1:35 Verlinden Good Morning Vietnam - DONE!!

Pawel

By the way - another picky question that I have come up with is this: The Dude is wearing a belt.

No, the rousers have a belt--it's a black color with a brass buckle.

(Marines wore/wear a khaki belt with a brass [now black oxide] open frame buckle.)

The jacket/blouse portion of the utilities was worn with its tails out, so the web gear, with the web belt goes on over all that.  If you unbuckle the belt, you can then doff the LBE as a whole.

In case you need an empty bottle reference

As to beer, it was one of those things.  Beer was stockpiled as a "morale issue" and meant only for those in the rear, and out of contact.  In addition, AAFES (Army-Air Force Exchange Service) operated(operates) Base & Post Exchanges (BX & PX) which are "supermarkets" of a sort, to support families of troops, and troops themselves.  So, a given unit could go use their own money to go buy namebrand beer (or booze) for a party--as long as they were not on duty, in contact, or the like.  Being intoxicated on duty or in combat remains a very serious charge. 

Viet Nam saw a number of those conventions "stretched" a bit.  The lack of an MSR due to the asymmetrical nature of the combat also affected that.

But, after long hard treks out in the field, even reduced alcohol (3.2proof) generic beer at luke-cold temperatures can satisfy nicely.

Hello!

Returner - we're modellers, we're all about detail! I'm always glad when I can help. No model is ever perfect, and no kit is neither. For me it's about what I want to model, and I won't let the kit stand in my way. If I could give you any advice, it would be to research, to try to get to know the real thing as good as you can, and then show it in your model. For me it's also a kind of a downside here - I can't seem to be able to build a model straight OOB. I have checked while building my Swedish S-Tank that I can refrain from major surgery, but have to add a bit here and there :-)

Capn - thanks a lot for the explanation, makes a lot of sense. I'm afraid your empty bottle reference didn't come through - I just see a grayed out "No entry" sign. That "no name" can sure looks funny! From your previous post I have understood that it's later than Vietnam, right?

I have one more photo for you - I have detailed the radio a little, painted the jungle boots and I have dry-fitted the legs to the base:

Thanks for lookin' and have a nice day

Paweł

Ok, changed the Photo to "shared" hopefully it will be visible.

Photo i of a 1944 Coke Bottle, a 1953 bottle, and a 1968 bottle (occasionally, I'll collect things not traditionally "militaria" ).

Boots look good.
Many modelers will make the canvas side a bit greener, so they stand out.  The actual boots varied a lot.  Sometimes that green (nylon) canvas was quite green; other, less so.  There's a very subtle detail, that the reinforcing patch across the ankle is darker than the rest of the nylon.

Almost all of that vanishes after weathering in grime and dirt, though.

looking really good.

CapnMac82

 

Poncho liner:

It's distinctly semi-gloss IRL.

My first poncho liner was solid OD green, about the same color as my poncho. It wasn't until around 1986 or so when I bought a woodland pattern poncho liner. The OD green one went into a wet weather top to become a "Graf Jacket".

Just seeing the words "Graf Jacket' makes me feel cold.

Could not find a good photo of an OD liner (now refered to as a "woobie" by all the hip kids).  Was also looking to "arm" our dear Pawel with info he could sort through to create his magic.  While trying to avoid the minutae of the collecting world.

Which is also why I did not bring up the gray-white scuffed look of leather boots.  Yes, it's prototypical, but, it's really hard to get right at 1/35 (a pain at 1/16, come to cases), and would confuse less-experienced viewers.

This link has a couple of shots of an olive green one. Yes, I know they are called woobies by current troops. I have a soon-to-be 28 year old son who has two tours in Afghanistan. He took my old woodland pattern one, but I still have a newer one.

https://www.terapeak.com/worth/poncho-liner-woobie-cho-woodland-camo-us-army-usmc-military-quilted-blanket-fc/290981560044/

Hello everybody!

Thanks a lot for your comments, I'm glad to read so many of them!

Capn - sorry, still can't see the bottles! Painting them to look translucent sure isn't easy, I'll have to practice more! About the boots - some books say early pattern boots didn't have the ankle straps. The figure doesn't seem to have them neither, so I didn't paint them. But I used to own a pair of jungle boots (probably some Chinese rip-off, but decent quality), so I'm quite familiar not only with the look, but also the feel of such boots!

Glenn - very interesting hint on the boots! We could probably say he's breaking in a new pair while resting and he's going to change over to his working pair for serious business later that day - that would also explain why the man isn't bare-footed like he could be, like written earlier in this thread. I think what we're missing when it comes to 1:35 scale accessories is a pair of "empty" jungle boots - if I had something like that I could pose them on the vignette here. Once I have hacket the boots off a 1:35 figure and drilled out the insides to pose the boots as "empty", but now I know that doesn't really show the looks of them correctly.

GMorrison - thank you very much!

Rob - you mean Graf as in Grafenwoehr, nicht wahr? In Vietnam you wouldn't necessarily carry the liner together with the poncho, would you?

And I'm movin' on, I have painted the beer can and used a decal for a beer label - it isn't historically correct here unless a buddy brought the Dude a can from Germany... Here's what the base looks like now - finished unless somebody sees something to be corrected:

I have also painted the torso together with the dog tags. Again here the magnification brings out every imperfection in the paint:

I'm going to put some mail in his right hand and a cigarette in his left hand, let's see how this turns out.

Thanks for looking and for your encouragement, have a nice day

Paweł

 That looks great Pawel! I love the shading on the uniform and all the accessories. Did you add the glass bottles? How are you going to make the cigarette? I made one out of a cat whisker I found on my floor. The thick end was just the right diameter and I only had to paint the lit end.  

Accurate boots. Who's shirt, I have no clue. 

You're really nailing this Pawel. I admire your patience.

glenn sandbags fsb1 by Glenn Hanson, on Flickr

Hello everybody!

Griffin - Thanks a lot for your kind words! As for the cigarette it's already done! Doing some math tells us the 1:35 cigarette should be around 0,2 mm. I first thought about finding some wire, but then my eyes encountered some stretched sprue laying right there on the workbench (just shows you why it's so important to never clean up). So I just used that. Paint it white, paint the filter, glue it in place with some paint, THEN cut to length (better for handling!) and paint the ash on the tip.

As for the bottles, it's only paint. I was trying to show earth colour showing through the glass and light reflections. There are modellers in Poland who don't like it - I can't do any better than that, but I think it's not bad, especially at the right viewing angle.

Glenn - thanks a lot, it means a lot to me! I'll write it again, your Vietnam photos on the net are really cool, I like to browse through them from time to time, to try to get the mood of the place back then.

And I have adjusted the shading on the top of the shirt, previously the brus strokes were a bit to visible. I have added the cigarette, as described above, and the letter from home:

The lighting angle looks kinda funny after rotating the photograph... Here's another shot showing the letter a bit better - but then the photo is blurry - sorry for that!

As for the letter - I have designed it in Corel DRAW!, printed out and there it is. If anybody would like to use it, here it is too - letter from home in 1:35:

Just print it out without rescaling (300dpi), cut out on the inner side of the line and fold the envelopes - and you're ready to go.

Now it's actually only the final assembly left to be done - unless anybody sees something that needs a correction, that is. Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

How about a watch?

GMorrison

How about a watch?

 

One that actually works. That would be something

Hello!

GMorrison - how necessary is it in your opinion?

Griffin - Yeah, that could take some serious microelectronics to pull off!

Have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

Hello!

GMorrison - how necessary is it in your opinion?

Griffin - Yeah, that could take some serious microelectronics to pull off!

Have a nice day

Paweł

 

We don't want no stinking electronics. Must use all mechanical insides on that watch!

I don't have an opinion, however I doubt any soldiers are without one. Ask Glenn, he'll know. He also has a wrist bracelet on, we all had those in the US in the 1960's. Could be woven leather, Indian fabric, silver, lot's of stuff. 

PX-bought Timex watchers with green plastic bands were pretty common.  As were Timex with standard black bands.  For Marines, or those scoring R&R to Hong kong, Thailand, or the PI, metal banded watches would sometimes be acquired.

Now, perons cautios about reflections from the watch crystal would often wear them to the inside of the wrist.  If memory serves, Timex dial is 30mm on a 20mm band.

1968 coke bottle:

OD poncho liner:

Hello Pawel .

Heris a link h I found by chance , I find that there many of good informationbut if you know it , too bad but that can serve to the other , is this step .

phil .

http://david.brubakers.us/Vietnam/

Pawel

Rob - you mean Graf as in Grafenwoehr, nicht wahr? In Vietnam you wouldn't necessarily carry the liner together with the poncho, would you?

Yes, Grafenwoehr Jacket is the standard old style (OD green) wet weather parka with a poncho liner sewn in. It was warm and dry. By the time woodland wet weather parkas arrived, the field jacket and wet weather top were all but replaced by the Goretex jacket.

The poncho liner had strings attached so you could turn your poncho into an ad hoc sleeping bag. Not as warm as a real sleeping bag, but was more water proof since the outer shell is your rain poncho. It's also a smaller item to carry than a sleeping bag. The liner can't be worn while tied into the poncho since it does not have a hole for your head.

GMorrison

I don't have an opinion, however I doubt any soldiers are without one. Ask Glenn, he'll know. He also has a wrist bracelet on, we all had those in the US in the 1960's. Could be woven leather, Indian fabric, silver, lot's of stuff. 

 

I don't remember what watch I had. Probably a Timex that may even be laying around still someplace. Really when I think about I don't even know why I wore one. It was what it was and it's not like we had meeting to attend! Wrist band I don't remember what it was made from. Often boot laces were braided and worn by some. Some guy made one for me which is pictured in this thread that via d-rings and grenade pins kept all the little needs in one place.

Cigs, at least by guys in the field or FSB were almost always kept in one of those cheap plastic waterproof cases.

In the peaches picture, right?

i went back and found it, quite a picture.

GMorrison

In the peaches picture, right?

i went back and found it, quite a picture.

 

Thanks. I try and put something together for Vets day and another theme Memorial day.

Hello!

It is a cool picture indeed - let's re-post it here:

I just couldn't let you all down with the watch, so I started with the strap - I have painted a portion of clear decal sheet OD, and then I have cut a stripe about 0,7mm wide out of it:

For the watch itself I took a piece of stretched sprue about 1mm in diameter and started painting the watch face on its tip. I first painted it silver, then gloss black in the center. Then I took the tip of the knife shown above (Swann-Morton surgical blades - I just love 'em and they are cheaper than X-Actos!) and tried to scratch out the pointers in the black paint:

Now I had to cut off a thin slice of the tip and glue it to the hand in the right place. As for the bracelet - I took a piece of cotton thread, painted it silver, then treated it with white glue to prevent the fuzz. Glued it on the other hand and here's how the Dude looks for now:

Now it's just a base and it's almost there! Thanks for lookin' and have a nice day

Paweł

Extra sharp.

Oh, and check this out on a meal, Combat, Individual (cautions, Steve is addictive

Nice! (It's a thing he says)

Check out the photos of guys eating MCI in VN at the beginning.  Also not a bad idea to ceck out the rest of his MCI videos to see slightly better condition rations.

Hello Capn!

Thanks a lot!

That video is really nice and informative! You sure have to be careful eating food that is that old!

And I'm calling my vignette done! I have mounted it on a piece of stone and this is how it looks like now:

I would like to thank all the people here that helped me immensely to build this one and they have also made this build extra enjoyable! Thank you very much and I'm counting on you for my next Vietnam builds! Have a nice day

Paweł

Remarkable work, Pawel. It's better than the original would have been! Barrett

Wow, great job Pawel. That came out looking top notch. It needs a name plate on the base. 

Really nice piece.  Did a great job on the story with the clear focus on the letters from home  (I assume).  And all the details around the figure really sets the scene.