deadhead | 01 Jun 2020 6:20 a.m. PST |
It seems that Gringo40s' next release will be a series of Sappers (very much reminds me of a character in "Hamburger Hill", when stripped to the shorts like this). I see one of them is turning a claymore against its former owners. Did this come with an antihandling device, once armed, to prevent Charles or Nathaniel Victor doing just that? Glad to see none of them is burdened down with a heavy backpack/satchel charge, as in "Platoon". He is not the type to meet inside a dark bunker!
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jammy four | 01 Jun 2020 7:08 a.m. PST |
thanks Liam …these figures are now in fact released as of 1st June 2020. as far as I can ascertain there was no anti-handling device. the reasoning was the tripwires,flares, foil should have alerted the GIs on guard duty, stealth played a huge part in these Sapper operations,,,they were considered as very valuable troops ironically to be alive at the end of the mission. this release will be part one of "Sappers in the Wire" sub range of my Vietnam War 1968 range. cheers Ged gringo40s.com gringo40s.blogspot.com |
Legion 4 | 01 Jun 2020 9:25 a.m. PST |
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Oberlindes Sol LIC | 01 Jun 2020 10:43 a.m. PST |
They look great! Good poses and weapons with good proportions. |
79thPA | 01 Jun 2020 11:06 a.m. PST |
No anti-handling device. They are made to be moved and redeployed as needed. I imagine you could booby trap one. |
brass1 | 01 Jun 2020 1:55 p.m. PST |
> I imagine you could booby trap one. Oh, yeah! Actually, just turning the claymore around, so it was pointing at the owners, and then making suspicious noises until somebody decided to light it up, was very popular among the sappers. There were several ways to wire the electric detonator so that the troops who went out in the morning to pick up the claymores would set them off. Probably most dangerous for both the owners and the sappers consisted of a 9-volt radio battery and a vial of mercury. There wasn't really any way to disarm it and if it was done right you wouldn't know it was there until St Peter was asking you your name, rank, and service number. LT |
jammy four | 01 Jun 2020 2:24 p.m. PST |
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Major Mike | 01 Jun 2020 3:45 p.m. PST |
Issues with Claymores were, your opponent finding it and turning it around to point back the direction the wire was laid or at your position, in a large camp, locals sheltering in the camp would go out at night and steal the c-4 out of the claymore to cook with (if you put a match to it, it will burn like Sterno. Just don't stomp on it to put it out, use dirt to smother the flame). Anti-handling devices will cure these problems. |
jammy four | 01 Jun 2020 4:02 p.m. PST |
interesting Mike..the first sentence is so true once found and turned round and not noticed was a big problem.some interesting comments were that as a Claymore was command detonated with "Clackers". you could in theory Victim activate by bobby trapping it with a trip wire firing system for use in area denial operations. cheers Ged gringo40s.com |
Skarper | 01 Jun 2020 9:11 p.m. PST |
Lovely figures. Just a little too 'heroically' muscled. Even today you don't find many Vietnamese men built like that. They can be very strong [so can the women] but they are more 'wiry' by nature. I understand 'chunky' is the style for this scale and there are limitations with molding [is this true?] Nice to see a PPS-43. The guy with the Bangalore torpedo has very credible Vietnamese facial features. The others less so but still a good attempt. The sapper battalions seem to have turned the tide of the war on the ground. Being able to penetrate US bases, wreak total havoc, and mostly get out before any organised response was very difficult to counter. It seems sapper attacks gradually replaced costly and ineffective human wave assaults post 1968. There was also I gather a move away from aiming to cause casualties and towards destroying equipment – especially aircraft. |
deadhead | 02 Jun 2020 7:06 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the info re the Claymore. I now wonder if the suicide bomber with the satchel charge would have been a sapper at all? Too valuable? More pics from Ged;
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jammy four | 02 Jun 2020 7:32 a.m. PST |
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jammy four | 02 Jun 2020 7:38 a.m. PST |
Skarper thanks for the comments and input glad you like the figures…just a note to say the NVA were bigger guys for sure the south not so much! ref Claymoresa few more bits and pieces of information.. they were eight and a half inches long…weighed three and a half pounds..and the deadly bit spewed out 700 steel balls at a range of up to 50 yards! set off by the electric blasting cap cheers Ged gringo40s.com gringo40s.blogspot.com |
Legion 4 | 02 Jun 2020 3:07 p.m. PST |
Yes, when we went thru M18 training, we heard all the stories about the VC "playing" with the Claymores. As we know the front tells you which way to point. IIRC – Front Towards Enemy … We also were taught to use them in "novel" ways. E.g. in a tree, in a door way, etc., etc.
they were eight and a half inches long…weighed three and a half pounds..and the deadly bit spewed out 700 steel balls at a range of up to 50 yards! set off by the electric blasting cap Yes that description of the M18 is accurate. Carried in an OD cloth bag with strap. I was always a little circumspect about the blasting cap. They sometimes can go off when they shouldn't. When emplacing the M18, we'd put a sandbag or something similar on top the cap before reeling the wire back to our position. Anchor the wire, then go back and put the cap into the well on the M18. Camo it too with some flora, etc. |
jammy four | 02 Jun 2020 3:27 p.m. PST |
Legion 4 fascinating stuff….I had read the blasting caps could become unstable and leak is it C3 onto the C4 and kaboom!..not 100pct sure on that..just know they had problems..even putting a layer of foil over the steel balls..as really they were not supposed to go off by themselves! a deadly weapon against a deadly enemy.. cheers Ged gringo40s.com gringo40s.blogspot.com |
oldnorthstate | 02 Jun 2020 7:16 p.m. PST |
These are nice figures, what is missing are figures with satchel charges and grenades. |
Major Mike | 03 Jun 2020 6:23 a.m. PST |
They use to make improvised grenades out of Coke cans and the like. |
jammy four | 03 Jun 2020 6:44 a.m. PST |
oldnorthstate and Major Mike thanks for your input …these are only part one chaps!!the make up of the sapper squads was fairly complex and multi-purpose…part two will cover all of the above and more!! cheers Ged gringo40s.com gringo40s.blogspt.com |
Legion 4 | 03 Jun 2020 7:25 a.m. PST |
Jammy, like I said I'm always a little circumspect when it comes to blasting caps. When carrying them mostly. Once something is emplaced, e.g. M18, demo charges, etc. if it blows up unexpectedly as long as no friendies as hurt. Then so be it. In some cases a Blasting Cap can be detonated by radio or any type of electricity waves. Regardless they were used with many types of demo, i.e. TNT and C4. And IIRC even the Bangalore Torpedo, which we only trained with once or twice. In the late '80s. Don't know if they were just old stuff they wanted to use up. A long with getting some good training. But we always liked to blow up stuff regardless ! But generally the M18 is a very good weapon. Don't know if still being used. But in a urban area where many of our COIN Ops are/were occurring. The threat/fear of Collateral Damage, may have limited their use. with satchel charges and grenades Yes from my study and experience those were pretty much a standard, with VC Sappers. improvised grenades out of Coke cans and the like. Yes we were told never to leave our C-Rat cans laying around. Crush them and carry with us until we were in a secure area, etc. The metal c cut into pieces could be used for fragmentation/shrapnel, etc., in Booby Traps[IEDs as they are called today], etc. We were trained to make an number of different types of IEDs. E.g. : Take a big empty C-Rat can. Fix it to a tree, etc., at ankle level. Run a piece of tripwire across the trail to a tree, etc. Put a hand grenade in the C-Rat can. Ensure it is a secure fix, won't slip out Attached the tripwire to the neck of the grenade. Pull the pin, the spoon will be held in place by the can. VC/NVA walk along the trail, hit the tripwire, pulls the grenade out of the can. The spoon flies off, the grenade goes off … End of story … |
Ed Mohrmann | 05 Jun 2020 10:23 a.m. PST |
I don't know if, today, areas where roads are under construction, especially in rocky areas where blasting is going on, there are signs prominently displayed telling people with communication radios to turn those off until well clear of the blasting area. Very probable that common (today) RF devices (radio devices) operate in a freq range unharmful to blasting caps, but I really don't know. |
Legion 4 | 05 Jun 2020 3:50 p.m. PST |
A few years back I drove thru a construction blasting site. And those warning signs were posted. |
jammy four | 06 Jun 2020 2:17 a.m. PST |
Ed and Legion 4 interesting stuff chaps….there was a long list of safety precautions regarding blasting caps…not always doable in combat scenarios in the Nam… "Blasting Caps will not be inserted into a detonator well intil the mine has been emplaced in its firing position and aimed" not sure exactly what that means? another common sense one was no personnel should be allowed within 16 metres!!!! of the rear of the mine ,even then they must be in a covered prone position laying in a depression or behind some form of protection….not really possible in a firebase…..the safety list is HUGE.. Cheers Ged wwww.gringo40s.com gringo40s.blogspot.com |
Legion 4 | 06 Jun 2020 11:14 a.m. PST |
Yes safety procedures are not all always the same as in non-combat situations obviously. "Blasting Caps will not be inserted into a detonator well until the mine has been emplaced in its firing position and aimed" The M18 had 2 or 3 detonator wells. You stick the legs into the ground, aimed in the direction you want the mine to be fired in. Then insert the cap in the Det. Well on the mine. Not the other way around … I.e. Once the mine in emplaced and aimed then you insert the cap into the well. You don't want mess with mine too much once it has the cap inserted. then they must be in a covered prone position laying in a depression or behind some form of protection….not really possible in a firebase Depends on where you are emplacing the mine. You could easily be in an emplacement inside the FB, etc. You generally always try to find any little piece of cover. No matter where you are. |
jammy four | 11 Jun 2020 2:21 a.m. PST |
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Legion 4 | 11 Jun 2020 10:31 a.m. PST |
Some fire bases had some sort of minefields, booby traps, etc. in and along their perimeter. Plus M18s can be rigged on tripwire, etc. Or you could run the firing wire [maybe with an addition] from your bunker into the perimeter. You can blow it while under cover of a your foxhole, fighting position, bunker, etc. Hence the phrase – "VC in the wire, blow the Claymores !" |
jammy four | 11 Jun 2020 4:48 p.m. PST |
legion4 you mention the booby traps et all ,was wondering about the oil drums filled with Napalm is seem to remember some form of firing cap being used…? cheers Ged gringo40s.com gringo40s.blogspot.com |
deadhead | 12 Jun 2020 7:58 a.m. PST |
The Last Valley mentions them used in the defence of DBP by the French. |
jammy four | 12 Jun 2020 9:11 a.m. PST |
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Legion 4 | 12 Jun 2020 9:14 a.m. PST |
Yes, Jammer you'd use Fuel Thickener, we even had some in our ammo out load when I was in the ROK, '84-'85. This thickener mixed in would actually turn the fuel, a gas-diesel mix into a Napalm like substance. It was called "Fougasse" … And has been around for a long time … Bury 55gal. drum with fuel/thickener mix with the top pointing up. At an angle that would best cover the Kill Zone along your position/FB perimeter, etc. And yes blasting caps with electrical wire, time fuse and/or det. cord, etc. would be the initiator to blow an explosive charge [C4. TNT, etc.] under the 55 gal fuel drum up. Spraying a the burning "Napalm" a good distance based on the angle it is emplaced, etc. Into enemy troops trying to breach your perimeter. Could really shut down an attack as I was trained. Watching the lead elements in the attack being burned to death or severely wounded by fire. Before your eyes would generally cause the remaining attackers to break contact for obvious reasons. I was told by our Instructors who were Vietnam Vets. The burning enemy troops were called "Crispy Critters". Not my words but theirs, and very appropriate to my thinking. And yes "Fougasse" type improvised explosives were used at DBP. Like I said this type of explosive device has been around a while. You don't have to have a fuel thickener, but powered laundry soap, styrofoam, etc. As the saying goes … "Don't try this at home" … Some designs use lengths of detonating cord or blasting caps to rupture the fuel container as well as detonate the main charge.[10] Weapons of this sort were widely used in the Korean and Vietnam wars as well as other conflicts. link |
deadhead | 12 Jun 2020 3:13 p.m. PST |
You only have to work out the origin of the name "Napalm" to derive the recipe. Sodium Palmitate….er, is that not just soap? Yes. The thing is of course that it is getting very hard to find packets of soap flakes these days, which work best. (Thank God). Modern machines use capsules designed to be attractive to kids as sweets, or liquid soaps that go into the top left pull out drawer. A proper Molotov cocktail did not even need to be ignited at the neck, phosphorus would do it for you. Fuel and soap flakes did the rest. |
Legion 4 | 13 Jun 2020 9:49 a.m. PST |
Yep ! You can be very imaginative in making improvised munitions. The important think about explosives is you want them to go off when you want the to. But sometimes that does not always happen. |