After the last two groups of miniatures I painted I decided I needed a break from camouflage painting so I chose to work on this group. Somehow some camouflage sneaked in there. :) I'm not entirely sure what the unit is, but some favorite pictures of mine show some supporting units, Russian, that operated during the Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis (January, 1996). They wore some different clothing I thought would be fun to paint. Most in the few photos I have show the group wearing an obscure Russian helmet known as a BSH-1, its similar enough to the Maska helmet RH Models makes so I went with that one.

RH Models RUS26 with head swap; RUS21* with head swap; RUS26H

I "made" the above navy blue winter coats by carving the bicep pockets off these guys, sculpting a big collar and adding a jacket extension. The white/snow pants don't have pockets so I carved those off too.

RH Models RUS20H; RUS26H; RUS20H with weapon swap

Two of these guys have a navy blue coats like the figures above. The other has an VSR camouflage Afghanka coat (the prototypical Russian outerwear of both Chechen wars). I converted this with a sculpted big fur collar and a jacket extension. I also did a weapon swap for the third figure - originally he had an AK74, but I chopped this off along with his hand and then glued an AKSU in its place and sculpted a new hand.

RH Models RUS20AK74O with head swap; RUS20H with weapon swap

I didn't do much to the first guy besides a head swap. For the second guy I swapped an AK74 for an AKSU like above (kept the old AK butt, chopped the hand and sculpted a new one). The first guy is my first attempt at Spring SMK camouflage (see below). The colors for these scheme can vary quite a bit. My favorite is the more green variety, but for this one Vallejo Canvas/Off-White, Canvas and German Gray with Off-White accents seems to work pretty well.
Russian special unit outside Pervomayskoye. (January 17th, 1996)
Russian Interior Ministry forces during the Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis (January, 1996)
Spring SMK Camouflage

Engineers and What Not

Just before vacation I finished a mixed batch of miniatures - it took me a while to gloss coat, matte coat and photograph them.

RH Models RUSENGH with head swaps and green stuff wires

To make these figures look a bit more like pictures I've seen of Russian engineers in Chechnya I swapped their helmet heads for these heads with earphones. I also sculpted on some headphone wires with green stuff - sure is tough to get those wires so thin. I'm not sure what the name of the metal detector on the left is called, but I found some pictures of it online in more modern use. The right metal detector is an IMP.

RH Models RUSGUNH with head swap; Elhiem Figures PL21

RH Models RUSGUNH with head swap; Elhiem Figures PL21

A post on The Guild pointed me to these great little German Shepards by Elhiem Figures. They are the first miniature animals I've ever painted. It was fun trying to get the fur colors just right, especially the blending. In the end I'm very pleased with the evening I spent on them. RH Models gunners make good stand-ins for all sorts of military personnel. If possible I wish all of his lines had similar figures - no weapons, little kit, standing around, etc. These figures originally had helmets on them, but I swapped on knit hats to make them fit my period a bit better. I suppose all four of these engineers would also look great with Panama hats for the Soviet-Afghan war.

RH Models RUSAK* with head swap

To beef up my winter Moldovan forces I painted up these two. I've got a big bag of bodies like these so it was a good chance to use two - such figures look great with bare heads, I think. They are done in the KLMK-like Spetsodezhda camouflage scheme.

RH Models USA18 with headswap; RUSGUNH with headswap and green stuff cap and beard

These two figures are meant to portray Aslan Maskhadov (1951-2005) the former Soviet artillery general who led the Chechen military effort of the first Chechen War, was elected president between the wars and was assassinated late in the second Chechen War. One picture, below, I've found of him from 1996 shows him wearing a PASGT flak jacket and a traditional Chechen hat. I couldn't resist making the unlikely union of an RH Models 1990s's US figure with a Cossack head. The other figure, a later portrayal of Maskhadov, is a Russian gunner, a swapped on bald head and a green stuff cap and beard. I'll have to get more proficient at sculpting beards like this (and bigger ones) to better depict my Chechen forces.

RH Models WEAEID

I also added four IED's to this batch ... I was painting up some sappers after all!
Russian sappers and dogs at Severny Airport, Chechnya. (February 16th, 2000)

Russian sappers looking for explosives at Severny Airport, Chechnya (February 16th, 2000)

Re-enactor with Russian mine detector.
Russian special forces at Khankala, Chechnya. (May 18th, 1995)
Russians searching vehicles in Grozny. (December 11th, 1995)

Checkpoint at entrance to Gagauzia(southern region of Moldova (December, 1991).
Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov conversing in Grozny. (January 30th, 1996)

Aslan Maskhadov, Chechnya, 2004?