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Vietnam uniform questions

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  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: St. Petersburg, FL
Vietnam uniform questions
Posted by sawdeanz on Thursday, June 7, 2007 11:58 AM
I'm building several vietnam figures, and I have the figure conversion set from verlinden which comes with additional equipment and parts for 1/35 scale figures. The problem is that I don't know how some of the different equipment is used or worn, and have had trouble obtaining photos of just uniforms or whatnot. I don't want to glue a piece in the wrong place or give a soldier an ammo pack he would not have worn. Some pictures or advice would be useful. Thanks in advance.

---Sawyer
  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Thursday, June 7, 2007 6:12 PM

Well, Kevin Lyles' book, Vietnam US Uniforms, is a pretty good start.  It's all color, shows front and back of real-life people wearing the gear; and the gear is assembled prototypically.  It's not perfect; few enough reference titles ever are <sigh>

Shelby Stanton's US Army Uniforms of the Viet Nam War is also a good reference.  It's mostly b&w, but the photographs are very extensive.  The refence photos are also mostly "in country," too.  That's good for being "way it was done," as opposed to "way regs said to."  With the caveat, that, sometimes, it was the "odd duck" that was photographed--the exception rather than the rule.  But, that's a grain of salt we all have to cope with.

It can be helpful to find some of the FM & TM for the gear (and frustrating <g>).  FM 21-15 Care of Individual Clothing & Equipment can be handy. 

You can also look here:  http://www.hardscrabblefarm.com/vn/index.html

And this, for M-1956 gear:  http://www.hardscrabblefarm.com/vn/m56-gear.html

See if that doesn't muddy the water a bit<g>

  • Member since
    October 2004
  • From: Orlando, Florida
Posted by ikar01 on Friday, June 8, 2007 6:23 PM

In the USAF we had to scrounge most of the equipment we needed beyoud the basic web belt, 3 mag pouch, and first aid pouch that looped into the holes in our belts.  Anything beyond that, bayonet, survival knife, belt harness and so on, we either got from someone who was leaving, bought it on the black market, or liberated it from the base salvage yard.  We had some guys using harnesses left over from WWII or Korea.  One of the pouches I carried was from a M-1 carbine and my backup mag pouches (beyond the 3 pack), were a grey rubber canvas from the army.

 

I have a few pictures form the Pacific Stars and Stripes showing different types of army head gear, towels, flop hats, and such, and sometimes just a green T-shirt instead of their jungle fatigue shirt.

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