Four Soviet light tanks

I've had these four tanks for years, probably since 2021 or 2022, so I thought it was about time I did something with them.

These are a pair of T-26 light tanks, originally introduced in 1931 and staying in service in various variants until the end of WW2. These are (I think) the T-26 Model 1933 with a 45mm main gun and a co-axial 7.62mm machine gun. This was the most common variant produced and one of the mainstays of Soviet armoured units in 1939-41, by which time it was obsolete and outclassed by Germany's Pz.Kpfw III and IV tanks and was being replaced by the far better T-34 tank with a 76mm main gun. Some did stay in use for most of the war on some fronts and even featured against Japan in 1945.

Below are two T-60 scout tanks, which began production in 1941. Originally armed with a 20mm cannon, it was later upgunned with the 45mm gun used by the T-26 above.
 

The T-60 was too thinly armoured to be used in a front line role but was used by reconnaissance units until it was replaced by the improved T-70 light tank.

These are all Zvezda kits,  which are now quite hard to find because of sanctions against Russia. I bought mine at my club's tabletop sale from private sellers, so none of my cash went back to Russia.

Anyway, I'll be able to use these for CoC games set during Barbarossa and later.

Finally got the camera and lightbox out.....

 ....so that I could photograph some completed things. Here are some tanks. First a really silly Soviet monster;

The T-35 couldn't be called a success in any meaningful way, but it has a certain WTF? quality about it. This is a 15mm Zvezda kit and I'm not sure how or when I might get it onto the table, except maybe as a broken down vehicle that could be an objective. I think I've painted it up a bit pale, the green really ought to be darker, but my excuse is that the factory that produced it only had a lighter batch of green paint available.

Now, three more sensible German AFVs;

From left to right there are: the Czech CKD LT vz. 38 which, as the Pz 38(t)  was a useful (and much needed) addition to the early war Panzer forces, the workhorse Pz Kfw III Ausf. G with the 5cm Kwk 38 L/42 and the Sd Kfz 222 with the 2cm KwK 30 autocannon.  These are also Zvezda kits and will work nicely for the invasion of the Low Countries and the Battle of France and also for Barbarossa.

A break from the 17th century; more 15mm Soviet armour from Zvezda

I've been feeling the need to paint something different, so here are four WW2 Soviet AFVs.

So, above are two T-34/76 tanks. I already have one of these but I need two more for a game that is being arranged for some point in the future. The gun on the left-hand tank looks a bit droopy, but I've straightened it up a bit. To be honest, it looks OK in real life, so maybe it is an optical illusion? 

Next, something I bought in case I get around to playing some Barbarossa period games, a BT-5.

Generally outclassed by German tanks and anti-tank guns, the BT-5 was very common in the early war period, and remained in production until sometime around the end of 1941. Equipped with a 45mm M32 20K gun, it was able to penetrate the armour of the PzKPFW III Ausf. D, E, F, and G variants at a range of up to 1000m, although it was more effective at shorter ranges. It was at a huge disadvantage defensively because it was only lightly armoured and could even be vulnerable to the German PzKpfw II's 2cm KwK 30 cannon at relatively short ranges. During 1941, the BT-5 and the BT-7 were gradually replaced by the vastly superior T-34/76.

Finally, here is the SU-85, a tank destroyer designed in 1943 to use the chassis of the T-34 but armed with an 85 mm D-5T gun to provide better armour-piercing capabilities against the German Tiger and Panther tanks. Originally intended for use in the T-34/85 tank, the D-5T was replaced as the T-34/85's main gun by the ZiS-S-53 in early 1944 until the end of the war. Production of the SU-85 was ended in mid-1944 as the T-34/85 became more widely available. Around 2500 SU-85s were produced.

I like these simple Zvezda kits because you can buy them singly, they have very few parts and you can get them made, undercoated and painted pretty quickly. Without a great deal of effort, you can turn out decent-looking tanks that easily pass the 1 metre away visual test.

My two final Soviet tanks

.... well, final for now. There may (i.e will) be more later on.

 These two are also Zvezda 1/100 scale models. On the right is the later T-34/85, which entered service in 1944. The version here is the M1944 model with the ZiS-S-53 85mm gun. 

Around 84,000 T-34 tanks were built during WW2, with 49,000 being armed with the 85mm gun.

The other, larger tank on the left is the IS-2 with the powerful D25-T 122mm. Derived from the earlier KV series tanks, nearly 4,000 of these monsters were built during WW2. The D25-T gun was adapted from the 122mm A-19 M1931/37 and its AP munitions could penetrate the frontal armour of a Panther at 2,500m range and could knock out a Tiger I at around 1,000m. Demonstrating its origins as a heavy artillery piece, the HE shells fired by the D25-T were devastating against infantry and could also knock enemy tanks out because of the massive explosive force generated. 

I've chosen to paint these two tanks in a battlefield condition, with plenty of mud. I've also given them the white aircraft recognition stripes on the turrets, again looking a bit irregular and hand-painted as with the one I did on my earlier T-34/76. Looking at various photos of Soviet tanks in action, these stripes always look a bit scrappy and temporary.

A couple more Soviet tanks

 These are also Zvezda 1/100 scale kits. The tanks are both KV-1 heavy tanks from the early war period.

Yes, they look pretty much identical but they are actually different.

The tank on the right is the earliest production model, the KV-1 M1939, equipped with the L-11 76.2mm tank gun, which was also fitted to the earliest model of the T-34. This version was prone to mechanical problems and only 141 were built.

The left hand version is the KV-1 M1940 with the F-32 76.2mm which was also used on early T34 models. Later models of both tanks were given the F-34 76.2mm ZiS-5 gun, which had a superior performance to both earlier guns.

The only visual difference here is the shape of the gun mantlet.

When painting these, I chose not to paint any markings on the tanks, which was quite common on real-life Soviet tanks. I also chose to make them look quite muddy. I like my tanks to look used and battle-worn rather than suitable for victory parades in Red Square.

I am thinking that these will be useful support options for Barbarossa-period games.

I've also been working on some more later tanks, which I'll post separately.

Most of my time has been taken up with buildings, though; cheap 15mm MDF ones that I bought on ebay and have been zhooshing up so they look presentable on the gaming table. I'll do a post about them separately, too.

My Soviets have a tank!

A T-34/76 to be precise.

The paintwork could be a lot neater on the turret above, but perhaps the painting on the actual vehicles was pretty slapdash?

The model is a 1/100 scale (i.e. 15mm) Zvezda one, and I bought it ages ago from the shop at the Bovington tank museum. I had assembled it and put it away in a drawer for safekeeping and pretty much forgot all about it. I was only because of a comment on a previous post that I remembered it, so I found it, gave it an undercoat and finished it off late yesterday afternoon. I varnished it with Humbrol Matt Spray this morning and I think it has come out OK.

It is a nice simple kit and has enough detail for a wargames table. My only criticism is the absence of external fuel tanks.

I undercoated it in PSC Russian uniform and gave it a bit of a dry-brushing in Vallejo Brown Violet, followed by another dry-brush with German Camouflage Beige to bring out the angles and curves. I did the tracks with Vallejo Panzer Aces track primer and then touched up the edges of the tracks with Oiled Steel while the primer was still wet. Then I did the stars and white stripe on the turret and did the steel cables with oiled steel mixed with track primer. There is also a small amount of rust effect paint around the exhausts and on the cables.

Then the whole vehicle got a dry-brushing with Vallejo Tan Earth, followed by a wash of Citadel Nuln Oil.

I am so pleased with this that I've ordered a couple more Zvezda tanks online; a T-34/85 and a KV-1.