Tag: YouTube

Chris’s T-64 Video Assembly Guide

Until the release of the T-80 the T-64 was the baddest boy on the block for the Soviets, but whilst the T-80 is newer, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is better, at least that is what the team at the Kharkiv transport machine-building factory No. 75 would have said when they were developing it!

Join Chris as he shows how easy the T-64 is to build.

Czechoslovakian’ing Out The Soviets

With Chris Townley

As you may, or may not know, I have built quite a large WWIII Czechoslovakian army dominated with T-55’s, T-72’s and infantry (in OT-64s). It is a heck of a lot of fun to play but, if I am being blunt, has a literal table full of models which can make for some hard work on the gaming front. You can find some pictures from the previous Panzerschreck and ValleyCon where I took this army along for a weekend of gaming over on the Big Four Of Late War site here…

With the release of the WWIII: Soviet book I thought it might be interesting to take (some) of the models that I have and put together a couple of lists that I can use when I am wanting a faster game. Clearly these are some more motivated, better trained, and in some cases better equipped Czechoslovakian forces – perhaps a demonstration battalion or Presidential Guard…

First up is my T-55 Battalion. This lets me keep running the horde of tanks (and with some slight upgrades from the T-55AM2 going to the T-55AM (check out John’s article about this great tank here… )

I am not sure that running this force will save me ‘much’ time when playing games but at least I can be less worried about taking those Morale and Rally checks when I come under fire. I wanted to play around with the idea of adding missiles to my T-55AM’s but I couldn’t bring myself to remove any of the units to find the points!

My second option is really just a variant on the theme with the T-72’s taking the lead. I’m not convinced that platoons of three is a good idea but right now I only have 10 painted and whilst I intend on adding another six (to increase the platoons up to five each) I am stuck with what I have. Additionally, I run in to the same issue with the T-55AM’s that I would need to find those points. First World problems eh….

Looking at the force though I have managed to pack in all my (okay, almost all of my) favourite toys with the Hinds and SU-25’s in there for some serious heavy lifting whilst the infantry (upgraded with next-gen RPGs) should be a headache for someone.

Both lists look a lot of fun to run and whilst I don’t have the new shiny T-80 or BMP-3 I still have a well-rounded force. This also gives me an excuse to build a specific ‘ultra-modern’ Soviet T-80 army at a later date that can be used to help stiffen up their Czechoslovakian allies!

~Chris

What Is Soviet Green?

With Chris and Evan

Soviet Green, for modellers at least, has been one of the hardest colours to quite pin down as to what it is. For Flames Of War gamers it is a bit like trying to determine what is the correct for German Dunklegelb.

Factors such as the specific time period, where the tank was built, whether or not it had been repainted in the field, and the amount of sun, rain and general use it had seen all had an effect on the final colour. Not to mention the human element involved in mixing the paint, to the same chemical formula but not quite the same ratios for each batch, and you end up with some significant variations.

These pictures are a great example of how different the Russian Green can be once time (and weather) has taken its toll.

So with all that in mind what is the correct green? We’ve suggested Vallejo Olive Drab (887) with a drybush of Green Brown (879) as an easy way of replicating this colour.

Personally I’ve used a mixture of colours over the years and, in my opinion, you should feel free to do whatever you think looks good. Just check out this photo that Victor found…

~Chris

Evan’s Take On Painting Russian Armour

I’ve already got a significant Soviet force for WWIII Team Yankee and the vast majority is plain green in colour. I’ve painted some scout BMPs with a basic sand camouflage pattern just to make them different from the infantry BMPs on the table but, until now, I’ve relied on rubber skirts, lights and some serious dusty weathering to brighten them up.

I like to start with a base primer coat of Vallejo Soviet Green primer and then go from there with some panel modulation and the rest of my painting system. I use this to keep my armour coherent on the tabletop but as we all know there is no real Russian/Soviet green that you must use to be accurate.

When the T-80 and BMP-3 arrived in the game I thought I would depart my tried and true plain green and go for a camouflage scheme to reflect the more modern AFVs in the game. I kept the Vallejo Russian green primer base but shifted to a more Olive Drab leaning green as a modulation colour to go with the sand and black camouflage pattern. The camouflage also extends down over the rubber skirts as well which is another first for my Russians.

I like to paint my armour with the tracks off if at all possible and you can do this with the T-80.  After I’ve glued on the skirts I check fit the tracks to make sure they will fit later, to do this you need to insert the rear of the tracks at 90 degrees to the hull and then rotate upwards so the rear mudguard goes over the un-ditching log on the rear. Removing them is the opposite and the tracks will still be free to paint by themselves.

~Evan