Painting a North Vietnamese Army Infantry Platoon

In painting the NVA Infantry Platoon I adopted the same methods and approach as I used to paint the US Infantry Platoon. The NVA platoon consists of ten stands; a Platoon HQ stand, 3 Squads (each of two fireteam stands) and three RPG stands (attached to each of the three squads). I broke the platoon down in to two manageable groups consisting of:

• the Platoon HQ and RPGs
• the three rifle squads

With 33 figures to paint, it was essential to adopt the 'production line' method of painting which I have mentioned previously. All the figures were cleaned and prepared which, in the case of Peter Pig models, is fairly straight forward since it was only a matter of lightly filing the base of each figure to remove the mould line.

Painting Method

Once all figures were prepared, I undercoated them all as a single batch using a primer spray (GW Chaos Black). Once they were undercoated I applied the basecoat using a drybrush and GW Bestial Brown. I tend to apply this coat quite heavily and without any attempt to be accurate.

The next step consisted of applying a lighter brown as a highlight. In this case I used GW Snakebite Leather, again applied quite liberally but with a smaller drybrush. I suppose you could spend hours painting each individual figure, the models themselves are certainly detailed enough for this, but I want to get my forces finished and into action - hence the adoption of drybrushing.

Accoutrements

The various accoutrements where repainted black prior to being painted with Colour Party Olive Drab. I only painted accoutrements which were attached to the belts of the figures as well as bedding rolls and ammo pouches. Once painted I applied a very light dry-brush as a highlight.

I imagine that they would look even more effective if helmets, webbing and back packs were also painted, however, leaving these the base colour simply saves more time and it is a job which you can always return to at a later stage.

Skin Tones

Areas of flesh were repainted white, this being the best base colour for the flesh wash that I subsequently applied.

Once the flesh wash is applied, the relief on the hands and faces becomes much more evident.

Again, you could work the highlights up further on these areas if you were so inclined.

Finishing Touches

Weapons were then painted black and lightly highlighted using GW Gun Metal. The base of each figure was painted GW Goblin Green and then all that remained was to glue the figures to their base.

Once I had assembled all the individual bases it was simply a matter of applying the techniques discussed previously to transform the base from a simple flat piece of card to a mini-diorama and the platoon was completed!

It actually took me less time to paint the NVA platoon than it did to paint the US platoon simply because there are less steps involved. This being the case I was able to paint the figures in an afternoon (about four hours). Again, the process of finishing the bases took me a lot longer and was accomplished over a couple of evenings. The finished platoon looks quite good and I anticipate being able to complete the full Company in less time than I had anticipated.

The Completed NVA Infantry Platoon

The Finished NVA Platoon: Platoon HQ, Squads 1 to 3 with attached RPG teams

The platoon laid out and viewed from above.