Photos - 6mm Republican Armour

Russia supplied the Republic with the vast majority of its armoured (and air) force. From late '37 (?) this included what was then the quickest most versatile tank in general use, the BT models. Irregular miniatures makes a BT 7 model. Here are a couple of them creeping over the lower crest of my new hills...



A lot more T26s were supplied, initially T26A's, with 37mm cannon, but then T26Bs with thicker frontal armour and a 47mm gun. Here's a column of them working the way down a slope with a BT7 (second last vehicle)...

Here's the whole column, with T26s advancing up the valley, BT7s drawing up on the slope above, and a (out of focus) Pulitov armoured car on the near rise...

I think that the Russians provided BA3s as armoured cars to the Republic, which also produced its own models in various collectivised factories (and then under centralised control in the central and sourthern regions of the Republic). However, at the time I bought these models I didn't know this, and thus used some WWI Pulitovs on the assumption that Stalin would have offloaded various of his old gear on his 'allies'. In game terms, it doesn't make much difference and I like their exotic look (two turrets).

Photos - 6mm T26s and Hills

Here's a couple of my Republican T26s crossing my newly constructed hills ...

And here they are entering a valley between two hilly formations...

Terrain - Hill construction

I was lacking hills in my terrain. A bit of a lack when you think of the topgraphy of Spain. So I used a $5 voucher from a model railway show my grandkids had been to recently and got some 'Plaster Cloth', and then some 3mm board, borrowed a jigsaw, and went to work.

The basic idea was to build up countours with wads of paper, tape them down, cover them with plaster cloth, and then paint and decorate as appropriate. I considered using foam countours, but too messy and too angular (as you will see) ...

Here's a view of my terraforming a larger ridgeline (base is about 2' long and upto 1' wide) ...

The idea is to then cut off pieces of plaster cloth, soak them in water, and drape them over the terraformed base. Here's a pretty neat photo of the two smaller bases with their plaster skin...

I then sprayed the plastered bases with Tamya primer spray...

After that had dried, I sprayed with a base colour to match my felt tabletop. In the store, Tamya 'Racing Green' looked the bill. I wasn't so sure after spraying. This shot of a small hill shows the 'two tone' effect which occurred to no noticeable pattern I could see...

I needn't have worried. After drybrushing the surface with rich brown and pale green (Humbrol 120 and 186) and waiting for that to dry, I painted the surface with a 60/40 mix of water and white/PVA glue, covering it all with a scatter of Woodland Scenic's 'grass' flock. Looks good ...

I don't think I'll do it the same way in future though, at least not for the bigger sized hill. The reason? There's too much flex in a base that size for the plaster to keep its grip. You can see where it is separating on the last photo above. The smaller bases seem to be fine.

Total cost: $17 for the plaster cloth, about $2.50 for the base wood, $9 for the Green and about $5 for the undercoat, about $3 for the the flock.

Total time: about 4 hours over 5 days.

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Photos - 6mm Milita (cavalry)

Many of Spain's horses were privately owned at the outbreak of the Civil War. Thus, they often ended up being used by their owners in assorted milita cavalry units (for the nationalists) and by those who 'liberated' them for the same purpose in the Republican side. Here's a view from the full roster of Falange 'modernist' cavalry being closely followed by lorry mounted troops.

Here's a more posed view...

You'll note with the variety of appearances I can mix up a company of Requettes, Falange or socialists from the various bases. There are three more bases presently unpainted which will eventually make up a the equivalent of a full battalion if required.