introduction

Shotguns were used as an individual weapon during jungle patrol in Vietnam War. Infantry units were authorized shotguns but it was not a general issue to all infantrymen. It was a select issue, such as one per squad. Inspired by the scene from the movie - Giant by James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor; Vladi added another unique sculpt to the Grunt series - B6-35324 James ''Giant'' with an Ithaca 37 shot gun on his shoulders.

Review

Figure is served in standard company cardboard box labeled with a photo of the assembled and painted figure. Parts like head, arms and shotgun come inside a small transparent zip-lock bag and this bag is inserted into a bigger bag together with body part.

As always, figure is sculpted by Vladimir Demchenko in clean and sharp details. Resin quality is good and casting is very clean with no mistakes, no excess resin or no need for a serious cleanwork.

Figure comes in 5 parts.
- Body
- Head
- Right arm
- Left arm
- Shotgun

He wears an OD undershirt , 3rd pattern tropical combat Trousers and 2nd pattern leather-canvas combined Jungle boots. Body posture, proportions, cloth folds, wrinkles, slit, rear, cargo pocket of trousers and belt are well defined.

Facial details and hair are nicely sculpted.

Arms are posed to carry the shotgun on his shoulder.

Shotgun : Ithaca Model 37 combat shotguns used in Viet Nam were riot guns with 18-inch barrels or trench guns with 20-inch barrels, with wood stocks and forearms and parkerized metal parts. It had plenty of firepower in a small package, with a disconnector mode that allowed one trigger pull to discharge a full magazine as fast as the forearm can be cycled. This figure carries a Ithaca Model 37 Riot Gun with 18 inch barrel. It was introduced in 1937, based on a design originally patented by John M. Browning in 1915, with both loading and ejection through the same bottom port. Besides ease usage by right and left-handed soldiers, this design helped keep dirt and mud out of the action as compared to most other standard slide-action shotgun designs that utilized an ejection port in the right side of the receiver. Model 37 has another version - Trench Gun with 20 inch barrel, ventilated heat shield over the barrel and bayonet adapter. Hands with leather gloves are cast on the rifle. Right hand is cast on the stock with finger on trigger and left hand is cast on the fore-end, suitable for a firing pose.

conclusion

A figure with a shotgun is a nice one as most of the US Vietnam figures comes with M16s. The figure may look great together in many at rest scenes.