Back in the heady days of 3rd edition Flames of War, I would have to say Soviets became my main army. The Eastern Front history has always fascinated me and I’ve always found the Soviet project a fascinating mixture of idealism blended with brutal oppression mired in a quagmire of Russo-centric chauvinism.

I decided to put my printer to work and kick off some Soviet armor for late WWII and beyond (I am very excited for the “early” era Cold War stuff coming from Battlefront in checkpoint charlie - that “does it for me” much more than the 80s stuff).

ISU-152

ISU-122

First up some models I actually printed years ago on my old 1st gen Elegoo mars but never got round to painting - Soviet heavy assault guns. There is something delightfully awkward about these things but they were certainly effective.

IS3

Next, I printed 10 IS-3s (5 pictured, 5 are in the finishing up stage). While this tank was really nothing special (despite all the anxiety it gave Western planners during the Berlin Victory Parade in 1945 it was quickly obsolete and was really just another WWII heavy tank) I quite like it. The pike nose is very distinctive. My prints also look better than the Battlefront plastic model (which is nicely detailed but IMO a bit too spindly in places)

Infantry

Infantry contd

I also picked up some infantry secondhand for WWII. These are BFs “new” soviets and eh…..they were “ok”. Not the best detail wise with a lot of the soft thermoplastic whatever models having bendy bits. Not terrible though and they look nice painted up. I have a ton of old metal models sitting in IPA to strip Soon(TM).

SU-100

Finally, some SU-100s. Probably the Soviet Union’s most effective tank hunter from the Great Patriotic War and saw a fair bit of service after too.

A word of mourning for my Elegoo Jupiter which after several faithful years of service and only a few major mechanical problems passed away yesterday after a massive resin tank leak directly onto the lamp. Elegoo no longer makes all the parts for the 1st gen Jupiter so its a wash (would cost too much to fix anyway - might as well upgrade to a current printer generation). I am currently looking at the Saturn 4 16k Ultra - smaller print bed but is apparently very low “touch” which with my schedule is a huge plus. I’ll do an unboxing on whatever I decide to replace it with here on the blog.

I was attempting to print some T-62s for Checkpoint Charlie but alas…that will have to wait a bit.