Zvezda Soviet Armor

In preparation for painting my "All Quiet on the Martian Front" steam tanks, I pulled a stack of Zvezda 15mm soviet armor from my lead pile to practice on. Assembling  the tanks was a piece of cake (the trucks were a bit trickier) but it was the painting and weathering that I really struggled with.

Zvezda trucks. I'm planning on using these as "flivver" proxies for "All Quiet on the Martian Front"

I started the soviet tanks using colors from the Allied Valejo paints, but they turned out far too light. A new airbrush and set of Mig soviet paint sets laters and their shade was closer to what I imagined for soviet tanks.

Zvezda KV-1

I was quite happy with the the Mig wash for initial weathering, but the pigments took a lot of experimentation. These vehicles came out a touch muddier than I hoped, but I can live with it.

Soviet T-34 by Zvezda

I also excitedly added a number of patriotic slogans with a white ink gel pen, but after getting some input from The Wargames Website I learned that my assumption that the tank crews added the slogans themselves was incorrect. It sounds like they were added at the factory after political officer approval, and all tanks from the a unit shared the same slogan. Each of my tanks sports a unique slogan. Oops!

Even with my bumbling efforts these were fun to put together and paint up. Looking forward to expanding my Russians and perfecting my technique and getting started on my Martian hunting steam tanks.

I painted some panzers

In preparation for tackling the steam tanks from the All Quiet on the Martian Front starter set I picked up at Historicon, I decided to get some practice on half a dozen Zvezda tanks from my lead pile. Only problem? I've only painted one or two tanks ever, and that was a decade ago.

Zvezda Panzer II

I can whip out a dozen Romans with one eye cocked at the TV, but working through these tanks has proved quite a challenge. During every step of the process I've had to read up on tutorials, check YouTube videos, and experiment with various paints, pigments, and powders. My initial stab at several soviet tanks ran into trouble, so I switched to a pair of Zvezda Panzer II kits with more success.

Building them was a breeze, and they received a coat of black primer, followed by some Plastic Soldier Company panzer gray. I experimented with modulation highlights using a new Iwata airbrush and some of the gray colors from the Vallejo Allied Model Air set.

I picked out details and crevices with a thinned wash of black ink and applied some decals from I-94 (I was too timid to try and apply turret numerals, as there didn't appear to be enough room). I used dark brown/black paint applied with a sponge to simulate chipped paint (I may have gone a bit overboard), and then dusted the tanks with Mig pigments.

It took quite a while, with a lot of trial and error along the way, but I certainly feel I've got a better handle on armor modeling. And look at these tiny Zvezda panzers, they're just adorable.

SAGA Rematch!

I couldn't let the shame of Earl Pusskin's defeat stand, so once more my Normans took the field reclaim their honor against my wife's Viking warband. All the bloody details and pics after the jump.