eastern front WW2 in 1/72 work in progress

[sundayhero]

Hi,

Finally, I bought a boxset of revell russian infantry (here's the review to see how the set is) :

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=292


To see if I will continue with 15mm metal figures, or swap to 1/72-20mm plastic for my ww2 project. I choosed this set because I liked the animation of these figs, quite unusual in soft plastic ranges. And also because russian plastic range is limited compared to german or US, for instance, so...

Anyway, the project started badly : I used the same technic I use on my modern soft plastic addons : vallejo premium coat, pva coat, and then black primer. The only diference is that this time, I wanted to go faster, and after the pva coat, instead of waiting all night and then spray primer, I just waited a couple of hours and applied liquid gesso instead. Result : I ruined the figures  :banghead:  cracks appeared, so I had to do everything again (but I didn't strip the prep coatings, these are test figures after all  :grin: ).

Now the figures can be painted, but forget about the soft details, rough surface and thick weapons : all my fault  :blackeye:  Too bad since I put a lot of efforts in figures preparation (resculpting stuff sometimes, carving plastic , a few conversions, etc...). Here's a few pics of the figures. I prepared about all the poses available in the set (interesting for wargaming set indeed : 2 LMG, one maxim, a sniper pose, an officer pose wich could make a nice NKVD commissar, and a lot of rifles and smg figures too).













Then I started the first early stages of painting. Just applying basic coats before all the fancy stuff   



As usual, I'm using the "face I can see from gaming point of view" technic. I can't remember where I saw this technic first, and what's the real name of it      but I'm pretty sure it was dedicated to 1/72mm figures, and now I'm using it for everything from 10mm to 20mm. Works pretty well (even if it's just the beginning) on the revell soft plastic minis, I wasn't sure first.









It's better than I expected, when I ruined the figures first. The mosin nagan rifles especially will need some work, but  finally they should look OK once finished !



By the way, I found an interesting paint in the revell acrylic range (on left on pic); olive brown 86 :




Perfect for base color uniform, in my opinion, then I will higlight it with the vallejo model khaki grey 880.



And finally, here's tonight progress, still working on the basic colors. It takes a bit of time because of all the black lining,  but I really think it's something important for soft plastic figures.










Tommorow, I will still have to make the boots, leather (straps, pouches) and weapons.
.

[Slayer]

very nice

[Tim]

Really lovely so far!

[Norm]

Thanks, interesting article with a nice result. Looking forward to more.

[sundayhero]

thank you !

I'm currently finishing the figures, and I'm pretty please with the result, I think I "saved" the knightmare they were first   

BUT it really takes too much time, considering free time I have for my hobbies. Even forgiving some details (like fingers, wich I paint usually in 20mm scale), it's unrealistic to think that I will be able to play company levels games in this scale (wich was the first purpose of this test).

I think I will keep this scale for the same purpose I use my 20mm modern figures : skirmish only 

[CarlLeyland]

These have turned out really nice! I am currently looking at some Russians on my painting desk.....

[von Lucky]

Very nice work. At times I'm tempted by these soft plastic kits, but I think it's the time commitment that puts me off.

[sundayhero]

Thanks

It definitly takes more time than metal, if you want a similar result. I believe it's a great source of miniatures if you're only in one wargame thematic, or for reduced projects. For instance, for NUTS squad level action (or games like Black ops) it's a great source of cheap figures.

Tonight I tried to speed up things, because I really wanted to make this massbattle 1/72 project happens, but it's definitly too late. I painted all day long, and stopped just about half hour ago. And I still have to paint weapons metallics, paint and flock the bases, and varnish 

Here's tonight progress (bad) night pics (my workshop is wonderfully lighted, but I don't know how to take good night pics, no matter the camera settings).

[sundayhero]

Here's the final pics, my incursion in 1/72 plastic WW2 ends now   




Here's the pics (I have to admit that I've been a bit lazy on the weapons, just some metallic paint and wash....I usually do these in non metallic technic, but I just wanted to complete the project this afternoon, and this would have taken too much time).
 

Maxim Crew







LMG




Officers and nco




and the others :














I'll keep 20mm scale for moderns, with my french and portuguese projects, it's more than enough. WW2 will stay 15mm, full metal. It's not a matter of taste, but budget. Painting these took really a way too much time, compared to the time I use for metal minis of the same scale, with a similar (or better) result.  I just can't imagine paint even 2 complete platoons this way.


I guess I made a wise decision when I choosed 15mm for ww2, finally   

[Norm]

I think you did a good job on them, but never-the-less you now know what scale suits you best, so it was good to do the 1/72 and get it out of your system. A good project to share.

[sundayhero]

thanks,

I'm happy I tested it first with a 8euros set instead of directly burning the credit card on a mountain of 1/72 stuff ! I'm getting wise, I believe