French Commandos for Indochina (Now with French Foreign Legion!)

[Ultravanillasmurf]

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

[Freddy]

Nice looking boat!
Yeah, being a gunner in that thing must've sucked.

[robh]

Nice looking Vedette, different design than the JJG version, who makes that one?

[Tom Dulski]

 Very cool

[General Castries]

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       

[warburton]

Very cool project. Well done.

[General Castries]

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

[robh]

.......  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. 

[CapnJim]

...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?   

Seriously, folks, lovely work on those figures.  Well done!   

[Lord Raglan]

They wore them in the opening scene in We Were Soldiers.  Are you trying to tell us that Hollywood gto something wrong?   

Being a dedicated Hollywood style wargamer, I can vouch for it's 100% accuracy at all times.

[bluewillow]

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

[tomrommel1]

Very nice !!

[Poiter50]

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       

[General Castries]

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

[Poiter50]

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