Jazygian IS-3

This is a Roden kit I got at a Black Friday sale. I'm going to use it with the modern Jazygian collection. I used a dark olive undercoat, a brown wash, two layers of drybrush and some Vallejo dust pigment - the overall picture is quite good I believe.

As I'm not primarily a model maker, I hate track assemblies. The same thing can be made from a lot less pieces, and more pieces mean more possibility for error.
This model held up to its age quite OK, but still was not a pleasant experience. (I also bought an ICM BTR-60 at the same sale, and really had to work the wheels to make everything fit.)

Soviet heavy metal

I have completed the PSC IS tanks, four of them with the IS-1 hull and 122mm gun, and one IS-2, most likely to be used as a command unit.

I used three shades of olive green plus a wash to get this weathered look, they are dark but not as dark as it seems on the photos. The five StuG IIIs are also assembled and ready to paint, but distractions arise... they will be finished later, though. 

Rata Rumble

Two pairs of I-16 fighters for the Eastern front, made of plasticard and balsa. They are about 1/144 scale to suit to the other planes we have. I built them using plans found online, probably not perfect but they're only there to be shot down by the aces of the Luftwaffe. The bases will be finished at some point, right now they can hold a d6 to indicate altitude in Bag the Hun and that's it.

More Zvezda 1/100 fighting vehicles

Parts of the latest mad money spending, eight Zvezda vehicles, 50/50 for the Germans and the Russians.

WW2 1/144 aircraft

Four Luftwaffe planes and a lonely Soviet Airacobra.

15mm ground targets, fences and ruins

The WW2 campaign is rolling on, and here's some neat stuff to bomb to pieces. First a cruiser/destroyer (depending on scale) and two 152mm howitzers.

Forged in Battle PaK 40 and PSC 45mm Soviet AT gun

The anti-tank capabilities for both the Soviets and Germans are finished. The FiB metal kits were a little bit stiff to put together (lots of trimming on the barrels). The primer also peeled off at some places, but I guess that's the paint's problem and not the models'. 

Used a sepia wash on the Soviet crew and a black glaze on the Germans for a quickshade.

The 45mm gun was a PSC single sprue bought on ebay. It was confusing because it was stated that the item is new, in original package. Now how can you get a single sprue without opening up the 5-gun pack, I have no idea. The price was still OK so no complaints.

More Soviet armor

Two more KV-1s finished for the Red storm. I figured converting T-34 turrets to resemble the KV-85 would be too much of a burden and as the KV-1's main gun is the same category in my house rules it matters little.

VMC Russian Green was used for the main parts on a black undercoat, then a black wash and highlights were added, followed by some rust sponge patches and pigment on the tracks.

With these I have 4 KV-1s and 2 KV-2s.

Baby's first Heavy Tank

After many months of playing the World of Tanks MMO I've finally laid my hands on the Soviet Tier 10 9 8 7 IS heavy tank. Being a weekend warrior it took a while but here it is in glorious green camo. She's named Svetlana.

The vehicle inherited its crew from the previous AFV, the KV-13, its 10cm main gun from the T34/85 (making it an IS-1 in effect, models 1 and 2 differed only in the main weapon). The 34/85 has been nerfed since and cannot be equipped with the 10cm gun.

I have managed to squeeze 6 posts' worth into a single weekend (besides shooting stuff with my airsoft gun). These will be distributed, 3 or 4 will be posted during the following week and the other half, hopefully with the new acquisitions, after Sunday. My weekdays will be busy as I need to finish a study about medieval executioners (perks of being a law student I guess?) so the posts are already prepared.

Painted Zvezda T-34 (+ more of the PzIV)

Finished the Zvezda Art of Tactic T-34 during the weekend and thought I'd include the Panzer IV too as the latest photos weren't the brightest. 

An easy way to paint it again, black undercoat, sea green with a bit of yellow added then two brighter green drybrushes and one drybrush with gunmetal around the edges, still not entirely content with the green. A clever 'Za Stalina!' lettering is added to the turret.

Zvezda 1/100 KV-1 - an experiment gone wrong

This KV-1 is from Zvezda's Art of Tactic range, one of the most cheap and most available ranges here. What's gone wrong with it is the paint and black wash: I'll never use black wash again that's sure. 

First problem was the too thick coat of the Revell enamel Olive Green: when I tried to thin it it didn't cover any of the area although there was already a layer of basecoat on the thing... Then I thought I solved the problem of the looks with the proper highlights both on the wheels and the hull - followed by this a black wash of water+acrylic... This was the terminal fault for the poor thing. Not only had the wash dried in places it shouldn't have to, not only had it dried in ugly patches but somehow it managed the coat of olive green below it to crumble - is it even possible? 

I tried to solve it with another wash of gun metal but it's still wrong in so many ways. Still has some sort of ragged look and maybe a bit of weathering pigment will help it through...

Finished IS-2

This is the end state, dipped&based.

The base bends a bit, it didn't on the previous ones... 

Dramatic discovery

While on patrol these two fellas found something behind this old house. 

An Italeri IS-2, finished a half a year after I bought it.

The color may be wrong so this is more of a 'dramatic' outcome than realistic. I tried to put on a lot of rust and mud for a used and abused look, still not sure if I got the right proportions!