Year: 2019

Platoon the movie

thomasriepe , , , , , ,

Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone, starringFTom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Keith David, Kevin Dillon, John C. McGinley, Forest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp.

In 1967, U.S. Army volunteer Chris Taylor arrives in South Vietnam and is assigned to an infantry platoon of the 25th Infantry Division near the Cambodian border. The platoon is officially led by the young and inexperienced LieutenantWolfe, but in reality the soldiers defer to two of his older and more experienced subordinates: the hardened and cynical Staff Sergeant Robert “Bob” Barnes, and the more idealistic Sergeant Elias.

Here is my take of Staff Sergeant Robert “Bob” Barnes and Sergeant Elias. Both figures are a set from the Wargames illustrated magazine .

Staff Sergeant Robert “Bob” Barnes

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Sergeant Elias

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Both together:

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Blooper gunner for my Marine squad

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Here is the Blooper gunner for my US Marines for Vietnam. He is armed with a M79 grenade launcher. A single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40×46mm grenade, which uses what the US Army calls the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low, and first appeared during the Vietnam War. Because of its distinctive report, it has earned the nicknames of “Thumper”, “Thump-Gun”, “Bloop Tube”, “Big Ed”, “Elephant Gun,” and “Blooper” among American soldiers as well as “Can Cannon” in reference to the grenade size. The M79 can fire a wide variety of 40 mm rounds, including explosive, anti-personnel, smoke, buckshot, flechette (pointed steel projectiles with a vaned tail for stable flight), and illumination. 

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There was usually one “grenadier” armed with a Blooper per marine squad. The figure is a Paul Hicks sculpt available through Empress Miniatures.

More to come. Have to speed up my painting as there will be lots more waiting for me at Crisis Antwerp.

A hut for my jungle terrain

thomasriepe , , , , , , ,

As I started on my Vietnam war project during the summer and have finished a few miniatures now I thought it is time to start on some terrain for my games. I got a 3D printer from my wonderful wife and so the terrain making starts. I got the Anicubic Photon 3d resin printer a wonderful machine indeed. You can get more information here.

Here is a picture of the machine:

I got an STL file of a carribian hut which fits in with the vietnamese rural landscape quite well:

You can get the file here.

I printed the file and build it using superglue which worked quite well. I painted it with my airbrush and a few washings based it and added a palm tree ( available on eBay) and here it is:

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Here is a US marine figure next to it . I printed it in the size it came in. Of course you could resize it in any scale you would like. I am quite happy with it. It won’t be the last structure to print for my terrain needs.

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If someone knows other STL files useful for my Vietnam war project please leave a comment , thanks.

4th NVA soldier

thomasriepe , , , , ,

Here is the 4th soldier of my 1st NVA squad. Figure by Paul Hicks, released by Empress Miniatures. the figure has a head swop with one of the Empress head packs you can get here.

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More in the painting line.

The next US Marine squad, for Vietnam

thomasriepe , , , , ,

here is the first figure of the second squad of my US Marines for Vietnam. This is a very special figure. It depicts the squad sergeant of the second squad, who happens to be me.

So here is sergeant Tom . the figure got a head swop and a special paint job on the left arm . The figure is a gringo 40 figure. The head is a special sculpt by my friend Paul Hicks and depicts my features. I added a scarf round the neck to hide the joint between the body and the head. On the left upper arm I tried to paint a tattoo I happen to have there.

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More to come!

The complete M60 team

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Here is the machine-gun team for my US Marine platoon. First the missing 2nd assistant gunner:

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Another of the brilliant paul Hicks sculpts. He is wearing a rain jacket beneath the flack jacket.

Here is the complete M60 team:

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The only thing missing is some foliage on the bases.

The “pig”

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Here is the M60 gunner. A Paul Hicks sculpt. Avalable from Empress Miniatures:

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Next up the second assistant gunner of the team.

M60 team

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Here is the first assistant gunner of a M60 MG team. An Empress Miniatures figure by Paul Hicks

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Next NVA soldier

thomasriepe , , , , ,

After a short break, I got a Anycubic photon resin printer and had to try that out ( more later) here is the next NVA soldier another Paul Hicks sculpt form Empress miniatures:

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More in the next days. i will put up the first test prints of my resin printer later.

Lt. Colonel Ernest Clifford Cheatham

thomasriepe , , , , ,

Ernest Clifford Cheatham Jr. (July 27, 1929 – June 14, 2014) was a United States Marine Corps officer, a veteran of the Korean War and the Vietnam War, a recipient of the Navy Cross, and American football defensive tackle who played for the Baltimore Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Lt Col Cheatham served as commander of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines during the Vietnam War.

On 2 February 1968 Cheatham was at Phu Bai Combat Base when he was ordered into Huế to take command of his companies already engaged in the Battle of Hue. Before leaving for Huế, Cheatham reviewed Marine urban fighting doctrine which recommended staying off the streets and moving forward by blasting through walls and buildings. He proceeded to gather the necessary equipment including M20 Bazookas, M40 106mm recoilless rifles mounted on M274 Mules, C-4 explosive, flamethrowers, tear gas and gas masks. This equipment was loaded onto a convoy which arrived at the MACV Compound at 1 pm on 3 February, Cheatham then joined his Company commanders in Huế University and they proceeded to develop the tactics to be used in recapturing southern Huế. Cheatham led his forces as they methodically cleared the Viet Cong and People’s Army of Vietnam forces from the western area of southern Huế.

He was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism leading 2/5 Marines during the battle.

More background here

here is the Gringo 40 Miniature of Ernest Cheatham painted with Contrast paints:

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Here he is together with the Grunts of fire team 3:

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