Hi everyone
New member here.
I was in Nam 66-67 with the 173rd airborne and a good friend that I met a few years ago was a chopper pilot in the Nam. Some of the stories were about bringing troups into a hot LZ and the danger involved. Of course I remember doing that many times being a grunt. I would like to make a dio of a chopper pulling off just after dropping its troops.
Could anyone help me with what would be a good model to use and are there any Nam era models of troops that I could use, also decals. Im thinking 48 or 72 scale.
Thanks for the help.
Ken
The slicks were usually UH-1D’s or H’s
Italeri has this in both 48th and 72nd and I think Panda makes one in 35th and the old Revell kit in 32nd.
Not much out there in figures in 48th but you can find a few in 72nd and 20mm-25mm wargame figures also work in 72nd and there are lots of Nam wargame figs out there.
The Revell kit can be made up into a good model and I heard the Panda kit was fair.
I agree with Phil, depends on scale you want. There are also Nam figures in 1/35. In the time period you mentioned there are no major differences bewteen the D and H models.
John
helicopters don’t fly, they beat the air into submission
Hi Ken
As a matter of interest you may like to have a look at this site
http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=418
Regards Neil
Australia
Actually, the above thread is of a Australian UH-1D Bushranger Gunship in Vietnam. You may want to take a look at this thread to get abetter idea for options for US Hueys in Vietnam.
Academy makes some great 1/35 scale UH-1 kits and the Panda kits are also 1/35 scale so if you do a Dio with 1/35 scale figures you have to use a 1/35 scale helo.
Not so my friend. 1/32 and 1/35 are close enough that you can mix them. I have done this many times with 1/35 figures and accessories with 1/32 helos, aircraft, and civilian car/truck models. Take a look in my galleries below and you can see some of these. The key is to keep like things the same scale. For example, you would want to keep all the weapons and canteens in 1/35 scale. I have also mixed 1/32 figures, Airfix Multi-Purpose figures, with 1/35 figures too, again keeping constant sized items the same scale/size; weapons, ammo pouches, canteens, grenades, etc. Remember, some people are larger than others, some smaller, but equipment is made to a constant, standard size. Variation is good, give it a try.
If I remember right DML makes a set of 1/35th scale LRRP figures. The set includes a nice mix of arms, eg M-16, M-79, M-16 A1(or CAR 15), etc. I think it also included a PRC-25. I know there were boonie hats, but I don’t remember if it included steel pots. It would make a nice diorama set for an insertion as you describe. The only drawback is the size of the slick. 1/35 is a little large.
I remember there were a few companies of the 173rd. assigned to MAC V for LRRPs (lirps). rangerj (101st.) Geranamo !
No steel posts in the DML LRRP set, only boonie caps and sweat bands. I believe the only DML Vietnam era figure set with steel pots are the USMC sets, ARVN Rangers, and 1ST CAV set. All their others are of a SpecOps nature and come with some type of soft cap. As for the 1/35 Huey being too big, nope, it is just right. It is also the only scale that will give you all the figure and gear options you want/need to pull this off correctly.
Go for it, it sounds great. Good luck.
I would agree with Gino, also Tamiya had a set or two of figures that you could use, but i would replace the weapons with one’s from DML
john
helicopters don’t fly, they beat the air into submission