‘Nam - LVTs and Recoilless Rifles .

 A bit more for the Marine force . First up a pair of Landing Vehicle Tracked 5 and 6H . These were a 1950/60s iteration of the LVTs the Marines had used in WW2 , bigger and heavily armed . 

I picked these up as 3d resin prints from BPM - very good quality - they do lack a bit of track detail but that is from the STL. Easy enough coverable . 

Given they could carry 30+ guys inside I can understand why they would cover the top in sandbags and hide up there . I added a 50cal team and a guy with a M60 after using a whole pack of milliput to make the sandbags . I have a few other kneeling figures on order to add in too . 

I need a driver / command figure as well - just waiting for Full Metal to have them back in stock .

Next up is some extra firepower in the form of recoilless rifles . One is set up to fire with a pair of guys carrying the ammo box . The other is 4 guys struggling to move the damn thing ! Very nice sets from Full Metal Miniatures - just a bit of an epic putting them together as they all have separate arms - much swearing and sticking fingers together while doing these was had . They have however come out great .

 

Next Nam will be some ARVN I think . 

Nam - M42 Duster

 I have now cleared out the stash of vehicles for the Nam. This one is a M42 Duster with twin 40mm Bofors l it’s a Full Metal Miniatures kit that went together well .

 

Next up I need to clear out the 15mm and 10mm  building stash I think.

‘Nam - PBR and VC on the trail.

 I have completed some more stuff this week that’s been in the “to do” pile for a while . I am trying to get everything non infantry or aircraft cleared off . 

First up the PBR kit and the Apocalypse Now crew from Empress. A very nice item it is too . It was cleanly cast and went together well . 

 

I did the waves and wake with a combination of hot glue and adhesive applied with a cartridge gun then teasing it with a bit of wire . There area at the rear had some bent white pipe I had in the bits box added which then had the hot glue and adhesive applied over it to give an impression of speed. I had made a wedge shim out of XPS to go under the front half of the boat to lift it up as well. 

 

I had made the canopy removable and magnetised it . Then you can also see the chief driving the boat .

 

The figures are a great rendition of the film characters.

The surf board is a good addition with the kit 

Next up is a set of cyclists from Full Metal Miniatures .

I added a couple of RPG’s being carried as well - again these were from FMM

I have one more item of Nm stuff to finish coming up then I will move into something else for a bit.

‘Nam - Tanks and Mutt.

The latest additions for the Nam collection sees the addition of some heavy armour units . While often associated with infantry and choppers there is a role for the armoured units providing support and beefing up firebases , escorting convoys etc . 

So first up a pair of M48A3 Patton tanks for the Marine units . This was a resin and metal kit . As ever at this kind of scale a modicum of modelmaking skill is required . I went a bit further adding brass rod replacements for turret rail and the basket as I thought these resin bits might not stand long term contact with Wargamers . Other than that it was a base paint job and weathering using various AK and Vallejo pigments.

 

The kit is resin and metal with the tracks being metal as well as the cupola , gun and a bag of stowage. Other than adding the brass work it went together really well . 

 

I picked up a set of decals from Star in Sweden that let me do two tanks from the same unit . They were 1’72 nominally but were a good match 

 

I have also completed the M151 Mutt by Gringos . I’ve added a spare 50cal I had in the bits box , as well as a whip aerial and a windshield made from a transparent yoghurt pit . 

 

Next was a top up for my Anzac units with a Centurion V with a dozer blade. It’s a resin kit from Full  Metal Miniatures , 

This is mostiy resin bar the gun, dozer blade and stowage 

Decals were again sourced from Stat . 

I really enjoyed doing these . Surprisingly, once built and given a base rattle can green undercoat these didn’t take very long to complete.

I have picked up a few other AK and Vallejo pigments that were used on these and I think they are great 

This sheet comes with the decals fir info