was not able to get the Dragon so I opted for the latter two.
Historically speaking, I don't think the Marines used Dobermans in Korea, but a different type (I am poor with remembering animal names!) but I hope this would do.
I am not really that good on figures. I would to have the skills of modifying the poses but to date, I could only go so far as to modify the hands, arms, and legs, but nothing more beyond that.