Soviet Motorized Infantry in Afghanistan

I recently finished up more miniatures that had been sitting half complete in the paint queue for months now, this time some of Eureka Miniatures' Soviet Motorized Infantry. I had started in on the flesh and blocking in colors when these were delivered and set them aside, only to collect dust. I'm glad I picked them up again to finish because, like most of Eureka's works, the detail is super crisp and a joy to paint.

The most iconic part of the Soviet uniform in Afghanistan was the KZS jumpsuit, which was simply a light camouflage overall worn over the soldier's BDU. To go along with my Soviets in NBC suits (see below), I wanted the squad to have a bold colored KZS of olive green and desert sand. I used Vallejo Medium Olive and progressively highlighted it with Vallejo Light Olive, then I washed it with diluted GW Earthshade, then highlighted the high points of folds with a 50/50 mix of Light Olive and white, then did one more washed of diluted GW Earthshade. The "splotches" are done by blocking out each one with Reaper Faded Khaki and then painting the inside of each with Reaper Amber Gold, leaving a tiny rim of Khaki visible. This helps to blend camouflage patterns into the garment. I finished with yet another wash of GW Earthshade, but only in the recesses of folds to help blend in the splotches.

Flak vests, bags, and chest rigs are all Vallejo Russian Uniform, highlighted with white to help them appear faded from constant use, all once again washed with GW Earthshade (I'm really starting to love this wash...). Flesh here is my normal process - a base of Vallejo Medium Flesh, progressively highlighted with Vallejo Flat Flesh, and finally Basic Skintone, then washed with GW Fleshshade. Gunmetal is done in Vallejo Dark Grey, highlighted with a 50/50 mix of Dark Grey and Vallejo Grey Blue, and washed with P3 Armour Wash. As I shoot more in my personal life, I'm getting a better sense of what truly weathered, "blued" gunmetal looks like and I think this recipe is fairly close to reality. The wood furniture is Vallejo Brown Leather with some Brick Red mixed in and the iconic bakelite magazines are Vallejo Red Leather; both are washed with GW Fleshshade.

The bases are Territorial Biege, highlighted in Khaki, drybrushed in Vallejo Desert Sand, then washed with diluted layers of Secret Weapon Sewer Water. The bricks are simply washed in diluted Brick Red and a mix of arid-style grass is applied.

Special Weapons Section

Rifle Section

Additionally, I repainted some of my old Soviets in NBC gear from a few years ago to more closely match this squad. Repaints included some work on shading and washing the suits and masks in order to make them look dirtier, some minor repaints of the weapons (particularly the RPGs), and repainted the bases.

And here's a glamour shot of both squads together. Now all they need is a stateless, stealth operative to track down or a giant mecha to defend...