Yup, that is a standard .30 cal Browning on a tripod mount. It looks to have the carrying handle of the bipod equipped LMG version with a shoulder stock. Hard to tell off of my phone screen here. Their uniforms may indeed be Korean War vintage HBT fatigues. You could get the Dragon Pusan Perimeter GIs set and go to work from there Frankensteining them to the poses you need.

Thanks Stik, it looks like that figure set could work.  Even if I don't go the route like in the photo the Dragon figure set you mentioned is giving me other possible ideas for what I have in mind.....

Brian

Glad that I could help out ;-)

I just saw who you are, so of course you're in the states!

I also checked my spares, I no longer have the Tamiya .30.  but there are handles on many of the DML modern MG's. Since the shoulder stock in not present, and there's no evidence of the flash suppressor in the photo, you could justify adding a handle from one of the DML guns to an Academy .30 and have your gun. Email me at ajlafleche@comcast.net. if I you need any of these parts. 

Talk about  "Frankensteining", I saw a piece on the Military channel where the Marines fitted a few M1919's with M1 Garand butt stocks and made them more portable. Forgot which island campaign that was done at.

ajlafleche

The tripod can be found in Academy's machine gun kit, the one with the several .50 styles and a couple .30's. A .30 with handle can be found in the Tamiya U.S. WW 2 equipment kit. This one has a shoulder stock, bipod and flash suppressor. A close look at your picture shows the gun does not have the shoulder stock.
If you are in the US, get back to me, I know I have the tripod and may vave the Tamiya .30 as well.

Heh heh, gotta love scale modeling.  Being a bit of a gun guy I knew a fair amount about the M1919 Browning, but am learning yet more. For example it could be the A5 version of the Browning in the picture since the A5 has the same style carry handle.

ajlafleche, thanks for the offer.  For the moment I am still contemplating if I want to go forward on this project, so I would feel bad having you go through all the effort without knowing for sure if I proceed or not.  At the moment it looks like getting my hands on the figures is going to come at a bit of a price.  The cheapest I can find the figure set, after shipping, is around $17.  A bit pricey just to get my hands on two figures.  The only other option is to but the Cyber Hobby M48 Patton Korean War version which has the figures in the kit.  Hmmm....decisions decisions.

Brian

This is a interesting picture. Regardless of the figures used you will have to chop them up to get the poses, also note how small the men are. the sleeves are rolled up and the fatigues are hanging off them. I would bet surplus Korean war or even WWII!

stikpusher

Get the Patton kit ;-) (insert pot stirring emoticon here)

I would except that, believe it or not, the Korean "dragon" painted armor never did much for me.  It's just not natr'l on a piece o' armor.

SuppressionFire, when I first saw the picture I did not believe it was from Vietnam at first.  You could easily at first glance swear it was Korean war.  But sure enough it was.  And then it kind of dawned on me that, yeah, it kind of makes sense.  You have to figure the ROK was awash in Korean surplus gear.  And 1966 isn't all that far from the end of the Korean war (hell, the US was still using Korean war vintage material early on in Vietnam!) 

Brian

Not to mention the ARVN as well. They had surplus WWII stuff thru much if not most of the 60's. depending upon the status of the unit.

You have to hand it to the Vietnamese, both north and south, when war came to their doorstep they used anything and everything!

Brian

Just wondering but was there any real difference between the late pattern WWII US uniform and the Korean War? Wasn't the Korean War uniform just stock drawn out of warehouses and reissued? In that case I'd figure any late WWII figure could serve as a donor?

Yes, the initial stuff worn by US forces was just that, uniforms that came into service at the end of WWII: HBT fatigues, M1943 field jacket, pants, & boots. The Marines were still even wearing boondockers & leggings at Inchon. The first new gear seen in combat that was not in WWII was in winter 1950/51 with cold weather gear, with "fish tail" arctic parkas and pants, pile cap, as well as the field cap with ear flaps. After the first year of combat new uniforms and gear began to be introduced. M1951 Field Uniform, sateen cotton fatigues, combat boots, body armor, "micky mouse" boots.

Thanks SP, the improved new cold weather uniforms esp makes sense. I think I need more post WWII reference materials.

The immediate post war cold weather gear, which had replaced and was a big improvement over the WWII cold weather gear, was found wanting in that first Korean Winter. Osprey makes some great books to use for reference in post WWII stuff. The late/post WWII stuff was designed in the aftermath of the Bulge, and that was the coldest campaign fought in Europe. Cold weather casualties were significant in that campaign. Korea was a whole new league and even more harsh in its' winter climate.

Thanks SP, I've got a bunch of the Osprey books, guess I need to add a few more to the library!

If you look for ones that cover a particular type of unit from that time period: US Army Rangers for example, you get a good coverage of uniforms & equipment used.