Preview: Gecko Models 1/35th scale Mini Shop In US Military Base (Vietnam War Era)...

Gecko Models show CADs of their latest kit, the 8' Storage Container Set from the Vietnam War era, but this one differs in that it's a single PX-type store with a soldier & his German sheppard guarding it. We have images to show you what comes in the kit in our preview...

Preview: Gecko Models 1/35th scale Mini Shop In US Military Base (Vietnam War Era)...

Mini Shop In US Military Base (Vietnam War Era)

From Gecko Models

Kit No. #35GM0118

1 8-foot container, a figure and his dog, & sandbags included.

Photo-etched parts included

2 marking choices are supplied in this kit.

1/35th scale

The Subject: The US Army's 8-foot Container in the Vietnam theatre

Shipping containers became the backbone of logistics support for Vietnam, and nearly every major Army unit moving into the theatre carried their spare parts and supplies in containers. Many containers never made it back from the theatre; they were employed as command posts, dispensaries, portable stores, bunkers, and so forth. The containers provided millions of square feet of covered storage that the theatre lacked.

1968: A Conex container is being unloaded upon the arrival of the 1st Cav Div. (Airmobile) to Camp Evans, 22 km north of Hue. Photographer: SP6 Samuel L. Swain

The commercial industry began to develop methods of moving containers. During the Vietnam conflict, Sea-Land Container Services, Inc. first introduced containerships designed only to carry containers.

Inter-modal containers were developed to be shipped via rail, truck, air, or ship. Today, they are used commercially as well as by all military services. The use of intermodal containers may possibly be the most valuable element in global transportation in most industrialised countries.

The term "CONEX" remains in common use in the US military to refer to the similar but larger ISO-standard shipping containers

The Kit:

This kit contains a single 8-foot container with shelves of stores inside to make up a PX store from the Vietnam era. You can see from looking in the opened front here that it is packed with rack-type shelving and stores in boxes and packaging in plastic and cardboard shapes. We would love it if this had product decals, but no word on that.

A better look at the inside of the store with a refrigerator, a fan, and a chair for the person "guarding" the shop.

Gecko also supplies sandbags as some protection around the shop. The man in the shop has an Alsation dog with him as a companion. The kit is mostly plastic, but there is some photo-etch to replicate the thinner parts of the container. There are two marking choices supplied in this kit.

These kits have not been advertised by distributors yet, which is usually the first people know of them, so no pricing or other information yet. We will let you know when we know more.

You can find out more about Gecko Models kits on their website