Thursday, August 25, 2016

Peter Pig 15mm Vehicles for Vietnam

All,

While Vietnam was largely an infantry war, there were, of course, vehicles present.  I've only got two helicopters, which you'll see later, but now you get to see what else I've got, and the cool thing is that I've got vehicles for both sides!  And I've got land and sea covered ;)

The label says Peter Pig, which is a bit of a little white lie.  You see, it's almost all Peter Pig, but there is one lonely Zvezda vehicle in there.

Here's the group: a PBR (Patrol Boat, River), two LVTP-5 Amtracs, and M-48 Patton, a T-55, and a 122mm self-propelled gun (I believe the Soviet designation is 2S1?).  The T-55 and SPG are for the North Vietnamese, and will come in handy for some late war action, like the Fall of the South, the 1972 Easter Offensive, or Lam Son 719.  All the US stuff is in play for the entire war.

The 122mm SPG is the Zvezda model, all the rest is Peter Pig.

Lets's start with the PBR; I kept it simple, and went with some contrasting colors.  Of course this makes me think of Apocalypse Now.

Another look.  The model is resin, with the guns and radar being metal.  You can see on the bow where some wake is cast on.  I painted it white so it would really stand out.

Again.

Port side.

Again.

From the stern.

Surfer-dude Lance up on the bow .50s.  I know the PBR crew berets should be black, but I wanted it to stand out so I made it red...

Again.

And Mr. Clean on the stern .50.

Again.

One more time.

And one last look.

Peter Pig's M-48, all metal.  Easy to slap together, got some real heft to it.  As always, a very simple paint job and no real weathering.  While I feel I've gotten pretty good at painting troops, not so much with the vehicles.  They're functional though.

Again.

Opposite side.

Here you can see the cupola's open, but I don't have a tank command figure.  I suppose I should have cut the hatch off and glued it shut, but I didn't...

And one more.

And on to his adversary, the T-55.  I'm not sure, but I think the NVA only had T-54s.  Close enough.  Another all-metal model, easy to slap together, and this one had the option of an open hatch with TC, or a closed hatch.

Too heavy on the drybrush?

Another look.

T'other side.

A look at the rear.

And one more.

On to some Marine chariots, the venerable LVTP-5.  These are resin models, one piece, no assembly required.  Right up my alley.

I gotta tell you, when I pulled these out of their bags I was not happy.  I'm not really a fan of vehicles on bases in any scale, particularly big scales like 15mm.  But now they're painted up and on the table I don't even notice the base.

It just looks manly, doesn't it?

Amphibious beasts!

Fore and aft.

And on to the Zvezda model, a plastic 122mm self-propelled gun.  Pretty easy to get together, a little problem up front.

On the front you can see a bit of a gap between the top and bottom of the hull.

Again.

Once again pretty heavy on the drybrush.

Rear.

And one more photo.

That's all my vehicles, and all I can see really needing in 15mm.  I'd like to have some more helos, some Hueys for the Army and some CH-34s for the Marines, but they're so big and expensive (and hard to find the -34s) that I'll probably live without them.  More troops and terrain to show ya, so stay tuned.

V/R,
Jack


11 comments:

  1. Great looking vehicles, love the patrol boat!

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    Replies
    1. I appreciate it Phil, and I agree, the PBR is pretty damn cool :)

      V/R,
      Jack

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  2. They look really good Jack. You said
    "As always, a very simple paint job and no real weathering. While I feel I've gotten pretty good at painting troops, not so much with the vehicles"
    I think you've done a good job And you're being too self-critical - they're for your games, so paint them how you want!

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    Replies
    1. You're too kind, thanks man. Now to get some fights in!

      V/R,
      Jack

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  3. Can you live with smaller aircraft, go with 1/144th or similar? Would mean less expense and table space and if you imagine the troops are looking up at them they'd be smaller ;)

    Nice stuff!

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    Replies
    1. TP,

      I hear ya man, but the problem is I want troop carriers to land and disgorge their troops, and don't want monsters de-planing from tiny helos (of course I know 10mm isn't tiny, I just mean in relative terms next to the men).

      V/R,
      Jack

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    2. Yeeees, if you want them down for any length of time that's awkward...

      QRF do a chopper range, they might have suitable 1/100 scale birds? Sadly 1/100 choppers don't tend to be cheap :/

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    3. Yeah, I'll have to check QRF's website and determine if they've got anything suitable, and how much I'm willing to shell out...

      V/R,
      Jack

      Delete
  4. Sadly it's a good time to buy against the pound!

    ReplyDelete