Taras,
I think it is good that you are showing an interest in making figures of subjects from the Vietnam War. The design is a good start, but there are some improvements that can be made to make it a more accurate representation of a US M60 Gunner. The photo is of a US Army M60 gunner, so what I am going to discuss is based on that. If depicting a Marine, there would be other detail elements that would need to be considered in the design process.
Being that I have studied the US Involvement in Vietnam pretty extensively over the last 30 years or so, my dad served a couple tours there, growing up as an Army brat all of my friends' dads had served in Vietnam, I have examples of just about all of the uniforms and equipment used there, and that I model this subject quite a bit, I have picked up an appreciation for certain details that need to be present if one is going to be making figures representing US Servicemen in Vietnam. Although several types of uniforms were worn, there are certain details present in each that are somewhat unique to each type. In regards to Jungle Fatigues alone, there were 3 main patterns in poplin material and one in rip-stop poplin, and variations of those in regards to OD or ERDL camouflage. Each had its own peculiar details.
The idea and pose of the figure are nice. However, the uniform details are wrong if it is supposed to be a US M60 Machine Gunner. If based on the photo, he should be wearing jungle fatigues (the Soldier in the photo is wearing the 2d Pattern Jungle Fatigues) which consists of a shirt that is worn over the trousers instead of tucked in, the top pockets are slanted with 1 slit running down the center of the pocket. The bottom shirt pockets also have this slit, or bellows. The trouser pockets are wrong, too. There are plenty of pictures on the internet you can use for reference for these uniform details. If you want this figure to represent a US Serviceman in Vietnam, then the uniform needs to be changed. I have seen threads about the last M60 gunner you produced that was based on a photo of an Australian Soldier in Vietnam that was advertised as a US M60 gunner and there was a similar discussion about the uniform.
The pistol belt needs to be a bit thicker and there are some other details that need to be present. Again, just look up US pistol belt, or US Individual Euipment Belt M1956 or M1967 and you will get some photos of what they look like. Ammo belts need to be added as well since once engaged, the M60 is going to be putting out a pretty steady rate of fire and will go through ammo quickly.
I like the fact that you are wanting to make figures of Vietnam subjects and I am sure I will purchase them when available, but these types of details really need to be researched and then applied to the final design of the figure. There are also some very good reference books available. GRUNTS from Andrea Press, Paul Miraldi's books on Vietnam Uniforms, and Kevin Lyles various books to name a few are excellent resources for detailed photos of the types of details that if you incorporated them into your designs would make the figures stand out from the rest.
I hope you took this as constructive criticism meant to help you make a better product rather than being nip-picky.
Take care and I wish you the best on your future figure endeavors and I look forward to seeing what you can develop once you gather some reference materials that show the finer details.
Cheers,
James
