More 20mm Soviets: Command Group and Vehicles

It’s hard to say what I’m going to use these figures and vehicle for, but I like them and I enjoyed finishing off another project as I move some old figures through the painting queue and hopefully on to the gaming table.

This group is a 20mm Soviet command group from Britannia, as well as a Brtannia GAZ radio truck.   The command group comes with six figures and two pieces of furniture, and I painted up a random Soviet soldier from the bits box to act as a sentry.

The 39th Guards Shock Army’s G3 explains how they will smash through the enemy defences and strike into the lair of the Fascist beast.    Note the absence of Powerpoint in this briefing.

 

General Gutskoff listens while wondering if his nemesis General Badinov will make it across the Elbe before he does, despite promises to Comrade Stalin that the Fighting 39th will lead the way and be the first to plant the glorious Sovet banner on the far bank.  I have to say that I really like the figure in the leather trench coat standing behind the general with the cup in his hand.  He rather reminds me of Alec Guinness’ character in Dr. Zhivago.

 

 

I had started painting this vehicle last year but had to redo much of it after I discovered that the pigment I had used for weathering reacted poorly to Dullcote.   Again, not sure what I’ll use it for except as eye candy for the table or perhaps an objective marker for larger scale games.

Some of that white stuff around the grill and the rolled tarp on the front fender are residue from the great pigment disaster.

The other project I finished at this time is this Armourfast T34-85 quick build tank.  A very simple kit, with a modest amount of weathering.   It could use some stowage.

Putting vehicles on bases is a new thing for me, a bit of an experiment.   I think I like the look of it.

 

These figures bring my 2014 totals to:

28mm Mounted: 13

28mm Foot: 22

28mm Artillery: 1

20mm Foot:  33

20mm Artillery: 2

20mm Vehicles:  2

20mm Terrain Pieces: 1

15mm Foot: 26

15mm Terrain Pieces: 3

6mm Terrain Pieces: 2

Kilometres Run: 681

Blessings to your brushes and die rolls!  MP+

Still More Soviets: Tankodesantniki! 20mm Britannia Tank Riders

Last year I posted here about two Italieri ISU-122s that I’d completed for the 2013 Analogue Hobbies Challenge.   Shortly after painting them, I learned the hard way that Dullcote does not interact well with pigment.  While the models weren’t ruined, exactly, most of the pigment turned a wintry white and I had to redo them.   A little heartsick, I put them in a “To Do Later” box and sort of forgot about them.   Then I dug them out while working through a pile of Britannia 20mm Soviet infantry, including a half a dozen tank riders.   Finishing them off gave me the motivation to pull out the ISU-122s and get them back into shape.

I like these Britannia figures, and their combination of uniform items - greatcoats, fur heats, etc - matches the Italieri AT gunners I showed here previously, making them perfect for a winter/spring 1945 assault force on the Reich’s cities.

With only six figures, total, that doesn’t allow me a whole mob of tank riders, but it does suggest men who have been detailed to ride with the assault guns and protect them from snipers, Hitler Youth with panzerfauts, etc.  I figured the easiest course was to glue them to the tank models, since otherwise they would only fall off when in use and rattle around in boxes when not in use.  For game purposes we can decide whether the figures are in play or not in play.

 

 

I won’t count the two tanks towards my 2014 totals, since really they were finished and blogger last year, but I will count these six tank riders.

 

 

 

 

These figures bring my 2014 totals to:

28mm Mounted: 13

28mm Foot:  22

28mm Artillery: 1

20mm Foot:  26

20mm Artillery: 2

20mm Terrain Pieces:  1

15mm Foot: 26

15mm Terrain Pieces: 3

6mm Buildings: 2

Kilometres RunL 621  

Blessings to your brushes!  MP+