North Vietnamese regular Infantry and Viet Cong
ESCI 1:72 Scale Figure Review
ESCI 1:72 scale North Vietnamese are a mixture of regular infantrymen of the People‘s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong soldiers of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam (LASV) armed with SKS-M carbines, AK-47 assault rifles, RPD light machine guns, and RPG-7 rocket launchers.
Contents
50 Figures in 15 Poses – 23 mm equal 166 cm Height
- People‘s Army of Vietnam wearing Sun Helmets
- NVA Regular with AK-47, signaling (1)
- NVA Regular with RPG-7, kneeling, firing (3)
- NVA Regular with RPD light machine gun, standing (1)
- NVA Regular with RPD light machine gun, advancing (3)
- NVA Regular with AK-47, advancing (3)
- NVA Regular with AK-47, running (6)
- NVA Regular in Shorts, with AK-47, running (6)
- NVA Regular with SKS-M Carbine, kneeling (6)
- NVA/Viet Cong in Hat, with RPD light machine gun, kneeling, firing (6)
- NVA/Viet Cong in Mao Cap, with AK-47, advancing (3)
- NVA/Viet Cong in Hat, with AK-47, kneeling, firing (6)
- NVA/Viet Cong in Hat, with AK-47, throwing Hand Grenade (1)
- NVA/Viet Cong in Hat, with AK-47, aiding Wounded (1)
- NVA/Viet Cong with SKS-M Carbine, wounded (1)
- NVA/Viet Cong in Hat, with SKS-M Carbine, standing, firing (6)
Evaluation
Excellent choice of subject, the ESCI North Vietnamese soldiers were unique in this scale for 35 years, until Orion released their North Vietnamese Army figure set (Orion 72060) in 2021.
Useful wargaming poses of advancing, running, and firing infantry armed with semi-automatic carbines, assault rifles, light machine guns, and anti-tank grenade launchers. While the model of the RPG-7 in this set is slightly too long, and the RPD is 13 % too long, the AK-47 assault rifles are huge, measuring 17 mm in length, when they should be 12.2 mm long in 1:72 scale. This is a typical mistake that runs through virtually the entire ESCI product line.
Eight of the 15 figure poses are wearing the sun helmet, four of which are covered with camouflage netting. The remaining seven poses may be painted as NVA regulars or Viet Cong soldiers. The entire set depicts infantry attacking a position once the wire has been breeched by sappers, rather than an ambush or a prolonged firefight.
Some flash and mould lines need to be removed prior to painting.
Compatible with Altaya, Atlas, CDC, De Agostini, Dragon Models, Eaglemoss, Fine Scale Factory, Hasegawa, Italeri, Orion, Revell, Zvezda.
The 15 poses included in this set are enough to raise North Vietnames Army infantry platoons for Wargames, but the missing officers need to be scrounged from another figure set of NVA infantry.