The Eastern Front has always been my preferred area of World War II study... the grand battles of encirclement, the vast peasant steppes, the rubble strewn cities, and the total and complete defeat of the Nazis. The Eastern Front of World War II was a vivid and brutal battleground of epic proportions.
I've been experimenting with undercoats, ground covering, trees, etc. for probably 2 years trying to recreate a good general representation of the Ostfront landscape in miniature... to my disappointment much of it hasn't looked quite right (if anyone has a good suggestion on a COLOR photo book of this area of the world, I am all ears!). At any rate, I've decided to focus for now on the buildings and vehicles of the time and perhaps the terrain will fall into place.
Here are a few photos of some Russian/Ukrainian buildings that I just finished and wanted to share. I know the onion domes on the Orthodox church are a bit bright, but I actually followed a color photo and I think it turned out pretty close!
A tack and coin added for scale reference... these guys are tiny! I love the detail! If you've looked at some of my other photos, chances are you've seen a few KV-2's in other scales. The KV-2 is such a cool chunky-looking tank; even though it made little impact and broke down more often than not.
Here is a mix of GHQ and CinC buildings (mostly GHQ). The thatched roof on the large log cabin is very nicely cast... it's a shame that GHQ didn't do a better job on the roof's of the other Russian buildings. Hopefully with some nice dirt roads and some extra details, I'll get this looking like a nice Russian village.
A closeup of the KV-2; it's hard to see but this actually has a Soviet slogan on the side of the turret ("For Stalin!" or "For Motherland!"... can't remember which). The graffiti is dwarfed by the massive size of the turret, it might look better on a T-34. These decals came out of a new I-94 Enterprises 6mm Soviet decal set. The center of the panels and turret were highlighted/faded with my airbrush.
It's been awhile since I've painted and posted anything, I hope you enjoyed the update!