T-34's Ready For Action...

 

PSC T-34 with 76mm turret

The first "easy assembly" kits I ever built were Armourfast T-34's.  I thought they were pretty nice at the time, but these Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 T-34's blow them away.  Furthermore, when I bought the old Armourfast kits(which aren't nearly as detailed), I had to buy different boxes for the T-34/76 and T-34/85 tanks...even though they provided identical chassis(just a different turret sprues).   PSC has been considerate enough to include both variant turrets in a single box!

PSC T-34 with 85mm turret

All of the PSC kits that I have built so far are well-designed but these were some of the easiest to assemble(especially as the tracks are one piece).  I didn't modify the kits at all except for a few stowage pieces from my bits box(German jerry cans from the Panzer IV kit, a twig, other random bits).  I am especially pleased with the look of the twig, used to model a traction/mud log, because I attached it...primed it...painted it...and it ended up looking exactly like the original wood piece did!

As far as painting, as with my previous Soviet armor, I went with a little bit of a lighter green rather than the darker hue that true Soviet armor would have sported.  I actually used the recipe from the Battlegroup Kursk rulebook tutorial(with exception of using  Dark Green Vallejo Primer).  I basecoated with Russian Green and then highlighted with Interior Green(both Vallejo Model Air).  The hit the raised outlines of the tank with some Hemp(Vallejo Model Air) that I drybrushed and line in.

After that I gave the whole thing a glosscoat of Vallejo Gloss Medium airbrushed on.  I followed this with a oil wash use Winsor & Newton Umber oil paint from a tube mixed with Turpenoid.  Next time I will use Mineral Spirits because the Turpenoid was extremely glossy and slow to dry. In fact, it took me several coats of Testor's Dullcoat to knock down the shine after it dried.  Before the wash I hand-painted all the slogans.  There are some nice decals for this...but I prefer to hand do them because I like the haphazard look of unevenly scribed mottos that the soldiers themselves would have painted on.

As a finishing touch I added some mud pigments to the wheels and lower hull of the tank(front and back).

Having not painted armor for many years there are many techniques I am re-learning and new ones that I am catching up with.  I am sure that with more practice I will refine these skills.

Finally, here is a shot of my next trio of Plastic Soldier Company tanks that is (clearly) a work in progress...I have merely begun work on these tanks and have a lot of work to do yet...

Well, that's it for now...thanks for viewing everyone!

Happy wargaming everybody...
~Gareson

T70's Light Tanks and Refurbushed Soviet Armor...

I finally finished painting up these Soviet T-70 light tanks from Plastic Solider Company.  I love these two man little AFV's and they are a nice addition to the usual T-34 and KV mediums you uusally see on the battlefield...
(click on any photos for larger images).

 

I roughly used the colors suggested by the Battlegroup Kursk rulebook in their T-34 painting tutorial section(with the exception of starting with Vallejo's Dark Green Primer over Black). I know Soviet armor would have been a bit of darker green but I like the look of the lighter hue on 1/72 scale tanks in terms of bringing out the details of the models.   From primer to highlights here is what I used(applied via airbrush)...

Primer: Vallejo Dark Green Primer
Basecoat: Vallejo Russian Green Model Air
1st Highlight: Vallejo Interior Green Model Air
2nd Highlight: Vallejo Interior Green Model Air + White Model Air
3rd Highlight: Vallejo Hemp Model Air(applied via detail brush to seems/details)
After applying the basic greens I applied a generous glosscoat of Vallejo gloss to the models.  In reptospect, I applied too many coats of this because I lost some of the detail on the rivets when I went to pinwash.  After glossing, I gave the tanks a wash of Vallejo Umber Wash and pin-washed with Reaper Brown Liner.  I really want to experiment with oil paints for washes as often suggested online but I am not brave enough yet as I have worked only with acryllics. 
After matte-coating the models(again Vallejo) I applied some sublte mud/exhaust effects with the Tamiya weathering kit.  I also went back and painted up the headlight and gave it a glosscoat. 

I also refurbished some very old models that have seen heavy abuse on the wargaming table over the years.  Both had some broken bits and lousy paintjobs but I believe I have them ready for the gaming table again.  First, my Pegasus Hobbies(I think) Su-152.  The slogan on the side(in Russian) reads "revenge".

and my old BA-10(pretty sure it was UM Models)..  The BA-10 is missing a headlight and I had to borrow a spare wheel off the side for road use, but...you know, "battle damage".

Here are the three together.  Note how the heavy SU-152 dwarfs its lighter comrades...

As far as the future, I have some T-34's in the works as well as some Panzer III's. 
Happy wargaming everbody, and thanks for viewing...
~Gareson

Urray!!! Four more Soviets to the salient...

Well we've reached the end of my week of vacation and although I didn't paint as many miniatures as I'd hoped to(naturally), I did get quite a few terrain projects done. 

First off, here are four more Plastic Soldier Company miniatures ready for the gaming table...
(click on any pictures for larger images)

Above you have a Maxim HMG crew, a rifelman and an PPSh SMG gunner.  Of the four, this guy has to be my favorite(probably the best figure in the set actually).  Got to love the sculpted yell..."Urray!!!!!!!!"....

Another shot...

All in all, it was fairly successful vacation hobby-wise and I look forward to sharing my new stuff with my club at school.  Here is a roll call of what I finished over the February break...
-8 PSC 20mm Soviets painted
-8 PSC 20mm Gerrmans painted
-9 Double-Sided Terrain Tiles Completed to make a new gaming board
-3 large hills made for above
-two pine forest terrain pieces made for above
-Orthodox Church terrain piece made
-4x stone wall sections made
-4x rough stone wall sections made
-6x hedges made
-6x wooden fence sections made
-4x bushes terrain sections made
-2x Pegasus hobbies Russian houses made(need custom roofs still, though)

Additionally, my wife built me five tanks that I will be painting in the future with my new airbrush(yay!).  She has been cranking out these Plastic Soldier Company beauties for me at such a nice pace that I have dubbed her my German tank factory("Sarahwerks").  Here they are(unpainted) with more on the way...

My first five PSC tanks...can you identify them?

Vacation may be over but I have many "works in progress" that will be hitting the table in the near future. 

Thanks for viewing,
Happy Wargaming Everybody,
~Gareson

A Few Germans and Soviet ATR Team...

Here are some Plastic Soldier Company Germans that I painted up....great figures with wonderfully casted details and clean lines....

 

And a Soviet Anti-Tank Rifle Team(Plastic Soldier Company)....