Quality Cast

20mm Vietnam Range

by Bill Rutherford

Civilians and Helicopter Crew

I received three packs for review – two of helicopter crew (NAM31 and NAM32), and one of civilians (NAM71).

NAM31 consists of four seated helicopter pilots wearing flight helmets and goggles. They’re reasonably detailed, but perhaps 17H Barrett in measure. This is a bit short for nominal ‘20s but one must consider that these are to be put in currently available 1/72 scale helicopter kits. Metal 20mm figures are generally significantly larger than, say, Airfix or ESCI polythene figures, so Qualiticast was faced with a choice of maintaining consistency of scale with their other figures or producing figures that, in fact, would fit into the models. They (wisely, I think, given that helicopters are an important part of Vietnam combat) chose the latter.

NAM32 consists of a pair of door gunners manning M60s, with mountings and ammo belts. The same caveats apply – they’re well detailed but their scale is a bit reduced (mainly in the legs) to allow them to fit into the door of a 1/72nd scale model helicopter.

Farmyard

The third pack, NAM71, includes a pair of crouching females, one standing female, a campfire and pot, a pig, and four chickens. The standing female is 19M Barrett in measure. Presumably a standing male would be a mm or so taller. Detailing is pretty reasonable – good features, cleanly cast, good anatomy, and conservative posing. The chickens were quite nice – they’re big ones so you can cheat a bit and use ‘em for other scales – and they’re well detailed. The campfire and pot is well done and will fit in with any number of skirmish games. I’ll let you judge for yourself about the pig (who hopefully is in the picture!)

Qualiticast make a variety of troops – ten NVA, 29 US, and a dozen VC/civilian packs in all told. They generally include between three and five figures and range in price from $3.50 to around $5.75. They should be available from your local game shop or, failing that, are available directly from Brookhurst Hobbies, their US distributor, at 12188 Brookhurst St., Garden Grove, CA 92840, by phone at (714) 636-9150, or from their website at http://www.brookhursthobbies.com. I recommend their website as it includes a full listing of the Qualiticast range. Detail and variety are good and pricing seems on a par with other Vietnam 20mm troops, so if 20mm Vietnam’s your “thing” I recommend them.

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