index_Chicom Type 63

- Chinese Communist 60mm Mortar, Type 1963 -
Vietnam War

As used by North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong Forces.

The Kit:

This 1/2 scale kit is produced in styrene plastic by CN and is manufactured in the PRC. The large box contained 50 parts in styrene, and 5 metal parts which consisted of 2 springs and 3 self-tapping screws. One small tube of glue and one bag of Gesso two-part filler. This kit border on being a toy, as the inclusion of the springs will enable you to 'fire' off the bomb that is included. I did not use the springs in the construction of this model.

Part moldings were actually very good with a semi-rough surface casting effect cast in. Assembly was straight-forward. The instruction sheet does have English 'sub-titles', and contained clear exploded 3-D views of the assembly sequence. Fit was close to being excellent in this large scale, and all parts were glued together by using Testor's Liquid Cement without any problems. Gap filling super glue was also used.
The large parts are molded in lengthwise halves, therefore, there is a fair amount of gap filling and sanding required. Again, the fit was excellent, but those seams had to be dealt with, and this is where the majority of the construction time went.

Some disappointments found within this kit were:
1) The bipod legs should be spread further apart. As molded, this does not provide for a very stable firing platform.
2) The sight, although a good representation, was bare in details.
3) The bomb provided comes only with the shipping cap, there is no fuse. Also, the bomb fins were rather thick and lacking in detail. (After assembly and painting of the bomb, I decided to not include it on this presentation.)
4) No Decals provided, especially for the bomb. There should also be markings on the sight housing.
This large scale is very easy to work in however; there are no after-market accessories available in this scale.


The Details:
Basically built right out of the box (OOB), with the exception of some sheet styrene added to the yoke assembly to cover up some interior sink marks. I also added a thin weld bead from styrene rod to the slight gap at the mating halves of the baseplate. A 'grease fitting' from layered sheet styrene was added to the bottom of the elevation housing. I also added some hardware behind the traversing handle. An MV Products Lens was used for the 'glass' in the forward site lens aperture, and a toy 'googly' eye was disassembled with the clear lens being used for the 'glass' within the eye cup.

Base and Groundwork:
This base is oak and is 1-1/4 inches thick x 21 inches in diameter. The wood was stained and sealed with multiple coats of Polyurethane. Sculptamold mixed with white glue and water was used for the basic groundwork, and to this I added fine railroad ballast, crunched up oak leaves, and static grass. I also used Leichten for the clumps of 'vegetation'.

Painting, Weathering and Finishing:
PollyScale, Pactra, Model Master, and Tamiya acrylic paints and flat coat were used to complete this project. Multiple washes were applied with Winsor and Newton Oils thinned with Loew-Cornell Odorless Brush Cleaner and Thinner. Weathering was achieved by drybrushing with the various acrylic paints and Berol Prismacolor colored artist pencils.

General Mortar Info:

Designated "Type 1963", this weapon was introduced into PLA (People's Liberation Army) service in 1963 (hence the designation), and it's legacy can be traced back to pre-WWII France. The original French model, produced by Brandt, was copied by the United States as the M2, 60mm Mortar. The M2 was then copied by the Chinese Nationalist as the Type 31, which intern was copied by the Chinese Communists (Chicom) as the Type 1963. The Type 1963 (also known as the Type 63) was designed with the emphasis on irregular and guerilla warfare, and was provided in large numbers to the Viet Cong and NVA (North Vietnamese Army) Regulars during the Vietnam War. The carrying handle was a Vietnamese modification.

This was a simple, reliable and accurate weapon that could easily be carried by one man. As designed, the barrel, bipod and baseplate folded up so the weapon could be carried without any disassembly. At the firing site, the weapon could be emplaced, sited and ready to fire within a matter of a few seconds. An experienced crew could set up, fire off two or three rounds at maximum range, and due to the bomb's long flight time be packed up and on the move again before the first round impacted on target.

This weapon was favored to attack fixed targets, but the relatively short range of the bombs made it's usage not quite as common as longer ranged rockets. The rockets, mostly 122mm in size, were not as accurate on target and were used primarily for target area suppression and harassment fire.

Large numbers of Type 1963 were captured by US and ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) Forces throughout the course of the Vietnam War, with many being captured during the push into Cambodia during 1970. The ample supplies of captured ammunition for this weapon were often air dropped (by hand) from Army helicopters. This method of "bombing" was commonly known as MAD, for Mortar Air Delivery.

It is conceivable that many Type 1963 mortars remain in the service inventories of some South East Asian nations and organizations, especially those allied with the Chinese Communists.


Actual Mortar Data:
Caliber: 60mm.
Weight: 12.5kg.
Barrel Length: 618mm.
Bore Length: 550mm.
Ammunition Type(s): High Explosive (HE)	Vietnamese Postage Stamps
Muzzle Velocity (HE): 134m/sec.
Maximum Range (HE): 1,530m.
Minimum Range (HE): 70m.
Maximum Rate of Fire: 35 rounds per minute.

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