Unboxing review Rubicon Models Vietnam Figures – Size does matter…

• Posted on 25 February 2022
• By Simon Thurtle
• Posted in 28mm, Empress, Review, Rubicon, Unboxing, vietnam
• 1

Rubicon models have been making high quality, hard plastic miniatures for a long time. Their reputation for impressive kits is well earned, just looking at the range of build options and load outs available in each shows you that these guys take their work seriously....

Unboxing review Rubicon Models Vietnam Figures – Size does matter…

Rubicon models have been making high quality, hard plastic miniatures for a long time. Their reputation for impressive kits is well earned, just looking at the range of build options and load outs available in each shows you that these guys take their work seriously.

So, when we heard that they were dropping 1/56^th scale infantry sets for the Vietnam war era, we were in a purple haze of happiness. Now, this fortunate son gets to unbox both the Viet Cong Fighter and USMC Marine boxes just for you.

BUT we’re not done yet… at the end you’ll find a scale comparison for other, leading manufacturers. Are Rubicon mins in scale with others? If you’re looking to add some variety to an existing force, this is worth checking out to see if they’ll fit with what you’ve got already.

Also, check out the value you get with these boxes, both are just under €41 for a box of 30 or 32  figures, depending on which one you choose. That’s a strong saving on most other Vietnam miniature ranges, but are they any good?

So, you lucky little surfin’ birds, let’s find out…

1, 2, 3, 4, I love marine corps…

The USMC Marines box includes 30 miniatures in hard, grey, multi-part plastic with 25mm, lipped bases included. The box includes a range of weapon, pose and accessory options, and also includes the option to build a command squad.

Now, like the white rabbit, let’s go down the hole of weapon options. With Rubicon, your marines will be fully kitted out. The box includes:

M16 rifles

M16 + M203 grenade launchers

M79 grenade launchers

M60 machine guns

M72 LAW anti-tank weapons

M14 rifles

M1911A1 pistols

Remington 870 Mk I shotguns

Everything that a defender of truth, justice and mama’s apple pie could want. Don’t believe us? We’ll here’s the sprues!

And here’s the command squad upgrade sprue too:

With all these options, you could be feeling a little like it’s going to take you all day and all of the night to figure out your minis, but fear not, there’s a clear, helpful guide to building them. This also includes really useful notes to help you make your marines historically accurately.

Now, if you’re not thinking “I’m a believer” by now? Check out the built miniatures below… but first!

Get on the Ho Chi Minh trail
With 32 figures, including a command squad option and both male and female figures, the Viet Cong Fighters is every bit as varied as its USMC counterpart. As before, the miniatures are hard, grey, multi-part plastic, with 25mm round lipped bases.

The kit features a range of poses, equipment, and weapons, as well as the mentioned command squad option.

As you’d expect, the range of available weapons for the Viet Cong (VC) is a bit more limited than for the marines. In the box, you’ll find the following weapon options for your VC:

Type-56 Assault Rifle

SKS Carbine

RPG-7

K-50M submachine gun

The sprues are just as detailed and awesome as you’d expect from Rubicon, including a range of pouch and accessory options making you a free bird when it comes to customisation of your minis:

And the Female sprue

Again, the set comes with a nicely detailed set of instructions, including some historical facts and building notes to help you make the most of the kit.

A big man in Vietnam?

If you’re thinking that the times they are a-changin’ and it’s time you added some Rubicon to your existing Vietnam forces, you are probably right… but how do they compare in scale to other ranges?

Scale is often a fluid concept and can vary greatly between ranges, so, we’ve done some homework for you and here are Rubicon figures built and compared to some of the other market leaders, in the form of Warlord and Empress.

For the marines, you can see Empress, Rubicon then Warlord miniatures:

With the VC we have Empress then Rubicon:

As you can see, the height is not really a concern next to Warlord, but Warlord has a more exaggerated, heroic scale to the head especially.

With Empress, the marine miniatures are very close in scale. But the VC Empress miniatures are smaller, once painted and within an army, this probably wouldn’t show but it is worth bearing in mind!

Last but not least we have 1 more comparison between The Assault group, Rubiconand Empress, Thanks to Jan Willem van der Pijl

We’d love to build the rest of these guys and get some paint on them. Got to paint it, black for the priming layer of course, but these miniatures have another fate ahead of them…one that MIGHT just see them on your gaming table, not ours! Will you answer their call to gimme shelter? Or will it be more these boots are made for walking and they should just keep on going?

Head on over to our Facebook page  to find out how these very miniatures could be yours…