Introduction

As I watched the movie - Danger Close based on a true story in Battle of Long Tan, I noticed the lack of 1/35 scale Vietnam War Australian figures on market. Fortunately, it didn't take long Vladi felt this gap and BRAVO*6 started to release a series of figures depicting the soldiers of the RAR - Royal Australian Regiment.

First kit of the series B6-35325 RAR Infantry (1) Close Fight depicts a close combat inspired by a scene from this movie showing an Australian soldier on knees firing his revolver against an attacking PAVN soldier with machete.

The Battle of Long Tan took place on 18 August 1966 in a rubber plantation near Long Tan, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The action was fought between Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units and elements of the 1st Australian Task Force - 6 RAR.

Review

Inside company’s standard cardboard box with a photo of the painted figures on the front cover, figures and other small parts are seperately inserted into transparent zip-lock bags and all lumped together into larger one.
Figures are sculpted in 1/35 scale by Vladimir Demchenko in crisp details and come as full body figures with some personal gear cast on. Heads, arms, some of the field gear and weapons are given as seperate parts.

RAR Soldier
Posed on knees to aim/fire his pistol, it comes in 11 parts.

Body ; He wears jungle-green cotton uniform mostly worn by the Australian and New Zealand soldiers during the Vietnam War and referred as Greens or JGs. Uniform consists of standard JG shirt buttoned down the full length with two patch pockets and shoulder straps, standard JG Trousers with two slash pockets on sides, two slash pockets on back and a patch pocket on the left thigh with flap cover and button closure and Leather boots. Some of the field gear is cast on the figure. He has M1956 Pistol belt, M1956 ILCE, M-16 ammo pouch on the left side and M1956 Buttpack. Uniform and field gear details are clean and crisp.

Head ; Facial features and hair are well sculpted. He shows a good alikeness to the movie character Major Harry Smith acted by Travis Fimmel.

Arms come in long sleeves and show nice cloth folds. Right arm is posed to fire/aim his pistol and carries Colt M1911A1 as in the movie. As Colt was not a standard model for Australian Army during Vietnam War, Vladi added another hand with 9 mm Browning Hi Power.

Other parts are;

1 Qt canteen in canvas cover - 2 pieces

M7 bayonet in M8A1 scabbard

M1956 First aid pouch

M51 Holster

M16A1 Rifle

NVA/PAVN Soldier
Posed to attack with a machete, it comes in 6 parts.

Body ; He wears green color standard NVA uniform of cotton, front open Shirt and pleated Trousers with side slash pockets. Over his uniform, he carries a Chicom AK47 / Type 56 type Chest rig with three big magazine pockets and 2 smaller pouches on both sides. As for the footwear, he has PAVN Bata style shoes copied from the French Army Patauga boots,widely worn during first Indochina War.Cloth folds and wrinkles, details on the shirt like front buttons, pleated breast pockets with pointed flaps, loop and button arrangement on the trousers to tighten trotters on ankles, ammo pouches of rig, straps crossed on shoulders and tied on back, sole pattern on shoes are all crisp, clean and very well sculpted.

Head ; Asian facial details like straight hair, small slanting eyes, snub nosed , stuffed lips, high cheek bones and expression of attack in anger are well defined.

Helmet ; Figure can be displayed with a barehead or a standard NVA Pith helmet made of phenolic /plastic-impregnated cardboard and covered with cloth is given as an alternative.

Machete with right hand

Arms have long sleeves, shirt-type cuffs and show nice cloth folds.

Conclusion

Very nice kit to build a movie screen shot or Battle of Long Tan scene. I wish BRAVO*6 will add more RAR and SAS figures to the series. As always, great sculpt and flawless cast.