"Vietcong not in black pyjamas?" Topic

I am about to paint up some 28mm Vietcong figures.

They are armed with a selection of AK47s, SKS rifles and RPGs so I am classing them as mainforce, rather than locals whose weapons would not have been so good. Most have the traditional conical straw hats, others with floppy bush hats. None have the NVA type soloar hats.

Rather than all of them in the ubiquitous black pyjamas, what other colours would be appropriate for mainforce VC?

Tan, Khaki or green

Thanks,

Would that be a mix of colours on the one figure or would it have been all one colour of "uniform"?

Also, should I mix and match "uniforms" in the same group of figures or go for all the same: would things have been as organised as that?

You could mix them up, but some of the things I've read shows units in the same uniform. But one thing I've done is mix up pants and shirts to look like they have not been re supplied in awhile.

Some accounts describe navy and light blue also grey 'uniforms'.
I split my platoon randomly in half,the majority in black,the rest in a variety of navy and mid blue, tan and khaki mixed some in outfits of one colour but mostly mixed.…..my NVA however were painted in Japanese army khaki green- cos it looked right!

For ease of unit ID and game play I give my VC all the same "uniform" color. So unit one will all be one khaki, unit two will be black, unit three tan/green. For each I'll throw in one or two pieces of clothing that are "local" either black or add a splash of color just for the look of it.

If you make them to ragged it can be hard to tell 1st from 2nd squad…

Have seen some pictures, show quite a few VC in the same uniform.
But then I would paint some of my figures with different equipment. As been noted above 3 squads three different schemes.

Here is a nicely equipped group in mixed uniforms:

link

In the above link showing 18 Vietcong, around 1/3rd have a very light uniform, probably khaki, a few have a uniform in a darker shade, and the rest have some black peasant clothes. It looks like 13 out of the 18 are wearing "boonie hats" with the remaining bareheaded.

A lot depends on the cut of the cloth. I would say that if they have the rice paddy hats then (in my case) black was the way to go. In normal combat the rice paddy hat was not worn, however, nothing says Viet Cong like a conical hat and black pajamas. It's a Hollywood thing.

My 28mm Are organized in three classes:

1) PAVN regulars in green with the sun helmets

2) NLF mainforce in mixed uniforms with floppy hats or bare headed –
The shirts and pants match on some and are mixed on others in the following colors – green (same as PAVN), tan, and black.

3) NLF local force (VC) all in black with bare head, floppy hat , and rice paddy hat.

That said, they are your figures and you can paint them any way you want.

Vince

Many thanks.

for local VC don`t forget a few civilian shirts just to break up the uniform look