Zvezda WW1 Russian Infantry

Okay, I admit these are great figures.  Normally I don't like assembling figures. I say to myself, "If I want a kit, I'll buy a kit." In this case, the arms still have gaps no matter how much I cut the peg down. And they are difficult to paint—painting each piece, being careful not to swamp the parts with paint. But enough complaining. These are beautifully sculpted, well proportioned, researched, etc. But what I really like—the look like what I think WW1 Russian soldier should look like. The running poses are perfect, the officer with binoculars has an air of Tsar Nicolas, the marching soldiers look like contemporary photographs. I've waxed romantic several times over Zvezda figures, but these are deserving.

A few other points—this is the first tree and cow I've painted. The tree is a twig spraypainted white and striped with gray/black to create a poplar. I like the way it looks, poplars seem Russian to me. Maybe its because there was a grove in Bondrachuk's "War and Peace."

The cow is an example of how this hobby makes you research crazy. I didn't know what species of cattle would be found in Prussia/Silesia. I'm aware of the black/white jerseys common in the US but wasn't sure. I googled and found the most common European cow is the Dutch Red Pied. With this hobby you find yourself researching regiment facings, insignia, cows, soil colors, tree species, and color of tile roofs. I guess that's what makes us nerds. Huzzah!

Emhar World War 1 British

Poor commander's a goner poking his head up like that.

Note the HaT Australian in the tin hat. He's making his second appearance.

I made one wire holder for the barbed wire—just in front of the Australian. It was a fiddly affair attempting the pigtail curl with two pliers. One's enough!

Two shots of basically the same view. Note another HaT Australian in the center.

Some of the figures — officer with map and gunner with the Vickers were painted years ago. I hadn't upgraded them yet and hence the lack of a good view of the Vickers. I spent more time putting together the base—vowed I wouldn't spend time on the display, just the figures, but WW1 figures demand a trench and I wouldn't allow myself to do a slapdash job on the trench. Of course, I still need to make duckboards and have a few Airfix figures I want to sprinkle in for good effect. 

Between this and the Falklands post, I'm spending more time on the base. I still have WW1 French and Germans to go. Looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of time making trenches!

HaT US WW1 Artillery

These are some test sprues I received from HäT. Initially I was not a fan of this sculpting style. I was very disappointed when the first images of HäT's World War One troops with this new style--German Heavy Weapons, US Infantry, Canadian Infantry. I have yet to purchase these figures. Plastic Soldier Review gave them low scoring marks as do I.

That said, I've seen some good paint jobs of these soldiers on HäT's Everything Toy Solider forum, most notably by Thomas Willers and Sander Van Straeten.

I thought I'd give these a go and I am pleasantly surprised. The main shift was that these figures are toys. Once I got my head around that (toys like the old Lineol and Elastolin) then I was okay with them.

Note: The house is the classic Airfix Command Post. The wagon is from IMEX's Civil War munitions/ambulance kit. The gun emplacement is pink insulation foam on an old CD. The sandbags are made from some Crayola craft putty I got at Wal-Mart.