My Russian Diary

[Seuchenhexer]

This thread serves as a diary about my adventures into the many, many different Russian (mostly fictional) armies I am working on.

1200 - Siberian Steppe Tribes

1812 - Imperial Russian Army Corps; Wolves from the East

1914 - World War 1; Planned

1941 - Great Patriotic War, VDV Company; WIP

1947 - Dieselpunk; WIP

1985 - Cold War; Planned

2020 - Modern Warfare; Planned

2400 - Sci- Fi; Planned

[EndTransmission]

those look great. I really enjoyed painting the Warlord plastics, so I guess each to their own

[Seuchenhexer]

Thanks for the compliment!

Over the last days I was able to finish a load of miniatures.





My first three rifle squads, a mixture of Warlord Games and Bad Squiddo Game miniatures.
They will make a great base for most systems, especially Bolt Action or Chain of Command.

I am not a big fan of the Warlord Games plastic miniatures, as I feel that white metal (from Warlord Games as well as others) often have way better poses and details. But those sprue's are a goldmine when it comes to upgrade miniatures, so I had to get them anyways and made the best out of it in the process.


And last, but not least the three paratrooper junior commanders again. All equipped with the carbine version of the Mosin–Nagant.
Sergeant Spalko got herself some fancy Amoeba pattern camo pants, made from putty and a way too big head from Statuesque Miniatures.


Some support for the infantry squads. As I do plan to use them in different roles in Bolt Action, I need those sweet DP28 for some LMG Squads.
I used the Bad Squiddo Miniatures (standard infantry, as well as scouts), and some more Warlord Games.

Also I did build a sniper team from Warlord Games scout pack. As those are the only two with that type of suit, I think they will make a great team.


But the main event this week was without a doubt the two Fireball from Hasegawa.
I only slightly modified them, leaving off the antenna as it just looked like as if it was going to break off sooner or later anyways, and added a 1/35 20mm Flak barrel to each weapon pod, which translates roughly into a 37 mm anti-tank gun.
This should be big enough guns for mecha scout units like those!

I do not have any game I am planing to use them in yet, but I am sure something will come up.


As for the logo, I just took the tiger from a German decal sheet for heavy tanks (schwere Panzerabteilung 501), using it for my own fictive armored unit.

[Seuchenhexer]

This week I did go back to some of the more normal World War 2 models.



NKVD squad I wanted to use for the commissar slot in my Bolt Action list.
The sergeant is Soviet Platoon Commander Yevdokiya Zavaliy from Stoessi's Heroes (in this case of course with a different name on the base), her squad mates are made from Warlordgames Miniatures.


Maxim team from Plastic Soldier.
I kept it modular, so I can get me other machine guns like the DShK, and use it with the same crew.


My favorite build this week was a German Army Propagandakompanie Cameraman man from Warlordgames, I did some work on so he can serve in the Red Army now.
I filed off the lower pockets on the jacket, and closed the gap in the middle, so it looks more like a Russian uniform, then a German.

Now instead of filming propaganda for the Germans, he does film the truth for the Soviets.

[Seuchenhexer]

Working some more on my Bolt Action list, finishing my mortar crew from Bad Squiddo Miniatures. I added one woman from the scout pack to it, as the junior commander of this team (and as soon as my skill of painting miniatures will slightly improve, I will make sure that she watches a map, instead of a blank sheet of paper, acting like she is knowing what she is doing.

To keep it versatile I also added the light mortar from Plastic Soldiers.

For the heavy mortar I will make a whole new team.


I also started working on a Weird World War project for Kill Team, finding a place to use my Fireball from Hasegawa as a XV8 Crisis Battlesuit.
First I thought about making a Imperial Guard team, but that seemed kind of boring, just having infantry. With the Tau I get to work on another two battlesuits (for the Tau Commander as well as the Stealth Battlesuits).

For now I worked on the Pathfinders for the team, using the original weapons, even as I do not like the style that much.


Last but not least my kitbash of the week, building a poor man's PPS 42 I wanted to use for some of my heroes/ more unique character models.
It is not really that accurate but might do the job if you watch it from far away!

[Seuchenhexer]

I continued with my Weird World War 2 Kill Team project, and finished the drones I got from Warlord Games Gates of Antares.
Only thing I modified was cutting off the insect like tail those drones had.


And some additions for my more normal World War 2 squads, using bits from the Warlord Games Fallschirmjäger sprue to get some anti- tank support going.

The flamethrower is from Bad Squiddo Miniatures, however the original second woman was replaced as she was wearing body armor (while the flamethrower operator is not).

[Seuchenhexer]

My second mortar team.
This time all Warlordgames Miniatures, including one from scouts, to be used as a observer.

[Seuchenhexer]

Not being able to play any games had robbed me of a lot of motivation to paint. Still I was working on some of my scouts, as my 'real' scouts are all but gone, put in other roles on the battlefield.
I used (mostly) German bodies from the Warlordgames SS sprue and gave them a do-over with green stuff.

They all got German weapons because for once it was easy, and because I saw in a documentary on YouTube that they did like the MP40 better for scouting, as it was not as heavy as their own PPsh 41.

I also added a character in form of Uncle Gosha, as well as a machine gun team to the squad.

[Spinal Tap]

I really like how you paint.

[Corso]

A very interesting project

[Seuchenhexer]

Thanks, I try to get at least a little better every now and then when it comes to painting (or maybe just cleaning up mold lines, and starting to close some of the gaps ...), but I am more then happy with just having the whole army painted.

And yes, I try to keep it interesting, and Russian 



I promised to myself that I would not repeat the mistakes of my past, and build too many snipers.
And so I got two more sniper teams. Mostly from Bad Squiddo Miniatures, but the second from the left is a British Warlord Games with a Statuesque Miniatures head. I try desperately to get rid of those heads putting them on every miniature possible, as I just got too many of them and feel bad for letting them go to waste, like ending up in some bitz box.


Then I finished my star for my Gaslands team. Using a British staff car from Warlord Games and a lot of bits from different kits, like the Rubicon GAZ- AA for the many, many, many wheels, and some stowage.
Might not sound that Russian, but he kind of is my Red Baron.

[Seuchenhexer]

After I finished the race car last week, I wanted to focus on some more and kind of finish this project.




Fist up my pit stop, being more scenery then really vehicles I wanted to use for the team.
Despite the look of my first racer, I wanted to go into a direction where the rest of the team looks more like some sort of expedition.

The GAZ- AA tanker from Warlord Games is not modified at all, as I plan to use it in different settings.

The repair and recovery car on the other hand is a slightly modified GAZ- AA from Rubicon, and made slightly longer so I could fit on the rear of a Studebaker.
The mechanic is from Stoessi's Heroes.


Two mono cycle's from 1st Corps, without any modifications.


And last but not least, two small buggies, made from Warlord Games Aerosan and some extra bits to upgrade them.
I used 1/72 Puma tires on them, and they worked like a charm!

[Seuchenhexer]

Earlier this year, around the beginning of March I was asked to get into Battlegroup (15mm instead of 20mm) with some people in my wargaming club.
I started to collect miniatures right away, or did at least some research on what miniatures to get as this is my first time going into the 15mm scale.
In the past I was not that big of a fan of the scale, as it meant kind of new tables and scenery.

Knowing that the others are a little slower when it comes to painting their miniatures, I did keep the project on a low, but finally decided to go at it.




I wanted to keep the new army linked to what I already got in 28mm, and so decided to go with infantry as the main portion. So I finished the first two platoons, with a mixture of Peter Pig and Zvezda Miniatures.
As they are supposed to be paratroopers I also did mix a lot of scout suits into the squads, and gave all those little NCO's a blue pilotka.

For the platoon leaders I tried to make a connection to the 28mm scaled army, by painting/ building similar models.
With the one on the left I just did go for a look- a- like, which was not too hard.

The platoon leader on the right I actually started very early this year (in 28mm) as I tried to copy the First Legion 1/35 Russian Scout Officer.
Later I decided to replace the SMG with my DIY PPS and the pilotka with a tanker helmet (that is supposed to be a paratrooper jumper helmet) to have him stand out a little more.
So I did a head swap for his smaller self.


And to make sure that those VDV units are not all alone on their way to Berlin, I just got them a T34/ 85 tank company (with extra turrets to downgrade them to T34/ 76 if needed).
The tanks are all from Zvezda, with the tank riders being Flames of War.
The company commander is upgraded with two antennas and a red flag. Just to represent him being pretty heroic.

[Seuchenhexer]

Normally I would let my brush wander around, but at the moment I have to stay laser focused on the 15mm to get me an army ready for a game in two weeks! 



An essential for the upcoming scenario in two weeks, but not one of my favorite tracked vehicles, the SU76 (from Zvezda).
I added some tarp with greenstuff.


Some 76mm guns (also from Zvezda).


And finally some more fun units, with the VVS Air Controller and the Comms Relay Team.
All miniatures but the actual Air Controller are scouts from Peter Pig.
For the Air Controller I used a German tank commander that was included with a Jagdtiger.

I decided to write the unit type in white onto the front of the base (names of officers are written in black on the back of the bases (officer bases, not those right here)), to avoid confusion on the battlefield.


T- 34 from Zvezda with a recovery vehicle kit from Heer46.
I added 0.5mm wire as a steel cable.


And the best for last: a new officer! This time I wanted to do something special for a scout commander of sorts, and used one of my remaining Warlord Games scout bodies, and a leftover head from Infinity.

To really make her stick out I was looking for an alternative to a radio man, or a flag bearer, and decided to give her a dog.

[FreakyFenton]

Quite good and an impressive output! 
I do agree 15mm is a scale that is a bit harsh on the eyes when painting, but you managed quite well!

Though I do have a question, namely, who makes the monobikes?