In preparation for the 50th Anniversary of the 1968 Tet Offensive and the May Offensive that members of 2d Battalion 47th Infantry (Mechanized) 9th Infantry Division were participants of and their reunion being held in April, I am building a series of projects depicting the battalion's service in Vietnam from the time they landed in Vung Tau in January 1967 through the actions they were involved in during 1968. This vignette depicts their participation in the May 1968 Offensive in Saigon's District 8. Several units from the 9th Infantry Division were sent into District 8 to dislodge the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong that had infiltrated into that portion of the city. 2/47th Infantry (Mech) were among those units.

In this vignette, they are fighting house to house (hence the title of this vignette) moving in the direction of the Y Bridge. It is based on personal accounts of some of the Soldiers who fought in this battle whom I have spoken with to try to capture the feeling of the moment as well as get the equipment and uniform details correct.

The figures are all conversions of Bravo 6 figures with the exception of the dead NVA which was not converted. The two Soldiers wearing flak jackets were originally Marines, but I changed them to Army guys by sculpting on M52 and M69 flak jackets onto them. Some of the details to note are faded helmet covers (the one on the shooting figure is torn), shell casings on the ground, 9th Infantry Division patches on the sleeves of two of the figures, scuffed up boots, dirty uniforms, sweat stains on the uniforms and skin slick with sweat, M79 being reloaded, expended M72 LAW on the ground, a shirt and doll that was dropped by the occupants of the house as they were fleeing the fighting, holes in some of the drums (they were used for collecting drinking water, discarding trash, and some had fuel for scooters and motorcycles in them), and a shell casing being ejected from the M16. Since they are Mechanized Infantrymen and were in close proximity of their tracks, some guys just carried ammo to stay light and mobile and replenished their supply by going back to their tracks to get more throughout the course of the various firefights during the battle hence some of the Soldiers seeming to be lightly equipped compared to their Light Infantry brothers who carried more equipment. The building was bought on eBay from Nam Models. It was originally supposed to be a house from Hue, but similar ones were in District 8. I added a dividing wall that was present on some of the multi-family structures.

Well, I finally got the vignette completed last night and this morning I took a bunch of pictures. I think the vignette turned out pretty good. I hope the guys who are depicted in it who have not seen it yet will like it when they see it in April at the 47th Infantry Regiment's Reunion at Fort Benning, GA.

And here are a bunch of pictures of the vignette.










































This is one of my favorite pictures of this vignette...















If anyone has any questions about what I did or what I used for any elements of this vignette, I will be happy to answer them.

Take care and have a great day.
Cheers,
James

All I can say is wow! Love the detail from scuffed boots to worn paint on the metal snaps on the canteen covers. Absolutely incredible. Thanks for sharing!

Captures the intensity of a firefight well.

Another piece of art!
Excellent work as usual James...
Your work is always inspiring for us!!!!!

Greetings

George

Looks really great. Nice attention to details. The only thing I would add is slings on all the weapons.

Wow man,another Nam masterwork. It really rings with authenticity. The set-up,overall feel,the groundwork,poses,uniforms and gear,all are spot on. Very very nice,and yes,you caught the exact way the M16 ejects the casing. As for the weapon slings,not all units used them. The sling swivels would be removed or taped to prevent noise.Great job getting the black guys skin tones down as well. I have always had problems with that. Good job on the dead guy. Looks dead !
If I had to make a suggestion it would be a nit picky one (you know me) and I would point out the bullet/schrapnel holes in wood shutters don't fool the eye. Wood splinters along its' grain when hit and the damage you show is more like the way plaster looks when it's hit. I only notice it because the rest of this whole masterpiece is so perfect to me.
J

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I am glad that it seems to be able to convey the feeling that I wanted it to. About the slings, I left them off because the guys I talked to told me they removed theirs so they wouldn't snag on stuff which makes sense to me. There are photos of some elements that also took part in the fight in District 8 that still had their slings on their weapons, but that would be their preference. When I was a Recon Marine, our slings were always removed and we had a peice of cord that was taped to the handguards that could be used if needed like when we were SPIE rigged out or needed both hands for something, but all other times we did not use them. In Iraq and Afghanistan I used the more modern tactical type slings, but they were quite different and could be adjusted on my body as needed.

Jerry, good eye on the shutters. I tried to show it, but I couldn't remember how it actually looked, and my wife wouldn't let me shoot some wooden stuff at the house, so I went with the "artistic approach". The next time I do a scene where there is some battle damaged wood, I'll contact you to get some pointers.

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James

James , way , way cool !!!

Outstanding scene , detail and groundwork .
Ya know you could put a few small pieces of lumber or a piece of the corrugated roofing leaning against the wall on the left side shutter , right one is ok , just saying .

Overall 10 cools up !!!

Super job on the scene!

Cheers!

Thanks.

It may be too late now that the figures are in place, but I will give both the lumber and tin a try to see how they turn out. I originally was not going to be using the shutters, but it looked odd with the two blank openings. The structure is just the facade of the building and was mainly being used to provide a backdrop so the figures would be more visible.

Thanks for the feedback.

Cheers,
James

Looking at the participants, I see folks right out of the bush. No slings and taped up swivels. Noise will ruin your day! Even the parkerized finish on the shotgun is correct.

There is one small issue that most of us would never notice. Three prong flash suppressors and forward assist receivers never happened. By the way they were issuing forward assist rifles in January 68.
gary

Amazing scene. I'd love to know how you make the boots look properly scuffed like the ones I've seen from the Nam.

As for three prong flash suppressors and forward assist receivers never happening; I've found that the second someone says it never happened in Vietnam there is always a photograph that counteracts it.

You've got a good eye noticing the three prong flash suppressor on the M16 being fired. That was intentional as the actual Soldier that figure depicts arrived in late 1967 and that was the rifle he still had until the entire battalion finally got the M16A1s issued to all Soldiers in the battalion. The Army did have M14s with forward assists and three prong flash suppressors as early as 1965 when the 1st CAV and 173d Airborne were sent to Vietnam while units like 1st ID arrived with M14s. There are plenty of photos out there as well as documents confirming that. Although larger quantities of the M16A1 were being made available for issue in January 1968, priority was given to some units over others and full fielding of the M16A1 was not complete until late 1968. 2/47th Infantry (Mech) was lower on the priority list than the other Infantry battalions in the 9th Division so only replacements arriving in January 1968 were issued the newer rifles. The rest of the battalion did not receive them until late June to early July when the battalion transitioned from their worn out gasoline powered M113s to diesel M113A1s. There were some AR15s and M16s in country without forward assists and 3 prong flash hiders. They were remnants of the 1000 rifles tested in 1962 and weapons originally belonging to the Air Force and Navy. With all of the wheeling and dealing some supply personnel did, there is no telling where some of those may have ended up and there is a possibility that they could have been diverted to make up for shortages in your area which could account for you seeing those and not the ones with the forward assists.

Cheers,
James

Thanks. I paint with acrylics so after I painted the base colors of the boots I mixed some Sunny Skintone with the black to highlight then used light coats of straight Sunny Skintone in the scuffed areas. I first used the color thinned with distilled water then without for the really scuffed up areas.

Cheers,
James

very nice job

Hi James, You've captured an authentic looking sense of urgency.

Very nice! Your works always require that second, third, fourth look, and so on...
I’m sure the guys at Fort Benning are going to like this a lot.

Cheers!🍺
—mike

"DITTO"

I love the sense of energy you've captured. This is really good, top level modelling. Im scrolling back up for another look.

Thanks for all of the positive feedback. Based on what I have been receiving in regards to this project, I feel confident that the 2/47th Infantry (Mech) Veterans will like it.

Cheers,
James

Fantastic work! Who makes the building?

Mike

Thanks, Mike.

The building is made by Nam Models that can be found on eBay. Search "1/35 Vietnam" and you will see their products among the other items for sale. I changed the roof on mine to corrugated tin, but the model was meant to be a house in Hue. It comes with a wall with a circular hole in the courtyard and a base.

Cheers,
James

What they all said, brilliant James – this is one of those exceptional scenes where the soundtrack just erupts in the imagination.

Just excellent James.
Amazing painting of the figures.
Wish I had your talent for it.

Tom

Hi James,
A Fantastic piece of work.
Certainly captures the action.

May I recommend the book HUE by Mark Bowden.A recent release which describes the battle for Hue city day by day.
A brilliant read.


Regards

Chris