T44 Soviet Tank

This is the ancient Roco T-44.  It often was sold with the Roco T54 turret and T44 turret together.

 The standard hull is the post-WWII version.  Mostly the fenders and fuel tanks need to be modified.

So I dragged a few out of storage and using a razer saw buzzed down the fenders.

 Since during the Great Patriotic War the Soviet Union usually organized tanks in companies of ten, I got ten of them ready for modification.

 Evergreen plastic sheet and angle pieces cover the sawn away areas.  I used some JS-II parts from Paul Heiser Models to make the tank tracks and fuel tanks.

A brush bristle and a small resin tarp go on the turret as seemed typical for the wartime T44 tanks.  They had various mechanical problems that were never really solved although they were sent to training units in September 1944, they never served in combat and even postwar they were limited production.  Still, had the Soviets suffered reverses, fixed the problems or got an order from Stalin the could have been used in combat well before the end of the war.

Tanks of the Great Patriotic War

WWII Russian T-34/76 medium tank.

I added a radio antenna to make this a command vehicle.

Antenna is a brush bristle.

It fits perfectly into the Roco antenna mounts.

No fuel tanks on it, because they did not actually use them all the time and could be jettisoned.

T-34/76 with my modified version, a T-34/57 tank.

I made ten of the T-34/57 and have enough turrets to swap them out so they can return to T-34/76 tanks.

Nazi Guns

Hat Soviet gun captured by the Germans and put into German service.

In WWII the Germans were short of everything, except enemies.

So when the Nazis captured a few guns, they always put them back into service.

These HaT guns in 1/72nd scale are perfect for wargaming, they are sturdy and quick to assemble.

I mount them on a sheet of plastic so they are even sturdier, figures are separate.

Submarines and Commandos

Each of the tiny submarines came with a larger submarine.

I painted this one up as an old rust bucket.

My plan is to use the larger submarine as a minisubmarine for landing special operations troops.

Most nations that have full size submarines operation little ones too.

They only have to carry one or two troops.

Troops go ashore and sabotage buildings or stay in the harbor and blow up a ship at the dock.