Rubicon Models
Rubicon Models => Work In Progress => Topic started by: Rubicon Models on July 01, 2020, 02:47:34 pm
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NEW PRODUCT RANGE - Vietnam War
It has now been 45 years since the end of the Vietnam War (Nov 1, 1955 to Apr 30, 1975). To commemorate the conflict, Rubicon Models will be releasing a new product range towards the end of this year. The majority of this new range will include plastic miniatures and vehicles supplemented by resin and pewter blister packs.
Over the course of the next few months, Rubicon Models will be previewing sculpts and renders of figures and vehicles used by both North and South Vietnam, as well as other belligerent nations such as the US, Australia, New Zealand, and a few others.
Depending on our progress, the initial release is planned for late-2020 or early 2021. Initially, four figure sets are planned –
(1) Việt Cộng (VC)
(2) People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) (or commonly known as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
(3) United States Marine Corp (USMC)
(4) Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).
In addition, we plan to release at least two to three plastic vehicles per side; this includes armoured personnel carriers (APC), tanks, and support vehicles. If responses are positive, we might extend the range into the Cold War period as well. Meanwhile, please enjoy some preview on our Việt Cộng sculpts with AK-47 assault rifles.
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/78/a1/3mBGfGOA_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/e9/3f/Rq9mjCdM_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/01/4c/ddT8bsje_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/86/6b/UimcPbZH_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/52/7e/9hXMJ66O_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/24/75/thzZ87lG_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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Interesting.
How will the figures scale up together (and to others)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S6bR048WlR4/XdW-1k9r80I/AAAAAAAAF8Y/mmBeUx3iepsSAiNEXFnj6GbqdyxQFkgNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/compare006.png)
The figure on the left (Gringo's 40 NVA) is of conventional modern 28mm proportions.
The figure on the right (Empress Miniatures NVA) is the sculptor's interpretation of the size difference between a North Vietnamese person and a US Marine. There is plenty of photographic evidence of the difference in height.
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The seams on the trousers seem rather pronounced.
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The seams on the trousers seem rather pronounced.
You need that "exaggeration" for plastic moulding. Same with our current plastic figures.
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How will the figures scale up together (and to others)
Ours will be in-between the two. In fact, our new VW figures will be about 5% taller than our current WW2 figures. Will post some 3D printed one later...
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How will the figures scale up together (and to others)
Ours will be in-between the two. In fact, our new VW figures will be about 5% taller than our current WW2 figures. Will post some 3D printed one later...
My question was more related to how the Vietnamese will compare to the ANZAC/US figures.
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As far as size comparison the weapon scale should be the same. An M16 in a Marines hands would be the same size as an M16 in an ARVN soldiers hands.
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As far as size comparison the weapon scale should be the same. An M16 in a Marines hands would be the same size as an M16 in an ARVN soldiers hands.
Yes, but the average heights of the respective figures is important.
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The Việt Cộng (VC) had many female fighters involved in guerilla warfare, this made the VC a very interesting army. To represent this, we have created many female sculpts with different weapons to represent this. Here are some of them...
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/84/60/kwR8eq1K_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/a7/a5/onqxO2Hi_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/da/3f/ymg4UPJj_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/8a/0a/AaHsSkKr_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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Is the plan to have the figures in Plastic (I hope) or Pewter?
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The majority of this new range will include plastic miniatures and vehicles supplemented by resin and pewter blister packs.
Sounds like lots of plastics, for most troopers and vehicles, with some resin and pewter as well.
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The majority of this new range will include plastic miniatures and vehicles supplemented by resin and pewter blister packs.
Sounds like lots of plastics, for most troopers and vehicles, with some resin and pewter as well.
I might be interested in a range of plastic infantry depending on the sculpts.
This would need to be both sides as I doubt they would match up well with my current metals.
They would be considered a different "scale" to my current modelling project.
http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.com/search/label/Hue (http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.com/search/label/Hue)
Though sharing a lot of scenery...
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aUGD_lD0MGg/Xf5wVEE72ZI/AAAAAAAAF-k/OmswvjyfA-kQ0lavPhrW8k5GiUWKuE_PwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/palm-1-1.png)
Rubicon US Army decals.
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Various weapon teams for the VC...
Not final sculpts, subject to change before final approval.
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/e6/04/oOseC0cH_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/86/39/G99GSg49_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/f3/15/frFLHGm7_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/9f/1b/WwxcSEQB_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/27/83/xuagZtgH_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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Interesting. The women appear large for Vietnamese in comparison to the weapons.
The men of the mortar team look well fed.
imho.
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It had been two months since our official announcement of the Vietnam War project. Progress had been smooth and satisfactory.
Summing it up, we have completed preliminary work for (1) BTR-60P APC, (2) T-54 MBT, (3) VC figures, (4) NVA figures, and some minor US equipment (little secret until getting approval). Will start working on USMC soon...
Here is a spread of parts for the upcoming plastic Việt Cộng set. There are over 80 parts, not sure if all these will fit onto a single sprue. Will try our best...
Note: All heads and headgears are interchangeable, so as with the arms and weapons, bodies and accessories.
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/a4/7a/w4trjO9j_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/6d/de/GP45PdHA_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/fa/03/BtoIlWpt_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/9e/ed/iKCsRblr_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/33/59/6NoNDDph_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/53/ce/AzuvoKY8_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/f3/96/WYlpA358_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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Nice.
Interested to see how that goes.
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can't wait. They look fantastic and with great variation options.
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Out of the six VC bodies, we have assembled a few combinations for your preview...
Will post some painted samples after the weekend!
(https://images2.imgbox.com/86/50/7GdfVu1z_o.jpg)
(https://images2.imgbox.com/8f/e6/GolxmJdm_o.jpg)
(https://images2.imgbox.com/5c/c1/4XZpEgJo_o.jpg)
(https://images2.imgbox.com/e4/08/01Bj1saC_o.jpg)
(https://images2.imgbox.com/4d/40/b56PavMH_o.jpg)
(https://images2.imgbox.com/8c/1c/DxnBNqGH_o.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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Is it just me who cannot see the pictures?
And they are there.
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Very nice figures, If it's the ones on the Facebook page, and a great choice of options. That is how you make multipose figures,Get all the army sets done at the same time so they can be released together in one release phase.
I am not into NAM stuff but I hope that RM do the support weapons in plastic as the mortar and reciolless rifle support legs are thin.
These look to be the best figures for Vietnam I have ever seen and if the US range are just as good when RM start to do them then it's going too be a huge game changer in the market. I think RM May need to create a sister site or a separate forum page for the NAM project only.
Great work RM, raising the standards again.
I hope RM take the same approach in future for any New WW2 figure sets.
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We have some Việt Cộng prototype samples painted, showing different poses...
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/f5/02/h38aS0t7_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/b3/82/cjk6Kkt5_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/df/53/lkQ4aQNn_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/d4/9d/jxcfS5Sv_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/a3/4c/ZlJrWsiD_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/99/96/RLMoWKmv_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/28/01/JpTT1c3Q_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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I hope RM take the same approach in future for any New WW2 figure sets.
We have specifically picked the Vietnam War era to start our new plastic figure range. There were only that many "fractions" during the 19 years conflict, so there is nothing to lose (both commercially and financially) if our experiment failed.
The figure templates we used for the Vietnam War (VW) range are basically the same as our WW2 range with revisions on the head and hands. We had also upgraded the body template so that they can be posed more naturally. If the VW releases proved successful, it will be our stepping stone to start the WW2 range if there is still room for plastic WW2 figures.
What do you think?
;)
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These look great! I agree that Vietnam is certainly a less filled niche than WW2, so I look forward to seeing how these do, and what ends up being in the rest of the range.
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They look good.
My problem is that I have a large existing selection of Vietnam period hardware and figures.
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Much work had been done on the VC figure sprues. We now have two VC sprues - a male and a female (with command).
The male sprue is currently in mould making and the female one had just got approved as well.
Male VC figure sprue layout...
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/b2/67/qdqk1EPK_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/be/d1/TZcCGI2H_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/67/47/rBPz6hke_t.jpg)
Female VC and Command sprue layout...
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/81/9c/EYAyMdOm_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/28/7a/YvsAtclO_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/00/6f/8cH2KaM1_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/2f/29/syMGpJod_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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These look fantastic. Well done Rubicon. I hope the end product is as good as the renders and the ambition.
If the VW releases proved successful, it will be our stepping stone to start the WW2 range if there is still room for plastic WW2 figures.
What do you think?
Sorry, I missed this. I think it’s a great idea. Would love to see some more ‘true 1/56’ WW2 multipart plastic sets. The three Perry sets are wonderful, but the vast bulk of WW2 plastic figures in this scale are Warlord, which are way too chunky and cartoony for me. So yes, I think you’ll find there’s plenty of room for plastic WW2 figures produced with realism and quality in mind.
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Sorry, I missed this. I think it’s a great idea. Would love to see some more ‘true 1/56’ WW2 multipart plastic sets. The three Perry sets are wonderful...
... So yes, I think you’ll find there’s plenty of room for plastic WW2 figures produced with realism and quality in mind.
There are whole theatres open for plastic figures. Choose a theatre where you have a range of existing vehicle models (and the sales information) and release opposing forces for the popular ones.
Barbarossa is one (you have a lot of the hardware already available or in the production pipeline).
Blitzkrieg is another (less of the hardware, but always hopeful).
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There are whole theatres open for plastic figures. Choose a theatre where you have a range of existing vehicle models (and the sales information) and release opposing forces for the popular ones.
Barbarossa is one (you have a lot of the hardware already available or in the production pipeline).
Blitzkrieg is another (less of the hardware, but always hopeful).
You have quite a few vehicles in your range that were used in the North African theater, how about some figures for this theater?
Yes, both Warlord and Perry Miniatures have figures for this theater, but how about plastic Italians or Free French? Perry makes these figures in metal, but not in plastic. This would be a first from any company in plastic.
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Rubicon Models released some 28mm WW2 infantry for American, British, German, and Soviet armies.
However....
A lot of us were a little surprised that they went with metal (pewter) instead of plastic for their 28mm WW2 infantry (1).
Yes, they have their reasons, but it seems a bit strange now that their 28mm VC figures are plastic and not metal (pewter).
(1) There is one interesting exception. The RM German Machine Gun Team is made in plastic. However, their American, British, and Soviet Machine Gun Teams (as well as all the other figures) are made in metal (pewter).
Power of Plastic:
Somewhat of a shame because had their WW2 line of infantry been plastic and not metal, we could have done a lot more with them.
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RE: Figures in Plastic / Pewter / Resin
Looking back at our range of 28mm WW2 figures, we have spent 5 years perfecting our digital sculpting skills and improving our figure template.
Not doing most of our figures in plastic is because we are cautious, not wanting to be like other manufacturers with widely varied "style" of sculpting across the whole range without a standard.
This is also complicated by the knowhow to better mould making techniques. I think everyone is quite aware that we have improved a lot between the earlier figures and the current one.
Doing the Vietnam War figures in plastic sprues is our testbed towards a bigger range of WW2 plastic figure sprues. The Vietnam conflict involved only a few fractions limited only to a handful of box sets. Unlike the WW2 figure range, if we screwed up, the Vietnam range was just a few moulds; we can always go back to the drawing board and refine our techniques and designs. We would rather wait for another year before we tackle the WW2 range.
There are also several other manufacturers doing 28mm plastic figures, we are very eager to see how they will manage.
PS: On another note, we are also testing other raw material for producing our figures. We will let you know more about it once we had some positive results.
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That all makes perfect sense, and yes, as a past critic of some of the definition and moulding on some Rubicon plastic crew figures, I can see that your dedication to continually refining and improving your processes is now really starting to pay dividends.
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One thing I look forward in people miniatures is consistency of weapons. People come in many sizes and colors. A rifle, such as the AKM or M14 should be the same whether carrier by an American soldier, South Vietnamese regular or Viet Cong. So the weapons available to the female Viet Cong figures should be exactly the same in scale as those for the Male Viet Cong figures.
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RE: Figures in Plastic / Pewter / Resin
...is our testbed towards a bigger range of WW2 plastic figure sprues.
Yes! :)
Even though this will be in the far distant future, this is still good news.
Having a good mix of anatomically correctness and wargaming enhancements is a tricky business, and one that I think the Perry brothers has accomplished with their 28mm plastic WW2 figures.
Currently there are only three WW2 plastic Perry Miniature sets (Desert Rats 1940-43, Afrikakorps, US Infantry 1942-45). While all three are very good, you can tell that the latest one (US Infantry 1942-45) is their best - and one of my favorites! This is probably due to everything Rubicon Models has said above - learning from making the earlier sets and discovering new things and perfecting the digital sculpting as well as improving and/or modifying other aspects of making hard plastic figure molds.
There are also several other manufacturers doing 28mm plastic figures, we are very eager to see how they will manage.
As mentioned before, having a good mix of anatomically correctness and wargaming enhancements is a difficult balance to achieve at this scale (28mm, but AKA 1:56). Once again though, I have to mention that I think the Perry brothers has accomplished this with their 28mm plastic WW2 figures.
As for several other manufacturers, well, to be honest, this is one factor that Rubicon Models needs to be highly aware of. However, I feel that only a few of the manufactures have accomplished this art of blending anatomically correctness and wargaming enhancements to good affect.
Sadly, except for the very few Rubicon Models and Perry Miniatures plastic figures I have, my 28mm WW2 collection is mostly made up of Warlord Games (Bolt Action) plastic figures. Because at the time, these were the only figures I could get... and because of no other choice, a few metal figures as well.
While Warlord Games' older plastic sets are a bit heroic sized, it was not as bad as the newer overly grossly heroic sized sets. Every time I see these grossly oversized heroic figures, I keep thinking that the people responsible need to go back to art school - and actually go to their Human Body Form class and pay attention.
That being said, I would like to make a few comments about the current figures out there available to the miniature gamer:
Perry Miniatures: Many think that these are some of the best 28mm WW2 plastic figures available. Especially their newest US Infantry 1942-45 set (highly recommended!). If they had a larger range of figures, I would only collect these figures.
Rubicon Models: These figures suffer from being too anatomically correct, and their earlier figures lacked detail and wargaming enhancements, but Rubicon Models has been improving their figures ever so slightly. However, what makes Rubicon Models number one in my book are there fantastic plastic model kits. However, maybe some of their latest kits might be a bit over-engineered?
Wargames Factory: I only recently learned that they made 28mm WW2 figures. Sadly, for me these are very difficult to obtain at any reasonable price, but the few figures a friend sent me makes me want more of them. Like the Perry Miniatures, they have a good blend of anatomically correctness and gaming enhancements. While not as good as the latest Perry Miniatures' US Infantry 1942-45 set, I would still take Wargames Factory 28mm plastic WW2 figures over Warlord Games 28mm plastic WW2 figures any-day of the week. It is just a shame I missed out on these figures when they were still being produced with great offers.
There is more information about The visual appeal of 1:56 (28mm) scale figures. , have a look at the following thread:
http://forum.rubiconmodels.com/index.php?topic=900.0
PS: On another note, we are also testing other raw material for producing our figures. We will let you know more about it once we had some positive results.
You mean material like what they call "Warlord Resin"? It is supposed to be a resin, but feels and acts more like a soft-hard plastic. However, it doesn't assemble as nice as plastic, but most figures I have seen do not need assembly or only have one or two bits to attach. Even the best model glue/cement does not work with this material, and that is what gives the plastic figures a huge advantage. The simple fact that the glue/cement physically welds the plastic bits together makes for a fantastic durable bond.
That being said, these new "Warlord Resin" figures seem to be more liked than metal figures. At least that is what I have been hearing so far. Once the paint starts to flake off, maybe opinions will change - anyone else have experience painting the older soft plastic figures by Airfix? (good childhood memories) Only later to see your nice paint work peel and flake off later. (bad childhood memories)
Curious... who else still has their thousands of Airfix plastic figures (Napoleonic, American Civil War, WW1, WW2, cowboys/indians, and so on)?
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PS: On another note, we are also testing other raw material for producing our figures. We will let you know more about it once we had some positive results.
On other materials, I can recommend the material used by Anvil Industries, the results are crisp and clear, no or minimal mould lines, the components feel robust and they take superglue with no worries. The only downside is that you cannot use liquid poly to reshape or chemically smooth surfaces and you need to be careful when sanding or cutting.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ll6jQGPrPvc/X2jpe3euVGI/AAAAAAAAHD4/BnVewMYVV_s8MJVnVHsGlPLaO21VawvvACLcBGAsYHQ/s517/anvil-make-1-1.png)
(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kJa2oY9kdWU/WTznw2njcqI/AAAAAAAACYM/xUTJqP51YG4ZO9ej7DHaJALFwrotCdZ5ACLcB/s1600/orbitalfusileer1-20.png)
It is not derived from the same technology used for the Cadbury Wispa Bar or the Great Womble's FineCast.
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The last show-off for this year... the first plastic test shot of our Việt Cộng male figure sprue.
This sprue is part of our upcoming FIRST ever figure box set in 2021.
Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/9e/10/uD6chGX2_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/61/ec/MyMJvXsh_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/70/1d/cWyrZJuZ_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/3f/dd/xKeuNNY6_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/14/de/wl8lPVEq_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/f2/ad/pXo7pqPa_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/a8/8a/mWBoPePe_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/9e/d5/uiOrGnUZ_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/72/d3/MLo8f7Fh_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/9c/65/3zQL5lhK_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/c3/58/XKJFqf3M_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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They look good. I will be interested to see how they compare in size with other figures (NorthStar/Osprey have an SF variant of Frostgrave - strangely enough called "Stargrave" - scheduled for the Salute release period with supporting plastics. These might find an additional use there).
I notice you are celebrating "The Goddess Of Victory(TM)" on the descriptions. She can be very jealous (and possibly litigious).
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Việt Cộng assembled samples from our first plastic sprue test shots. Some minor issues that needed to be fixed, but the overall quality is good.
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/09/87/MV7EuFrb_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/c6/16/vrQSY09G_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/88/80/iKsjT0Jq_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/8e/c1/N3BvqJMj_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/58/07/kLrmCHoO_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/70/ca/bR77r3Xw_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/7f/bf/YJgBxlY2_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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These are wonderful figures - and the painted samples look great. Will we see People's Army of North Vietnam figures in 2021 as well, or will VC crew-served weapons come first?
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These are wonderful figures - and the painted samples look great. Will we see People's Army of North Vietnam figures in 2021 as well, or will VC crew-served weapons come first?
VC is the first from the Vietnam War (VW) range, followed by USMC. After both basic sets are done, we will do PAVN (NVA) next. The 4th set can be anything depending on how this new VW range sells. We have ARVN, US Army, ANZAC, and Special Forces planned.
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Very much looking forward to all of those releases.
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Our THIRD plastic figure set for the Vietnam War - People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), commonly referred to as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) during Vietnam War.
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/bb/92/RJHniaLs_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/22/31/xvzphXce_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/fd/c2/44sd81P2_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/aa/c4/quxyRY4Z_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/af/fc/T1D21oSM_t.jpg)
(https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/6b/bc/ucCfLcjU_t.jpg)
Enjoy!
;)
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looking forward to seeing these come out, the parts alone make them great. how many figures are in a box ?(i may have missed that)
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Have you considered doing a sprue, in pewter or resin perhaps, of heads in Mao Caps? The Viet Cong are rather too well armed for local forces but these would make ideal Khmer Rouge.