From MikeP - 15mm WWII Soviet Infantry (152 Points)

My third entry is a large batch of 15mm Soviet WW2 infantry.  Nothing really special here, just a small but vital Russian horde.  Most of these figures are Plastic Soldier Company, from their Russians in Summer Uniform box.  Mixed in with them are some Peter Pig figures (which don't count as I started them before the Challenge) and some figures from Battlefront.  I've been waiting until I had enough done to base them all.  All the bases are FOW-sized bases by 4Ground.  I like the green shade of them, and so have only added minimal flocking.

Also in this batch is one sprue's worth of the figures from the PSC Russian Infantry Heavy Weapons box.  A sprue provides a light, medium and heavy (81mm I think) mortar, a Maxim machine gun, and two 14.5mm anti-tank rifles, one deployed, one moving.  There is a No 2 for the deployed ATR, and I found a No. 2 for the moving ATR from the PSC infantry in summer dress set.

Some of the Battlefront figures.  I mostly kept them on their own stands since they are a little larger than the Peter Pig and PSC figures, though not fatally so.

And some of the Peter Pig figures (the riflemen on either end) advancing with a PSC LMG team and an intrepid frontline nurse.  The PSC infantry box gives one enough nurses to equip a small MASH.

Half of the SMG section.  Useful chaps to have when holding a village.

To paint these fellows, I used my airbrush to prime them all in Vallejo German Armour Yellow surface primer, which becomes the colour for the tunics.  The trousers are VJ Russian uniform, the helmets are VJ Russian green, and the rest is pretty simple.   When finished the whole figure is treated to Army Painter Strong Tone, and then given a shot of Dullcote once dry.  I'm not entirely happy with the Army Painter dip, I think it darkens the figures a bit too much.

As I said, nothing special about these fellows, except that they were in battle last Saturday, and didn't do too badly.  Here are some of my lads charging heroically to drive the fascists out of the village of Turnipograd (aka The Turnip Capital of South West Belorossiya).  Many heroes of the USSR fell in that charge.

My friend James, (half of J&M Miniatures and one of the sponsors of this Challenge), has an AAR of the battle of Turnipograd on his blog, where you can also see yours truly, appropriately dressed to lead the Red Army into battle.

Not counting the figures painted prior to the Challenge, I have 76 15mm foot figures here, for 152 points.  I don't think the mortars, ATRs or Maxim are big enough to count as crew served weapons.

From Curt:Wow, that is a nice body of work Mike (and great T-Shirt worn for the game I must say). It's very refreshing to see non-Battlefront bases being used for a change. As for 'The Dip' I'd suggest going over the figure with the original colour to help lift and soften the shading effect. Otherwise, as you say, the dip often darkens the figure too much. 

Again, great work!