The start of the 2nd squad, 3rd platoon

23. October 202023. October 2020 thomasriepe 28mm, 28mm figure, 28mm Wargaming, 2nd squad, Empress, Empress miniatures, Paul Hicks, US Marines, Vietnam war

Here is the first Marine of the first fireteam of my 2nd squad. As the 1st and 3rd squads are finished as well as the HQ group of the squad and a forward artillery controller team this is the last subunit to complete my 3rd platoon.

Squad leader Sergeant Tom

22. October 202022. October 2020 thomasriepe 28mm, 28mm figure, 28mm Wargaming, Empress, Empress miniatures, HQ, Paul Hicks, US Marine squad HQ, US Marines, wargaming

This is the squad leader of the 3rd Squad . It is the Empress miniature combo of an officer and his RTO with a slight difference. I sawed-off the head of the officer figure. I removed the original head and added a head showing myself sculpted by ~Paul Hicks for me. So the figure looks a bit like myself. The original head was not discarded . I saved of the face and used the helmet on the officer figure:

Here you see the Helmet and the RTO more clearly.

Here are pictures of the completed HQ:

This finishes of the 3rd squad. I will start on the second one now. The first was already finished last year so when the second is done I will have a complete platoon. The only thing missing is a few mortars then…

HQ 3rd squat 3rd platoon

21. October 2020 thomasriepe 28mm, 28mm figure, 28mm Wargaming, Blooper gun, Empress, Empress miniatures, M79, Paul Hicks, US Marines, Vietnam war, wargaming

Here is the blooper gunner of the HQ of the 3rd squad. Armed with a M79 grenade launcher.

The squad leader and RTO follow shortly.

Last member of the 3rd fireteam

20. October 2020 thomasriepe 28mm, 28mm figure, 28mm Wargaming, 3rd fireteam, Empress, Empress miniatures, Paul Hicks, US Marines, Vietnam war, wargaming

Here is the last member of the third fireteam of the 3rd squad.

Here is the complete 3rd fireteam:

HMG waiting in ambush

19. October 2020 thomasriepe 28mm, 28mm figure, 28mm Wargaming, Empress, Empress miniatures, HMG, North Vietnamese Army, NVA, Paul Hicks, Vietnam war, wargaming

Here is the same HMG, you could see on the move here , in a firing position.

Fireteamleader 3rd squad 3rd platoon

15. October 2020 thomasriepe 28mm, 28mm figure, 28mm Wargaming, Empress, Empress miniatures, fireteam, fireteamleader, Paul Hicks, US Marines, Vietnam war, wargaming, wargaming miniatures

This is the figure of the 3rd squad fireteam leader.

NVA Heavy Machine Gun

14. October 2020 thomasriepe 28mm, 28mm figure, 28mm Wargaming, Empress, Empress miniatures, heavy machine gun, HMG, North Vietnamese Army, NVA, Paul Hicks, Vietnam war

Here is a HMG of the North Vietnamese Army on the move. Again sculpted with the addition of personal arms of the operators so they are not defenseless while moving the HMG.

Sikorsky H-34

13. October 2020 thomasriepe 1/48, 28mm, 28mm figure, 28mm Wargaming, Chopper, Empress miniatures, Helicopter, Sikorsky H-34, Trumpeter, Vietnam war

According to Wikipedia the Sikorsky H-34 (company designation S-58) is a piston-engined military helicopter originally designed by American aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. It has seen extended use when adapted to turbine power by the British licensee as the Westland Wessex and Sikorsky as the later S-58T.

H-34s served, mostly as medium transports, on every continent with the armed forces of 25 countries. It saw combat in Algeria, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and throughout Southeast Asia. Other uses included saving flood victims, recovering astronauts, fighting fires, and carrying presidents. It was the last piston-engined helicopter to be operated by the United States Marine Corps, having been replaced by turbine-powered types such as the UH-1 Hueyand CH-46 Sea Knight. A total of 2,108 H-34s were manufactured between 1953 and 1970.

I wanted to have this iconic chopper for my Vietnam war collection and so i bought the above pictured Trumpeter model in 1/48. I wanted to use the new pilot miniatures from Empress Miniatures for this model. Normally the scale 1/48 isn’t that far of and usable with 28mm figures as you can see here:

The US Marine figure by empress fits into the cargo hold and works perfect along the Trumpeter model. No the pilot figures have somewhat short legs and can’t reach the pedals of the cockpit . That is I presume to make them fit into other cockpits too. What i did was to lengthen the legs on both pilots by 3 mm so they fit in better then.