WW II Military Model Making Invaluable

ABSTRACT: It is generally accepted that the three-dimensional nature of the digital terrain model
enhances our visualization of surfaces. Modern techniques enable a detailed landscape to be constructed
as a facsimile of reality that provides an opportunity to move through or fly over the landscape. Given
these benefits, it is little surprise that simulations using digital terrain models are employed as essential
visual aids for briefing and training military personnel prior to land, air, and sea operations. Though
these capabilities are significant, they are not necessarily, in the basic sense, new. This paper traces
the development and examines the role of terrain models made by the Allies during World War II, a
period prior to the development of computer-based modeling. Though made from basic materials,
these sophisticated terrain models were hand crafted by enlisted sculptors, architects, stage designers,
and artists, who carefully modeled a sculpture of the landscape to be an invaluable aid during key
military operations of World War II.