Well, it has yet to ship yes, most stores take pre-order and say it will come out in 3rd or 4th quarter of this year, so we have to see. I mean DAM is very prolific with making whole lines of figures like Gangster Kingdom, I can see them doing the same for NAM Era stuff as well as other Historical Military figures. I mean the M60 Gunner is clearly based on Animal Mother from Full Metal Jacket, I can see DAM doing the other characters from that movie as well as Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Born on 4th of July etc.

Also, I saw some new Tiger Stripe Uniform pop up on E-Bay from a company called AS Toys. The Pattern looks like a Thai pattern as is the cut (Its cut like a OG Jungle Uniform, something the Thais did back in the day and some Special forces, namely the 46th SF wore them) so there is that now as well. It would not be too out of the question for the same company to make other patterns of uniforms. I plan on getting myself at least a pair, for my LRRP team or a Navy SEAL or something like that.

 

Yeah I saw the AS Toys uniform! Was hoping to see an OD version as well, but so far it's just the Tigers.
It looked like it could've been a copy of the ACE uniform...a little hard to tell for sure though.
There are definitely a ton of possibilities for DAM in the 'Nam.

 

I have to mention Apache26, he's the one who inspired me to build up an accurately equipped platoon. The platoon he posted is still one of my favorite things on OSW.
I originally started out just wanting to equip the SSC "Platoon" figures with cloth gear + 1 M79 guy and 1 RTO. One thing led to another and now I'm trying to finish a platoon with 14 riflemen, 2 RTO's, 2 M60 gunners, 2 grenadiers, a Medic and a CO.
The biggest thing is sourcing, and my suggestion would be to look at BattleGearToys for uniforms/helmet covers if you need them. They're good quality, especially since the ACE offerings are dry until the next release (whenever that may be). My biggest hold up right now is web belts and harnesses.

For VC you can get away with dying certain WW2 uniforms black and using them as pajamas. Rice hats would be hard to source, but boonies/no headgear at all work just as well. Chest rigs and belts have proved to be tricky for me, most of my VC use old TUS belts with different buckles, and I have a mix and match of chest rigs for them. Footware might be an issue too..but I've had luck cutting black plastic boots into sandles with an X-acto knife. The best thing about doing VC is you can use WW2 era US/RUS weapons for them along with AK's.

For NVA it'll be a bit more difficult. I lucked out a few years ago and was able to win a big NVA lot on ebay. The pricing on that stuff when it pops up is a bit outrageous now though. Soldier Storys "In Defense" PLA soldier had a good uniform for NVA once it's been modified, and a knock off version was available for a while but I haven't seen it recently.
If you can find the ACE NVA belt from their SEAL figure that's the best one to use. I'm not sure if Soldier Story chest rigs can be easily found anymore, but the DiD one from their taliban figure would work good in it's place. Soldier Story would be your best bet for a chicom canteen and grenades. You could modify some of their WW2 PLA stuff to get the right look if needed.
Pith helmets would really be the hardest thing though, I haven't seen one on ebay for a while, I'll check my parts bin but I'm not sure if I have any extra. I don't see an NVA getting made anytime soon by ACE or DAM (or DiD even though they dipped into doing bad guys). If there was someone who could make good quality casts I'd offer up a helmet to be used, providing I find a spare one.

 

There's a guy here who made casts of the pith helmets, but I've lost his contact info. Have to dig out my old computer to see if I have it there. I did a bunch of NVA and a US platoon a couple years ago but all my photos got crapped on by Photobucket. I'm gradually uploading stuff to my own server space.

 

Oh shoot, yes, I should've mentioned your work too Val, definitely a huge inspiration!

EBT has some AK Chest rigs for 10 bucks, for those who may need some.
1/6 Custom Chicom Style AK-47 Chest Rig #CCV6-Y100 - echobasetoys
And their flak jackets look pretty good too.

A quick search does turn up a some Chicom TS gear as well.

 

I have to agree on the VC/NVA gear, too hard to source. I have been making some gear over the past month or so, some finished product ,some WIP and some experiments. Screwing around with patterns for the PJ,s at present. I hope to have a finished VC in a few weeks, here is a couple of pic,s on the progress.Still working on the canteens and grenade pouch & belt buckles the rest is sorted out, i,m trying to make it all using wood /metal etc etc. Will see if there is any bit,s left over after the bash,if i can help out i will PM you.

 

I have to agree on the VC/NVA gear, too hard to source. I have been making some gear over the past month or so, some finished product ,some WIP and some experiments. Screwing around with patterns for the PJ,s at present. I hope to have a finished VC in a few weeks, here is a couple of pic,s on the progress.Still working on the canteens and grenade pouch & belt buckles the rest is sorted out, i,m trying to make it all using wood /metal etc etc. Will see if there is any bit,s left over after the bash,if i can help out i will PM you. View attachment 380448 View attachment 380449

I have some VC knives, a machete and a pair of sandals that Mike made and I can definitely vouch for the quality of his work!!! Also, the EBT chest rigs are first rate too.

 

A few VC items just showed up on ebay for those interested. One auction looks like the complete TUS VC uniform set on their NVA figure.

 

Well, you can find the 21st C NVA Uniform and their NVA Backpack on Ebay at least in 2 stores, among several other items that could be useful for NAM kitbashes. Still some other stuff is getting scares again.

One thing I find personally is, that NAM Marines are a bit easier to kitbash then say Army Grunts, because for the Marines you can use a lot of WWII grea (M1941 Webbing and packs, Helmets with WWII/Korea War helmet covers, WWII Jungle First aid Kit etc.) the only thing that might make it harder is the lack of M1955 bodyarmos, that should be solved once the DAM Marine M60 Gunner arrives and stores part it out, but I expect that the M1955 Vest will be one of those items people will kill for, seeing as its the later version with the 2 lower pockets, something that isnt too common.

Well I guess I will have to make a WTB thread in the commerce section soon XD

As for the NVA thing, I was wondering, did they use Russian WWII Helmets? I read that some NVA units did wear helmets and the most common was a Polish type, but the most common 1:6 Russian helmet is the SSh-40.

 

I did a quick google search and found a few pictures of PAVN wearing the M56 helmet. I also know for a fact that I've seen a picture (or short clip) of a anti air crewman wearing a different Russian helmet. I'm not sure how common that would have been with a front line unit, but I think just about anything is possible when it comes to NVA/VC.

 

I did a quick google search and found a few pictures of PAVN wearing the M56 helmet. I also know for a fact that I've seen a picture (or short clip) of an anti aircrewman wearing a different Russian helmet. I'm not sure how common that would have been with a front line unit, but I think just about anything is possible when it comes to NVA/VC.

you are correct,
The PAVN did wear Protective Combat Helmets (M56, Polish, East German, Chinese helmets, and captured M1's) but almost exclusively issued them in mass to special combat support units only these units included Truck Drivers on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Anti-Air crews in the north and along the trail, The Navy, Aircrew support personnel in the north, and Engineers supporting and maintaining the Trail. You'll notice a trend they issued them to personnel more likely to be in direct threat of US and ARVN air power. Fun Fact the PAVN issued early Russian style flack vest to crews on the ho chi Minh trail in low numbers and are featured in propaganda films but, this may just be that propaganda trying to make themselves look better equipped and supplied a known tactic of the North.

I asked a Vietnam vet (1968-1969) his experince (for my own research) with PAVN/VC headgear he stated VC mostely wore the Rice peasant hats, it was common and cheap, many didnt wear headgear, some had the civillian and military styles of the Sun Helmets, chinese chairman caps, most wore what they had.

the PAVN mostly wore sun helmets, or sometimes a field cap similar to the chinese but their own design often worn by sappers

 

I found this.PAVN use of the M56 steel helmet during Vietnam War Rare photos some good pic,s here.

 

I found this.PAVN use of the M56 steel helmet during Vietnam War Rare photos some good pic,s here. View attachment 380612 View attachment 380613 View attachment 380614

this last photo is a frame from the propaganda film mentioned earlier, great find!
i belive it is also in Ken Burn's new Doc

 

Well, I think that only 21C made the M56 helmet with their Russian Paratrooper figure/set that is extremely rare. There where some M56 helmets on e-bay by some Russian guy who custom made them using casting I think, dont know if they are still being sold or not.

Edit: Speaking of helmets, in the Osprey book about the North Vietnamese Army, there is a Color plate of a NVA Artillerymen wearing SSH-40 helmets, so I guess they did use them after all, I just wish I had a actual photo of that.

 

Well, I think that only 21C made the M56 helmet with their Russian Paratrooper figure/set that is extremely rare.

I am sad to say I received this as a gift as a kid and hated that helmet I wish I still had I think that I traded it for a Gi Joe crusher cap

 

Helmets Archives - Enemy Militaria

Just going to leave this here

 

Helmets Archives - Enemy Militaria

Just going to leave this hear.

Thats a great site for many reasons, :thumb

 

Yes that is a great link, thanks for sharing it.

I was wondering, could you take a German Afrika Korps Pith Helmet and repaint it to look like a NVA Pith Helmet? I mean the shape of both helmets seem similar and all......

 

Yes that is a great link, thanks for sharing it.

I was wondering, could you take a German Afrika Korps Pith Helmet and repaint it to look like a NVA Pith Helmet? I mean the shape of both helmets seem similar and all......

You could, but the "crown" size and the bill shape have a different silhouette if you cover it with US pattern parachute camo like you see above you could just use the form I think the cover would hide the difference well but ,as far as I know there were many type and varaitions of sun helmets in service.

 

Tony Barton's great line of head gear includes a Sola Topi, which looks like it could stand in, albeit as a bit better helmet. His work speaks for itself. helmets - antheadssite

 

The Sola Tapi very similar to French occupation Indochina helmets, the French of course are the one who popularized the design throughout indo-China including Vietnam there are some imagines of the orginal durning the French wars of Viet-Mhin wearing the older style sun helmets
Some early standardization description can be found online with links of others describing the changes to form the next gen of helmet (the iconic "American" War ones) I am no NVA (PAVN) expert
I find when searching for sources using PAVN I gives you better result from Vietnam sources and NVA gives you more US sources, branding I suppose...

Maybe we could convince him to sculpt Us an NVA helmet I see the demand being there

 

Has anyone an info on that Soviet Body Armor seen in those propaganda images that where issued to the NVA? I never saw that before and I was not aware that the Soviet Union Fielded body armor in the 1960s.

 

I think it's a Chinese variation of an early Soviet flak the soviet(don't qoute me on this) fielded some aluminum style vest as early as 50s but in very limited numbers. I have heard that those may be flotation vest.(I am skeptical of the source I'll have to look through my archive agian)

 

I dont think the Chinese had Flak Vests like that, it was not until the last 70s, Early 80s when they adopted Steel Helmets I sure dont think they are flotation vests, they are not bulky enough.

I mean the russians already have those SN-42 armors during WWII but I never did see this vest until this thread so its really odd for me.