Several Soviets - painting update 12
A few Bolt Action Soviet bits recently completed and in one place.
The BA10 armoured car is one of my favourite vehicles from an aesthetic point of view as it has plenty of nice open panels for some subtle modulation. I always thought it was called the BA 32 but apparently that was just a later version.
Seems it was used extensively early war successfully against Japan and less so against Finland, although the tracked version can be made from the Warlord kit. Something like 3,500 were made and against less handy opponents than the Germans would probably have been pretty useful on the open steppe. Cool fact is that the spare wheels were able to turn on their fixing - unpowered but adding to surface area should the vehicle be in really soft ground
Next up another Early War fave the T- 26. Literally gazillions of the T26 were made through lots of models from double turret to flamethrower and even this command tank 1938 version.
First combat I imagine was in the Spanish Civil War fighting for the Republic against the Fascists but staying in use right through 1941 despite huge losses soldiering on in parts of the front until T-34s replaced them. By 1945 over 1000 were still in stockpiles and used in a last hurrah against Japan where they were not hugely outclassed as on the Ostfront.
The Rubicon kit here has about 10 different variants you can build and an excellent set of decals allowing T26 from Madrid to China to be built as well as the Soviet versions.
Zis truck - to be honest I know nothing about this fellow except that it is impossible to fit the driver supplied and fit the roof. I cut off his feet to cram him in but short of cutting him in half below the waist it wasnt happening. I assume he is a standard Soviet driver figure from warlord and he just doesnt fit.
A cool model next, The Aerosan. I know little about these except they were very light reconnaissance vehicles designed to speed across the snow on skis powered by an enormous propeller at the back like a WW1 pusher type aircraft. Used in Winter obviously in the frozen spaces of the Russian front and in at least a few cases on frozen lakes. I cant imagine it was the most comfortable ride.
Now a step up from the Aerosan...An ISU 122. These beasts were arriving on the front lines from Spring 1944 as a sort of assault gun / tank destroyer combo and came about as the hull based on the KV series existed in numbers but the expected guns were not around. There was a surplus of 122mm artillery guns and with minor adjustments these were fitted to produce a closed top heavily armoured vehicle capable of both the assault gun and TD role.
The Warlord resin/metal kit falls together and has great detail. I'm not a fan of the super weathering you see quite alot so this ISU 122 has some chipping and streaking but not so much it looks like its been in service for 1000 years.
As a non player of Bolt Action I have no idea whether its competitive in the meta but I would play one just for cool to be honest. Also going to look great in a display case.
In any other post on Soviet armour that would be the beast and yet....
Last but by no means least a true beast - the JSIII. Developed from the JSII which was used in combat this fellow arrived just too late and was en route to Germany when the war ended. They were prominent in the Moscow military parade which followed as a less than subtle warning to the Western Allies. I'm guessing they didnt go to the far East as that would hardly be worth their while against Japanese tin cans. This is again Warlord and a fine resin kit with a commander that fits. I used Rubicon decals including the Guards Banner designation as they were issued firstly to Guards Tank Armies.
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