Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => The Conflicts that came in from the Cold => Topic started by: General Castries on June 24, 2024, 11:58:12 AM
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French commandos for Indochina. I'm sure that, during operations, they probably wore standard khaki fatigues, but they just look better in the black PJs. These are 3D printed figures, painted by the terrific ArtMaster Studios.
Tim
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Pretty cool, is that U.S. webbing equipment?
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Tom,
I'm not sure about the webbing. The French in Indochina used strange combinations of old pre-war French webbing, French-produced webbing, and US/UK webbing supplied during the war. The colorful nature of the equipment (you'll see some commandos carrying Sten guns in the last photo) is one of the factors that increases its appeal.
Tim
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Very nicely done.
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Those look great! One of these days, I am going to do a Vietnam.... ;)
Mike Demana
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Great stuff! :-* :-* :-* Where are the minis from?
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Those guys look good. What scale are they?
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Folks,
Glad you like. The figures are 28mm, from a French 3D printing company called JJG. They are well worth a look if you’re thinking about this period, and they work well with the Excellent Empress range.
Tim
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Thanks for the info.
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Nicely done
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very nice painting style :-*
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28mm Viet-Minh bicycle porters, from JJG, painted by Artmaster Studios. The Viet-Minh used bicycle porters extensively, particularly in the Dien Bien Phu campaign. I intend to use these figures as objectives for my Commandos.
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Super cool bikers!
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Terrific work all over this ! 👍
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This is a 1/56 scale 3D print (before and after) of a French Vedette FOM. These were river patrol boats (precursors to the PBRs), operated by the French Army from 1950-54. They carried out monitoring and reconnaissance missions, and occasionally landed commandos / landing parties (which is what I'll use mine for). The vedettes had 2 x 50-cal HMGs (forward and aft), and 2 LMGs / grenade launchers. Because they operated in fresh (rather than salt) water, they weren't too rusty, but they did look well-used.
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Cool.
Is the forward turret fully enclosed?
If so, it must have been rather warm, if not, it left the operator extremely vulnerable if they were engaged from both sides of the riverl
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Nice looking boat!
Yeah, being a gunner in that thing must've sucked.
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Nice looking Vedette, different design than the JJG version, who makes that one?
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Very cool 8)
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Folks,
Thanks for your comments. As background:
- the vedettes had a thin belt of armour just above the waterline, and some had armour around the coxswain's position. Other than that, the only other armour was the gun-shields. And the forward 50-cal turret was open at the rear, which would have created issues. The standard practice was for boat commanders to stand on the rear decks, to coordinate the gunners and the coxswain, and so the boats had to rely on surprise, audacity, and firepower from the 50s.
- the French used two types of vedette, the 8-metre vedette and the 11-metre vedette. This is the 11-metre vedette, sold by shapeways. JJG produces a model for the 8-metre vedette (https://www.jjgprint3d.com/page-d-articles/vedette-fran%C3%A7aise-sans-%C3%A9quipage).
- The French Navy was part of the original procurement process for the vedettes, but dropped out of the programme due to funding shortages. So the French Army continued with the programme, and the boats were issued to Moroccan, Legion, and Armoured units (who used the vedettes like armoured cars). After the French pulled out of Vietnam in '55, the vedettes were handed over to the Vietnamese Navy, which continue to use them into the 1960s.
Tim
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Very cool project. Well done.
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Set out below are a couple of photos of my latest figures for my Indochina campaign.
The figures in the first photo are Legioinnaires from the JJG Indochine range. I don't think for a second that the French Foreign Legion actually wore kepis in action. But they look good, and its a way to distinguish my infantry.
The figures in the second photo are (left to right), a Vietminh bugler with a PPS-43, a Vietnamese officer in French para cammies, a French commando in black PJs (Gringos40), and a couple of Vietnamese civillians. All these figures are Gingos40. They are a little taller than Empress or JJG, but not too much.
Tim
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....... I don't think for a second that the French Foreign Legion actually wore kepis in action. But they look good......
They do indeed, it should be considered compulsory in all wargaming to field the Legion in white kepi. ;)
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...I don't think for a second that the French Foreign Legion actually wore kepis in action. But they look good, and its a way to distinguish my infantry...
They wore them in the opening scene in We Were Soldiers. Are you trying to tell us that Hollywood got something wrong? :o
Seriously, folks, lovely work on those figures. Well done!
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They wore them in the opening scene in We Were Soldiers. Are you trying to tell us that Hollywood gto something wrong? :o
Being a dedicated Hollywood style wargamer, I can vouch for it's 100% accuracy at all times.
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They look great, our city has a number of photos from the conflict in the gendarmerie museum, I will take some pics of the vedettes for you.
Cheers
Matt
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Very nice !!
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I found the JJG one but I can't find the Shapeways version (only just returned to their site now they are back in the Netherlands). Any links? JJG are physical models not STLs, correct?
Folks,
Thanks for your comments. As background:
- the French used two types of vedette, the 8-metre vedette and the 11-metre vedette. This is the 11-metre vedette, sold by shapeways. JJG produces a model for the 8-metre vedette (https://www.jjgprint3d.com/page-d-articles/vedette-fran%C3%A7aise-sans-%C3%A9quipage).
Tim
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Poiter50,
JJG are physical models not STLs, correct?
Correct
I can't find the Shapeways version
I've looked over the Shapeways site, and it sadly seems that the vedettes haven't been relisted since the Shapeways bankrupcy.
Tim
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Thank you.
Poiter50,
JJG are physical models not STLs, correct?
Correct
I can't find the Shapeways version
I've looked over the Shapeways site, and it sadly seems that the vedettes haven't been relisted since the Shapeways bankrupcy.
Tim