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U.S. AFV Crew & U.S Infantry Private, Vietnam 1968

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  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 12:58 PM

Well the M113 evolved over time from introduction to post Vietnam era, thru today- Engines, fuel tanks, road wheels, exhaust, suspension, interior colors, and armaments/weapons shields all changed. Some time back I found a photo of one during the Cambodian invasion of 1970 armed with a Minigun in place of the TC's .50 Cal.              That is one I want to model.Machinegun

And yes, with enough photo references, I am sure you can find plenty of pics of folks without a helmet cover. I am certain many types (Navy as you stated, probably  Air Force APs and SPs as well) were never issued one. Advisors are often seen with plain or netted Steel Pots like their ARVN counterparts. But I stand by my original assertion that it was unusual to see  US Infantry ( 11B/0311) without one.Wink

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    October 2010
  • From: Staten Island
Posted by BigDaddyBluesman on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 10:25 AM

The more I look the more pix I find of guys without covers. I never really noticed it before. I am trying to build some M113s and I am finding out things about them I never noticed before and I drove them...LOL.

  • Member since
    October 2010
  • From: Staten Island
Posted by BigDaddyBluesman on Saturday, October 8, 2011 4:53 PM

I didn't say it was common, I said many did not, like Navy personnel. I have 1000's of pix and books and I have seen many helmets. I have seen  many without covers, with old marine covers, with camo and the WWII mesh together, everything under the sun and without. Considering there were at one time almost 1 million US military personnel in that area of Asia many did not wear one. I have seen more REMF types without covers then ones in the bush, they usually did not wear steel pots at all unless there was action in the rear areas like sappers or the TET offensive.

Page 37 Vietnam gun trucks Osprey no cover firing a minigun, page 15 the Hard ride no cover and even lower they were wearing AFV helmets, so some of those guys did wear the CVC helmets on guntrucks, not many though as few in the beginning had radios or intercoms, it was later that they installed those in every truck. Page 36 hard ride no helmet cover on top photo 50 cal gunner. There are 2 Hard Ride books the one with those pix is the book with the armor plate on the cover.

So just saying we don't know if there were shortages of covers. During the war there were shortages of everything and it took a while for things to get to certain units. All good units had some scroungers for that, like Radar O'Rielly in the show MASH.

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Saturday, October 8, 2011 3:24 PM

BigDaddyBluesman

Many guys did not wear the camo covers on their helmets in Nam like Navy guys, it really depended a lot on what their commanders said about what their soldiers can do and wear. Many times they were ripped or torn and maybe it was hard to get a replacement. 

Its not common to see infantry, Army or Marine,  without a helmet cover in Vietnam.  Photos support this. And seeing how the figure represents a well known movie charecter, online reference is easy to find.

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    October 2010
  • From: Staten Island
Posted by BigDaddyBluesman on Friday, October 7, 2011 11:21 PM

Some great work there but some issues. Like the M16A2, that would be a M16 or M16A1 and some of the colors are off on the equipment and uniforms. They are too uniform in color. if you look at any pictures from that era the uniforms and equipment was every shade of green one could imagine. The sun and washing made everything bleached out. So you might have a guy with a new shirt and month old pants that was 10 shades lighter.

I think that's the Bravo 6 AFV set, I just ordered one. It looks great but that TC(Track commander) would NOT be in a M35 guntruck, he would be more at home in the cupola of an M48A3 or M113. Best to get some books like the hard road to see what those gun truck guys looked like. They were considered a special unit with a lot of pride and did their own thing.

Most guys wore jungle boots, I'm not sure if the tankers wore tanker boots those days, those were different and when I was CAV 11D, tankers wore them. We were just told we can't anymore unless we were tankers and they took away our black berets too.

Many guys did not wear the camo covers on their helmets in Nam like Navy guys, it really depended a lot on what their commanders said about what their soldiers can do and wear. Many times they were ripped or torn and maybe it was hard to get a replacement. Most combat soldiers wore different stuff then the guys in the rear or different units and branches. That's why it's important to look at what unit they are in, were in Nam, what year and so on. Those things will dictate what and how they wear and use weapons and equipment.

Nice job on Nancy by the way.

In Nam everybody wore those jungle boots, it was HOT and humid there. I also don't think anybody would want to wear anything red for many reasons, that is a green issue towel many infantry wore around their necks to absorb the sweet and wipe their face. Also only NCOs and officers wore 45s. Most infantry wouldn't lug one around unless they were issued, all M60 and M79 gunners were issued 45s. I have seen a lot of guys with their 38s from home, some probably had a 45 or some other side arm. If they did a lot of higher ranking people would tell them to get rid of it. Most crews hid their non issued weapons from higher ups. I have read some funny stories about that. Evan I had to keep my knife in the armory and couldn't even take it to the field.

So the infantry guy needs a remake. The patch was addressed already. Plus wearing the 45 that way if he was an NCO would get him a butt chewing from some REMF officer....Ha ha ha. Plus how would he get to it if he needed to use it? Also the smoke grenade should be a different green, everything should be different greens. Also his helmet is too low, he would NOT be able to sight his M16 with a helmet that low, I know it happened to me. I liked wearing it low but when I shot I would have to raise it up and turn it around. You will see pictures of some soldiers with their helmets turned around so they can see through their sights easier. The M16 has a very high sight on that stupid handle.

I would ditch the TC and the driver who would also be more at home in a M113 or M48A3 type vehicle.

But your face painting is very good, you just need to do more research on your subjects. I have thousands of pictures I got off the internet and many more that are on web sites that do not let you down load pictures. Even going on EBay to see what worn web gear looks like helps, people sell that stuff all the time. There are some other little issues about the joining of arms but overall it's pretty good you just need to work on it, you have some skills.

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Sunday, October 2, 2011 2:38 PM

Yup, the "Hawaii Power & Light" or "Electric Strawberry" of the 25th ID.Wink

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    December 2008
  • From: Northern Va
Posted by psstoff995's lbro on Sunday, October 2, 2011 8:17 AM

There is also a unit patch on the privates left upper arm that is just painted over green. Other than that and other critiques, they look good.

-Will young modeler Test fit master
  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Saturday, October 1, 2011 1:23 PM

What company makes the AFV crew? I really like those! On the rifleman, why does he have an M16A2? That rifle did not appear until the 1980s, many years after the Vietnam War. Two other critiques are the helmet cover, no pattern can be seen, and his boots, he should have canvas and leather jungle boots, not all leather black boots. Is that the "Bravo" Figure of Pvt Taylor (Charlie Sheen) from "Platoon"?

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Thailand
U.S. AFV Crew & U.S Infantry Private, Vietnam 1968
Posted by Model Maniac on Saturday, October 1, 2011 12:12 PM

U.S. AFV Crew, Vietnam 1968 (resin kit 1:35) - by "pj":

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U.S. Infantry Private, Vietnam 1968 (resin kit 1:35) - by "pj":

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