Plastic Soldier Company T-55s - 1st pair finished

After beavering away this weekend I have managed to finish my T-55AMs and I'm really happy with the finished tanks. A final drybrushing and highlight using GW Karak Stone has really brought out all of the raised surfaces.

I have used some Volksarmee decals to denote the pair as East German tanks - after all, being in the Warsaw Pact means everyone working together, right?

These tanks were definitely worth the wait and the expense, they'll hopefully give my NATO and US forces something to worry about. So what's next in my Team Yankee pile of plastic? Well I do have another 4 T-55 models to put together. However, I have also liberated two S-model tanks from storage in Kent - a US Sheridan and a Soviet BMD-2, so decisions, decisions!

Team Yankee / Konflikt 47 inspired Tesla Troopers

Whilst awaiting the arrival of my T-55s I came across a 28mm scale tabletop wargame called Konflikt 47, set in an alternative reality where nuclear weapons have created 'rifts' across the world that are being used to prolong World War 2. In the narrative of the game the war has continued into 1947 and thanks to the rifts all nations have weird and wonderful Steampunk technologies, employing walking robotic tanks and downright creepy human / animal experimentation.

Inspired by this I set about creating a 1/72 scale representation of Tesla Troopers from the iconic computer game Command and Conquer: Red Alert. Despite the fact I have so many other projects to work on, this task was fully justified by the rule of cool.

I decided to use the Tesla Troopers from Red Alert 3 as a template for these figures. I found they looked very similar to Games Workshop Tau Stealth Suits, so I picked up a box of three suits and gave them a little customisation to reflect their computer game inspiration.

For the lightning / electricity effect I used various layers of Games Workshop acrylic blues, followed by white to form the lightning. This was then washed with an electric blue. Not perfect but as I don't use an airbrush the end result was better than I expected, especially when seen from a distance. I repurposed a spare German tank commander head for the Commissar / unit leader - the other helmets are simply blue tac shaped into balls and painted over.

Overall I really enjoyed creating my own Tesla Troopers. I am usually loathe to purchase Games Workshop miniatures but it was a chance to create something unique. Hopefully they'll be a shocking surprise when I create some wargaming rules for them.

"Tesla Troopers, fully charged!"

Plastic Soldier Company T-55s - 1st pair

At the end of February I received my two boxes of the new T-55s from the Plastic Soldier Company. Due to other commitments (alas real life gets in the way of models all the time) I haven't had chance to do a review to date so here's a preview.

I have assembled the first pair of T-55s as modernised T-55AMs - these have more gadgets and attachments to make them more effective on the modern battlefield. These additions include additional armoured 'cheeks' on the turret, a unique barrel for the main gun and distinctive side skirts. The models went together well but I had to use reference photos (cheers Google) to try to get most of the turret furniture as correct as possible. A particular challenge was the smoke grenade launcher on the right hand side.

Keeping with the remainder of my Soviet forces I am painting the tanks in Tamiya acrylic XF-73, a greyish green that I really like. I have recently inked the base coats in GW Athonian Camoshade (dark green ink) which has really helped to bring out the details on them.

In my OHW Team Yankee wargaming rules I will keep these particular tanks flexible, to be considered as main battle tanks or medium battle tanks as necessary. This saves me both space and short term expense buying other Soviet MBTs. The other four T-55s will be made up as older T-55As - that way they can be used as medium battle tanks in Team Yankee, but are also able to be employed in earlier wargaming periods, eg as NVA tanks in Vietnam.