7th Aug 2017
Kit List: Kirk Lazarus - Tropic Thunder
You voted for it on our Facebook page is this month’s kit list! This month we’re looking at the loadout of the infamous Kirk Lazarus, played by Robert Downey Junior in the 2008 Paramount film, Tropic Thunder.
The film focuses on a crew of flawed actors who, whilst in the midst of filming a gritty Vietnam movie “Satan’s Alley”, things start to go very wrong for them indeed.
Kirk Lazarus is a white method actor who undergoes a controversial procedure in order to play black character ‘Staff Sergeant Lincoln Osiris’.
Weapons
Rifle:
AR-15 Sporter II Carbine with 20rnd Magazine.
It’s unsure whether the use of this weapon in the film within the film is deliberately incorrect or not, this weapon was not created until 1978.
Shotgun:
Ithaca 37
Pistol:
Colt M1911A1
Headgear
Robert Downey Junior’s character Kirk Lazarus’s character Staff Sergeant Lincoln Osiris wears two different kinds of head gear throughout the film. In the film within the film parts, his character is sporting an M1 helmet, with fabric colour in ‘forest green’. The helmet has a helmet band along the rim that holds numerous miscellaneous bits, most notably, a spare shotgun round and a ration on his right hand side. The other side holds 2 cylindrical items, of unknown origin, possibly a shotgun choke.
In later parts of the film, this helmet is swapped for a simple sun boonie in OD colour.
Lazarus’s character Robert Downey Jr, is also often wearing yellow lensed aviator style sunglasses.
Torso
Throughout the movie, Osiris is wearing a standard issue Vietnam 3rd Pattern Field Jacket (Jungle Uniform), you can tell by the non-pointy pockets (not an m65) and the lack of shoulder loops (2nd pattern). On his shoulder is a patch of a skull with wings and lightning bolts shooting from its eyes, available on etsy. On top of this is an M69 Flak vest.
Some scenes see Osiris ditch the flak vest in favour of the black leather shotgun bandolier in combination with the Ithaca 37. He always wears a standard Vietnam battle belt (M1956 pistol belt or M1967 Davis Belt) with canteen and miscellaneous pouches on the rear, likely M1956 Universal Ammo Pouches.
Lower Half
The lower half is nice and simple. Lazarus wears standard issue Vietnam Jungle Trousers, most likely 3rd pattern, Combined with modern looking Tan Boots (actors get sore feet too).