introduction

Even though belt-feld M60 machine gun was a legendary weapon during Vietnam War, it was poorly balanced, heavy and awkward to wield for Special Forces. For an effective usage, modifications were necessary. They completely removed the buttstock, capped it, shortened barrel, eliminated the bipod and sometimes installed a pistol grip below the gas tube, which notably shortened it and cut its weight by more than 5 pounds.

Special Operations Group’s most impressive M60 modification - dubbed the Death Machine - was a 500-round ammo box from M23 Armament Subsystem fitted to the gunner’s backpack, connected to his gun with a 5-feet aircraft-type articulated feed belt.

BRAVO-6 lately released B6-35081 depicting a Vietnam War U.S. Navy SEAL equipped with a Death Machine.

packing & casting

The figure comes well packed in standard light brown cardboard box . The front cover shows a photo of the assembled and painted figure. Back cover has an illustration with a tip to assembly the feed belt. Inside the box, parts are represented with easy to remove casting blocks. Figure body and other parts are seperately inserted in small plastic zip-lock bags.
Casting quality is good and details are crisp. No casting mistakes on review samples. There is no need for a correction or a serious cleanwork.

parts

Sculpted by Vladimir Demchenko in 1/35 scale, figure comes in 9 parts cast in grey resin.

Body with head : Figure shows a strong standing pose. Head is sculpted in nice facial details with a handlebar style moustache with tips twisted upwards. He wears a Tiger Stripe Camouflage Uniform of button-front jacket with two chest pockets with flap covers but no waist pockets and trousers with two rear, two bellows cargo pockets on both sides and a small pocket under the left side pocket -all with flap covers. Tiger Stripe was never an official US-issue item. It was developed for close-range use in dense jungle during jungle warfare by the South Vietnamese Armed Forces and adopted by US Special Forces during the Vietnam War. It features narrow stripes that look like brush-strokes of green and brown, and broader brush-strokes of black printed over a lighter shade of olive or khaki. The brush-strokes interlock rather than overlap.

Over his uniform, he carries a Horse Collar UDT Life Preserver Vest and a loose tie scarf on his neck. He has a M1956 pistol belt on his waist with an Ammo pouch on the right and a Compass Pouch on the left. As for the footgear, he has canvas-leather combined Vibram jungle boots. Uniform details, cloth folds, backpack harness and straps of life vest are well defined.

Right arm is posed to hold a modified M60 machine gun. Cloth folds on uniform, M60 details and modifications like chopped buttstock, barrel shortened to gas tube length are well defined.

Left arm is posed to make a Victory sign with his hand.

Headgear : He wears a Boonie hat with a cigarette pocket on top.

M1956 one quart canteen will be attached to the left side of the belt.

KA-BAR knife will be attached to the right side.

Canister/Beer Can type grenade ; it will added to right side of ammo box and can be painted as M18 Smoke, M7 Riot or Incen TH as in reference photo.

Backpack : He carries a Metal Frame. M23 Armament Ammo Case used in Hueys is tied to the upper part of the frame with straps and a Flotation Bladder MK 1 MOD 0 is tied to the lower part. When fully inflated, it provides buoyancy varying from 110 lbs for a man to 12 lbs for average cargo. All details of the ammo box even the side latches and bladder like mouth inflation tube are very well defined.

Chute : Articulated type ammo belt. It should be placed in hot water before assemblying between ammo box and M60 feedway.

conclusion

Another unique figure with a strong pose sculpted in crisp details and cast in high quality. Modified M60 version and handlebar moustache give him a very charismatic look. It can be displayed alone as a single figure or can be combined with other Special Forces figures of BRAVO-6.