Presenting the latest 120mm figure kit from Mitches Military Models.
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/mitches-military-models-us-m60-gunner-vietnam
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/mitches-military-models-us-m60-gunner-vietnam
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Would love to see this in 1/35th.
Kind of a miss mash of uniform and gear… a Marine Corps hard plate body armor vest, but did they use the early ALICE style pack? Not sure about the pants and those cargo pockets since the jungle fatigues had the bellows only in the rear of the cargo pockets, not the front…
Yeah I don’t recall the pants pockets bellowed at the bottom but I could be wrong. Looks like he has a Marine Corps. first aid kit below his vest in the back.
No wait I think that’s a canteen from the other side, sorry.
ive seen their figures at the IPMS show in Scotland and i explained to the guy behind the stall what was wrong with them regarding the detail on their Vietnam war era figures.
just as in the figure i was critically looking at during the show, this one’s pockets are all wrong, especially the flap which is square shaped where as during the war they were tapered and the boots are wrong as well.
i seem to remember someone on here doing a build and correcting a whole host of issues the kit had.
I am very disappointed in Mitches Military Models’ Vietnam figures, especially when their figures from other time periods are pretty darn good. I do not understand how someone can get so many details wrong in 120mm when examples of the actual uniforms and equipment are pretty plentiful in the collector world, not to mention the numerous reference books and millions of wartime photographs in publications and on the internet.
I first saw this figure on Facebook and I remember one person commenting on how great the figure was and that the sculptor obviously did their research. I normally do not reply to FB comments much, but this time I had to because if the sculptor had done their research there wouldn’t be so many details that wrong.
In regards to what Klaus-Adler said about remembering someone doing a build and correcting a whole host of issues the kit had, I am not sure I if it was the same person he was thinking of, but I know my friend Rod Crisman built and painted the figure of the Marine behind a tree looking back to shush those behind him and he had redone the pockets (the figure had the RDF pockets from the late 1970s and early 1980s) and a few other things that were incorrect with that figure.
I like the fact that Vietnam subjects are becoming more popular, but I wish those who are producing them would make sure of the details before putting them into production. It is frustrating that all other time periods and Armies are treated with a lot of care and attention to detail, but when it comes to Vietnam War figures, it seems like many are just thrown together with a mish-mash of gear. I remember seeing a few examples of 3D printed figures where the machine gun was a mix between an M60E3 and a M249 SAW. This is crazy when there are so many examples of the real thing out there. It is sad that details in 1/35 scale figures from Bravo 6, Evolution, Paracel, and even injection molded figures like Dragon, Masterbox, and ICM have better details than a 120mm figure. But it may also be because those companies and a few others that I had not mentioned take pride in trying to get the details correct and although sometimes some details may not be quite up to par, they do listen to the feedback of their customers and improve their subsequent releases.
I wish this figure was better because it had the potential to be a pretty good piece, but the inaccuracies kind of ruin it, at least for me, because if I have to correct that much stuff on it, I might as well sculpt my own.
Well, that is my 2 cents on that.
Cheers,
James
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I don’t know enough about Vietnam era uniforms so I won’t comment on those; however, to me the M60 looks a little too short. I must add that I have no great knowledge of the M60 either but it doesn’t look quite right.
Regarding earlier comments I too despair when the details - which are often readily available - are skimped on; my own hobby-horse being '37 pat webbing. God knows there’s enough reference material on it all (and even the real thing is easy enough to come by) but for some reason it seems to defeat most companies and sculptors alike.
Yes indeed, that was the figure i wad thinking of
kind regards
Klaus
This one has been on my shelf for a few years and probably won’t be touched until my inventory drops and I get interested, but there is a lot of re-work to be done. The torso proportions are all jacked up, imho, and it doesn’t look natural. I don’t even know why I baught it in the first place, oh well.
I’m no expert on Vietnam equipment either. What I can’t get over is the size of the smoke grenades. There were a few other figures posted recently with the same problem. Their size is easy enough to determine. They should be the one thing that scales out correctly.
How can anything scale out correctly when 120mm is a length, not a scale.
120mm is the height of the figure, which is about five inches tall.
And that is why 3D scanning is so popular with creating figures today. Some sculptors set up multiple digital cameras to scan a real person dressed up in period attire and gear to get accurate scaling and sculpting information. This also means that the sculptor needs to know how to use 3D CAD imaging software to correct scanning and proportion errors. This also explains why resin figures are so expensive…the time, effort, work, and researching involved to get accurate measurements and gear…and actually, the best figures are made in Asia, Europe, and (before the Ukraine War) Russia.
Thus, with recasts, the recaster does not do the 3D image scanning of the original sculptor and the original sculptor doesn’t get any payment for all the digital sculpting work performed.
Now with 3D scanning and freeware, some sculptors can pull 3D scanned images off the Internet (free or by purchase) and “kitbash” 3D scans to create a 3D figure, but again, the digital scultptor needs to really know how to use 3D sculpting software to make everything mesh properly.
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This is of course true, however, 120mm is generally accepted to be 1/16, or very close to it.
Still, how do you reconcile several different 120mm figures in one scene? Do we let each maker go with his interpretation of say the M60 compared to what - a 5’9" dude? 5’10"? 6’0"?
And in the case of the M60, its components should at least be proportional to (here’s a thought) other components of the M60, which they are clearly not with this figure. Or how about proportional, the same scale if you will, to other things with known, unchsangeable dimensions, like the smoke grenades, which again, is not the case.
3 Likes
And that’s my point, what is 120mm here? I understand that a person can be any height in any scale that translates to 120mm in a figure, but items that can be measured and are of fixed dimensions generally do not lend themselves to being anything other than those dimensions when reproduced in scale.
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I’ve found prices can vary wildly from very reasonable 30$US to high end 60$US for 3D scanned & printed figure. What’s value for money is open to interpretation.
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I don’t think any of the currently active figure companies does 3D scanning. Assault Models did 3D scanned figures, but I remember the owner saying how much work in the post-production that actually is. Many companies today do 3D sculpts, which is more like traditional sculpting.
That being said, I think this figure was sculpted by Maurice Corry. I have some of his early figures which were superbly sculpted and detailed, but with the hiper-production for various labels, I feel he started cutting corners… you can see that in the awkward poses, somewhat strange anatomy, and in uniform/equipment details which are just wrong. Unfortunatly, this is one of those figures…
Mario
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Yes, I brought his 120mm Euro fighter Typhoon pilot because it was so well done.
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In emailing with the sculptors around the world who are for hire and do sculpt the 120mm figures (and there are only a few who actually do an excellent job at this and are for hire worldwide), the truth is far more darker. I’ve been emailing with figure sculptors for decades.
Why are there 120mm figures of different heights, consistencies, cost, and appearances? Why can’t there be a uniform consistency as to the height and appearances of figures? Besides low sales of modern figures, the truth that prevents any consistency of 120mm is relatively simple—the 3D sculptors complain that the companies don’t pay them for the work done. Nothing breaks a deal or a contract as badly as no payment or communications afterwards. So the sculptor(s) feel burned and will never work for that resin company ever again.
Many of these figure sculptors are still looking for work, but with the shrinking number of figure manufacturers making modern 120mm figures, it’s hard to find any resin figure work in the world. So they do work that is not model-related when their passion is designing and making model kits. Yes, there is Shapeways and ETSY, but really, these sculptors require a resin figure making company to make their designs into reality.