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GHQ 1/285 Russian Orthodox Church and KV-2 Tanks

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!
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11 comments:

  1. The Angry LurkerOctober 24, 2011 at 1:43 AM

    As I already said on TMP...brilliant work.

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  2. FBMinisOctober 24, 2011 at 3:00 AM

    Having built 1/72 scale models during all my life, I'm getting interest in these 1/285 thingies by GHQ. The detail seems very good and they look great when painted well. Their SdKfz9 with trailer is on my wishlist. One of these days I'll contact Wargames Emporium.

    http://www.modellversium.de/galerie/6-militaer-ww2/9181-sdkfz-9-famo-.html

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  3. AnonymousOctober 24, 2011 at 5:08 AM

    Love your work Tanner
    can you please tell me what colors you use on the varies parts of the KV-2, its outstanding
    thanks JOhn Bond

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  4. WWIICentralOctober 24, 2011 at 6:56 PM

    Thanks for the comments guys.

    fbminis - one of the things that draws me to GHQ (beside the detail) is how much space they take up... next to nothing compared to 1/72.

    John - I used Vallejo Russian Green for the basecoat, highlights were done by adding a bit of white. The tracks are Vallejo Track Primer (dry brushed with Vallejo Gunmetal). The exhaust pipes are Vallejo Rust from the Panzer Aces line (Dark, Standard, and Yellow). Hope that helps.

    Tanner

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  5. AnonymousOctober 25, 2011 at 11:19 PM

    thanks Tanner
    thats great, just wondering what air brush would you recommend for 6mm scale
    thanks JOhn Bond

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  6. WWIICentralOctober 26, 2011 at 7:36 PM

    Well to be honest, there are a lot of good airbrushes out there. I used to recommend some of the more expensive ones (Custom Micron, etc.) but now the airbrush I most recommend is the Iwata Eclipse HP CS. It's the brush that I use the most and you can get it on Amazon for around $120 (I got mine on sale at Amazon for ~$90).

    It's reliable, easy to use, and high quality. Another great benefit for me is that I can get replacement needles at the local Hobby Lobby (a 40% off coupon makes spare parts cheap!)

    Hope that helps,
    Tanner

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  7. AnonymousOctober 29, 2011 at 1:51 AM

    thanks Tanner
    I am looking at the Iwata at the moment and just wanted to know how often would you need to replace the needle
    thanks JOhn Bond

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  8. WWIICentralOctober 30, 2011 at 1:08 AM

    Hi John, you shouldn't need to replace it very often under normal use. Most of the time the needle needs replacing as a result of a bent tip (careless handling), but since the Eclipse HP CS has a .35mm needle it's a bit more sturdy and hard to bend.

    Some of the ulta fine airbrush needles out there (Custom Micron, H&S Infinity, etc.) that have a .20mm or smaller needle are very easy to bend and you're likely to end up replacing them much more often.

    Hope that helps,
    Tanner

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  9. AnonymousOctober 30, 2011 at 5:21 AM

    thanks Tanner
    for the handy info
    JOhn Bond

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  10. AnonymousMarch 25, 2012 at 9:59 AM

    About color photos of Russia - you should google Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, who in 1910 made ~2000 early color photos of different parts of Russia. Many of them have been restored and are available online for free (for example here http://www.thespektator.co.uk/spg2.html). I know this is 30 years before the war, but the countryside architecture didn't change that much, and the colouring is much more "vintage" than any modern photos.

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  11. WWIICentralMarch 25, 2012 at 4:18 PM

    Nice! Great recommendation... I just found a used copy on Amazon (I like having the book in hand) for just a few bucks.

    thanks,
    Tanner

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