Red Square

Four years ago I began significant work on my National Capitals project.  My intention is to build Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, and Tokyo.  I am taking a Hollywood approach for most of them.  If you see a large city and the Eiffel Tower and Arch de Triumph are in the background, then you are in Paris.  None of the other buildings matter and so when the scene switches to the New York Street portion of the MGM backlot, since all the signs are in French and some men are wearing berets you still think you are in Paris.

In keeping with that plan I built Moscow represented by Red Square and Lenin's Tomb.  Most of it is paper stuck onto foamcore boards.  The Lenin's Tomb is mostly wood with some plastic.  It has a detailed interior.  My intention is to us this mostly for James Bond espionage games.  This set up is on one of my four side tables.  If more Moscow space is needed for a car chase or something, I can set up other more generic buildings on the main table.  Once the scene is set with this Red Square, then the other buildings just need a few Cyrillic alphabet signs and a poster of Stalin to continue the illusion.

The Saint Basil's Cathedral is a bird house with Christmas tree decorations for the domes.  My concept is that it does not have to be perfect, it has to be recognizable.

I printed out a computer generated Kremlin and GUM department stores that I found on line.  The posters are all from World War Two, or around that time.  Most feature Stalin, military vehicles or Red Square, or all three.

This tower is 3D cardboard with paper covering.  It creates a nice balcony for observers, security personnel, spies, or whatever.  The little trees are from Dollar Tree.  I also have the post WWII tombs on several famous Soviets behind Lenin's Tomb.  I started this project with the purchase of the bird house cathedral in about 1995.  I don't operate on a Five Year plan like the Soviet Union.
 

Soviet Cargo Truck

This World War Two truck from the Soviet Union is a Filament Fighters model after it has been assembled and painted.

It is 3D printed using filament.

The process can leave striations on some parts of the model but as you can see on this one they are hardly noticeable on most parts.

This was a standard Soviet truck in the early half of World War Two.

It carried a load of 2 1/2 tons.

It was a 4x6 truck and so had limited off road mobility.

Nice detail to the undercarriage.
 

Thank You Anton Ryzbak

Anton Ryzbak contacted me a while back and said he had some surplus Roco Minitanks.

He kindly offered to send them to me free of charge.

Free is one of my favorite types of Roco!

He sent me these very well painted and decalled Roco T-34/76 and 85 WWII Soviet tanks.

These are a great addition to my WWII Soviet collection.

These are complete and fully assembled.

Apart from a couple hatches which I can easily replace from the supply depot.

The full company on display.  Thank you Anton Ryzbak!
 

Parade Poster

The Soviet Union liked propaganda posters.  I got this one off the Internet someplace.

Notice how the men often look like Stalin?  Probably coincidence.

Print the poster and use either spray glue or a glue stick and past it to a bit of fiber board.

Or cardboard, or thin wood, or plastic, or cereal boxes, or foam core board.  I used a bit of foam core board as a prop to hold up the poster.  Add tanks and a few civilians and you have an instant parade.
 

T-36/76 Battalion in HO Scale

For about the last six years I have been pushing hard to upgrade the condition of my WWII Soviet Union collection in HO scale.

While I have painted my Soviets in various colors of olive drab this is the one I have been using recently.  Army Green by Rust-Oleum.

It seems a very "olive" olive drab color to me.

In real life military vehicle paints vary for many reasons.  Different batches, different colors, weathering and indifferent application.

These Roco T34/76 tanks are in near mint condition.

Three tanks in a platoon, ten in a company, and thirty in a battalion.

Here is the battalion in glorious Panzervision.

I resin cast both fuel drums and hatches to make sure everyone of them had the right bits.

Many of these are at least 30 to 40 years old.

I think my WWII Soviet collection is likely in the best overall condition of all my collections.
 

WWII Soviet Tanks in a German Town

T-34 tanks rumble through the destroyed shell of a German city in 1945.

Artillery is lined up in support.

Dead buildings look down on the invaders.

Tanks in the distance.

A small town but one that is destroyed.
 

WWII Soviet Tanks

Most of my collection is stored in underbed plastic storage boxes and is labeled with the contents.

These are Mir HO scale tanks, WWII Soviet Union.

T-34/76 and T-34/85 mostly.

Most are painted Rust-Oleum Army Green, but some are painted in a darker green.

I tend to paint them by companies and store them by battalions.

The boxes on the left of the photo are pontoons for a pontoon bridge that I converted from Imex Conestoga Wagons and sheet plastic.

Mir tanks were made in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.  I got them from people in Czechoslovakia who traded plastic model kits from Japan for them.

Simple durable models the company folded when the Soviet Union fell apart.

This is another box with JS-II heavy tanks, also in HO scale.
 

Soviet Parade of Armor

Endless streams of Soviet armor drive past the reviewing stand.

Row after row.

Specialized vehicles too.

This one a bridge launcher on the hull of a T-34 tank.

To allow armor to cross anti-tank ditches or small streams.

Easily transportable and able to keep up with the other tank forces.