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"Vietminh uniform color?" Topic


16 Posts

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Comments or corrections?

repaint06 Jun 2017 7:56 p.m. PST

Any idea what to use?

I was thinking of going with Necrotic Flesh from Army painter and applying a strong tone wash.

Suggestions?

thank you

Pan Marek06 Jun 2017 9:09 p.m. PST

Khaki drill.

Martin Rapier07 Jun 2017 2:48 a.m. PST

It also depends where they got their 'uniforms' from, a lot of them wore old WW2 Japanese stuff – so pale khaki with a greenish tint.

Joes Shop Supporting Member of TMP07 Jun 2017 5:56 a.m. PST

What MR said.

dwight shrute07 Jun 2017 8:41 a.m. PST

Greens , Greys and blacks

catavar07 Jun 2017 10:41 a.m. PST

Besides green they were also issued Chinese uniforms I believe (that's where many were trained). Some may have worn captured French uniforms too. If they were militia they might be wearing local clothing (black, blue, etc) mixed with whatever was issued. My two cents.

repaint07 Jun 2017 1:29 p.m. PST

thanks all, I went with a pale Khaki with a greenish tint (which is exactly what … Necrotic flesh is when I checked at the shop!).

I want to speed paint my troops so I will probably just use one color only for the uniforms.

thanks again all for taking the time and your suggestions.

Lord BuettTocks09 Jun 2017 3:55 p.m. PST

I think you could use whatever color you wanted. My Osprey book said they used whatever was at hand. I am really just echoing catavar here.
A direct quote:
"Group photos show a mix of khaki drill, peasant black,
and other nondescript drab shades;long hooded rain
capes; many French bushhats, several of these civilian
fedoras, Some light drill cloth calots, and the very
occasional US or Japanese helmet; and mixed French,
Japanese and Allied small arms…"
(The French Indochina war 1946-54,
Osprey Publishing 1998, Windrow pg. 45)

The point I'm trying to make is that you can really do whatever colors you want. I think the more varied the uniforms are the more "Viet Mihn" they will look.

Please post some pics when you finish a few models. I would love to see your work.

Rick Don Burnette13 Jun 2017 7:40 a.m. PST

According to Bernard Fall in his Street without Joy the "Viets" did not really have a "color" for the uniform as they continualy changed "color" to match the surrounding terrain. Fall retells the story of a French recon pilot flying over a column of Viet Minh who had completely recamoflaged before his second pass, becoming invisible. The few times the VM actually were seen in uniform sans camo was at certain set piece battles such as Dien Bien Phu. When Mobile Group 100 was ambushed, the Viets were in full camo mode, blending into the terrain.
This presents 2 problems for the traditional miniaturist.1 that the uniform guidee are useless as the Viets change their camo to blend in and 2 because they are rarely seen, and because of the nature of the fighting, from ambush, the VM figures should not be placed on the table

LtJBSz13 Jun 2017 9:35 a.m. PST

How did they accomplish this recamouflage? Did they carry multiple outfits with them and do a quick change, and in the example above why weren't they in the appropriate color to begin with?

Rick Don Burnette13 Jun 2017 9:52 a.m. PST

According to Fall, the Viets had some sort of mesh to insert the surrounding foliage into and were in the process of changing as the French spotter aircraft flew over. The man in front would have his foliage changed by the next man to his rear

Thomas Nissvik20 Jun 2017 4:39 a.m. PST

Some good footage of the use of foliage for camouflage in this clip.
YouTube link

Virginia Tory06 Jul 2017 4:59 a.m. PST

Some good info on the Vietminh here.

link

As you can see, there are many shades of uniform ranging from pale green to khaki colored or even various shades of blue-grey.

repaint23 Jul 2017 4:26 a.m. PST

some of my work in progress for the Vietminh:

<br />

But it might be too green

and another series but they may be too yellow :(

picture

Virginia Tory24 Jul 2017 12:20 p.m. PST

They look great! There should be lots of shade variation.

Virginia Tory25 Jul 2017 6:41 a.m. PST

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