(WWII Month) 'Art Of Tactic' Soviet Recon Team

Having been busy working hard on the real world front I hadn't had much of a chance to spatter paint on anything but I decided that Saul and I would take a drive down the A37 to the Fleet Air Museum which was holding the "biggest model show in the south-west". With loads of traders I was anticipating getting some softskins for the Russkis and some decals, as well as some inspiration. Unfortunately we got half-way there before getting stuck in a horrendous traffic jam for over an hour at Shepton Mallet before we gave up and turned around. The day got worse as by the time we got back I was suffering with Manthrax and spent the rest of the day under the duvet trying to defeat it with Lemsip Max, before resorting to curry and brandy!!

Feeling much better today (after a long lie in) I cracked on with the first Soviet infantry platoon, AT team and sniper group. They're coming along ok, the Italeri figures are really nice and the semi-hard plastic takes superglue well. The Revell figures are more problematical and softer and I am concerned how well they'll take tabtetop handling which is a shame as some of the figures are really good. I intend to give them a good coat of gloss varnish after painting to help protect them (and maybe a PVA coat if necessary). Hopefully we'll have photos of these by the end of the week.

One thing all the packs lacked were troops in the one piece camo suits for a recon section. The Revell pack contained some but they also had skies and the soft plastic is not conducive to conversions (the sniper is a bit of a bodge). Fortunately browsing Blogs of War I spotted a posting on the World in 1/72 Scale that Zvezda are releasing a Soviet Reconnaissance Team for the Art Of Tactic game.

The models supporting the range are a mix of scales, soldiers and guns 1/72nd, tanks 1/100th and aircraft 1/144th. Whilst not mutually useful, they can be for various different projects and the Soviet Engineers look interesting as well. Might have to pop in Modelzone next time I have to visit the Big Smog...