I hear and agree it was a long wait. I’m still disgusted in the way we were treated when it ended and the way we were treated. some of the stuff we did and used was classifiesd. That is the reason we didn’t see come out sooner.I for one have two PACV’S one Otter and one guntruck(Nancy) . Gecko is coming out with more thankfully. Hobbylink also have a few subjects,but haven’t tried them . Time to be thankful I guess.
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Maybe that’s why we see a number of Gun Truck models, some were a traveling pop art show! Saw it on a few tracks, rarely on tanks, depended on unit, some CO’s were OK with “nose art”, others, no way. I’ve seen some very nice RVN vignettes on this site, real art work and well researched (right down to the labels on the beer cans). Hope to see more.
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I joined the military in '76 and Vietnam was ending. For me, my opinion so you know the value of that. Vietnam was a mess. The reasons, politics, how it was conducted, just a mess. A “not a war” that was designed to be not winnable. With constraints placed on what and how you did things. I think this weighs on people when buying kits. Vietnam was a civil war that we enjoined to save us from communism. Almost every aspect had rules that had to be followed to irritate the North but not really to cross into North Vietnam and conduct the war there. Books like Chicken Hawk, movies of the war all portrayed the war as often surreal. There was moral and drug issues that plagued Vietnam. So I don’t think it was a “Popular” conflict, not much romanticism. So I think the demand was low. This wasn’t the good verses evil type of war WW2 was. I think Korea suffers also from the mess that it was and not being an “exciting” war.
Israel’s 67 and 73 were dramatic and fought for survival and I think that provides good subjects to model. Gaza on the other hand may be a mixed bag for modelers.
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I think Korea and Vietnam subjects are well covered when it comes to aircraft, both fixed wing and rotary. And we’ve had loads of ‘recent’ releases - a new A4 from Magic Factory just last year (albeit an M). Take your pic on F-4 manufacturers. New H-19 from AMP last year as well. I don’t really do much armor so can’t speak to that. Hard pressed to find much in the 120mm Korean war figures
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But it was a mess of epic proportions! That fascinated me as soon as I began to understand it. And what a technological breakthrough it was - as it always is for an army that sat in the barracks for too long and now has to learn fast to adjust to a real war that - bummer - doesn’t want to adhere to the US regulations…
Let me answer the question instead… I’m modelling the Vietnam War since about 1995 or so… And today we have it so good that we forget how sh*tty it used to be… Let me talk about the scales I’m familiar with - 1:72 and 1:35. In 1:72 on the ground you could model M48 and M113 from ESCI and Sheridan from Airfix - and that was about it. No jeeps, no 3/4 ton trucks and definitely no heavier trucks at all. In the air it was better - Hasegawa and Fujimi took care of the jets, but if you wanted a helicopter it was getting hard… We still don’t have a good long Huey in 1:72. Seasprite from Airfix and Fujimi - OK. Sea King from Airfix - OK. Before Italeri stepped in you had no chance for a Loach or Sioux.
But let me talk about 1:35 on the ground - there was some decent stuff there like Tamiya M48A3 and M113, And M109 and M110 from Italeri - not too good now, but back then quite OK. There was the Jeep from Tamiya (A2, too late for Vietnam), but no trucks WHATSOEVER - unless you count the Revell “Eager Beaver”. We had to wait until the mid-nineties for AFV Club to issue the Deuce and just until recently to issue the most popular Vietnam truck - the 5 Ton. So we had HUGE gaps in kit coverage and we’re just making up for it now - and still there is enough room for a company like Hobby Link to build a compelling catalogue.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day
Paweł
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I’m a bit baffled. I’ve been modeling Vietnam subjects since my first Monogram “Patton.” in 1970 or so. Every male on both sides of my family of military age have served, so many of them were for them. As has been mentioned, there have been many subjects covered, most of which I’ve modeled over the years.
However, I do feel we need some of these:
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Certainly the advent of 3D printing is helping with the availability of Vietnam War vehicles, both armor and soft skins. I’ve seen several references in the above posts to Hobby Link, a Vietnamese company and their offerings. I recently purchased a variety of Nam stuff from them and the quality isn’t there. Larger parts are warped/deformed and most are sticky which seems like something in their process is off. Poor quality and high prices don’t help their cause.
I appreciate and am humbled by all the responses to this post. I mostly put it up during a down night and should have deleted it
, but am glad now that I didn’t. The responses are a big part of why I enjoy and follow this forum. The people on here are always giving positive thoughts and ideas and that is a rare thing these days. Thanks for all of you. Wayne
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Agreed about the Brown Water Navy craft. I’d love to see more kits of those subjects beyond the old Monogram 1/48 stuff and Revell Asheville class Gunboat, the Tamiya PBR, and Dragon LSSC.
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That is some fair points. Some like the helos, they have always been and probably will always be a small market so that doesn’t surprise me but missing a long body Huey is head scratcher. Clear Prop makes a nice looking Seasprite.
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I think Masterpiece Models made some of those in resin.
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Masterpiece Models made a few boats in 1/35.
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Don’t forget the Monogram M48
Exactly. What’s old is new.
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Like the “Thoma Shields” that the Germans put on their late production Panzers. A heavy gauge metal mesh screen instead of the solid plate schurzen.
Apologies for the diversion into WWII… 
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No. You shouldn’t.
It got people “talking” and exchanging information.
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We actually have some of these, including 1/35th scale, but in resin. I recently built that Brownwater Navy ASPB in 1/35th scale by MasterPiece Models. But since it’s an older resin kit, you better do some scratch building and/or donate the Tamiya PBY to help make it a decent build!
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It’s the “surreal” aspect of the whole business that has always fascinated me. I am of an age (just) to have served in Vietnam at the very end of the War, but I was busy dealing with another conflict at the time!
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