Hi guys,
I am looking for any recommendations for kits to build one oer two iraqi army soldiers as of late 2004 ?

I'm having a few spare parts left over from one trumpeter usmc in iraq kit and of some MIG figures, like one assembled body without arms and head, plenty of alice ammo pouches, water cans etc..., is it possible to build an nearly accurate one with these parts or what do I need for it ?

Figures out of which kits ( Dragon modern USMC etc) would be appropriate to build an Iraqi Soldier of 2004/2005 ?

Thanks in advance
Cheers Alex

First off, there weren't a whole lot of Iraqi Army Soldiers in '04 -'05. We had just started rebuilding the Iraqi Army at that time. Their gear was a mix of older PAGST and ALICE, and some newer stuff. Their uniforms were mostly 6-color, "chocolate chip" DCUs. Weapons were AKs. They didn't carry much gear on them.

'04 w/ USMC in Fallujah

Thanks Gino,
so your answer means, I can take parts of DML's Big Red One figure kit and the other kits that were designated for Desert Storm ?

Cheers Alex

Yes, I think that would work.

Hi Alex

Just be careful when using the DML 'Big Red One' kit as the figures are wearing the MOPP suit if you're going to use some arms/legs, however most of the equipment from that kit is suitable. Depicting an Iraqi solider from '04/'05 gives you a wide range of oufits, but generally they wore the 6 color DCU with ALICE webbing, PASGT helmets and desert tan boots. Initially the Iraqi soldiers didn't wear body armor, but later on they wore a wide variety. Some soldiers, working embedded with US forces wore the Interceptor, however generally they only wore simple plate carrier vests. Think the PASGT vest in the DML kits could be used, as a lot of obsolete US gear was donated to the new Iraqi Army. Also remember to fit AK magazine pouches on the figures, not the smaller STANAG magazine pouches. Hope that answers your questions.

Yes that answers my question pretty well.
But there is another question coming up:
Does anyone of you have pics of Dragon's "Big Red One" figures ?
I need them since I am at the start for an OIF 2003 dio and would need some more figures with MOPP suits on

Think I am going to search some figure kits with body armor here and ther and then let's see if there will be an Iraqi soldier standing next to my Leathernecks.

Cheers Alex

I wasn't paying attention to which Dragon ODS-era figures you were talking about. The Big Red One set isn't good for Iraqi or US Soldiers in OIF due to the chem suits. The suits are the older MOPP style as opposed to the new JSLIST suit worn in OIF. Also, they have the older PAGST vests and ALICE gear, not the IBAs and attachments worn during OIF.

Here is the Dragon set.


The newer JSLIST suit has an integrated hood and is cut differently. Most were woodland camo during the invasion, some of our replacements who came in just before we started the invasion in Mar '03 came with DCU pattern JSLIST.

JSLIST suit.

I'm getting a little confused now,
the nbc suits in the initial invasion '03 were JLIST and not MOPP, am I right in this?
If I am right, why do MIG and Verlinden name their products USMC in MOPP gear or something like this ?
Does anybody have pictures of the sprues from "Big Red One" ?

Cheers Alex

Yes, JSLIST was used in OIF during the initial invasion. I am guessing that they are just calling them MOPP since technically they are, just JSLIST MOPP suits. The old MOPP suits had a different, technical name, but no one called them by it. I don't even remember what they are called. Chemical BDO (Battle Dress Overgarment) I believe it was.

I don't have sprue shots of the "Big Red One" figures, but the 3 standing guys are wearing older (ODS-era) MOPP suits.

MOPP just stands for Mission Orientated Protective Posture, which are a combination of garments and equipment used in an CBRN environment. The overgarment suits have their specific names (like specific gas mask designations, M17, M40, MCU-2 etc) but now the term MOPP generally refers to the suit in general.

Here are the photos of the three figures from DML US 1st Infantry Division 'Big Red One'
The figure in the second photo is wearing the rubber overboots