Picking up those brushes again.

Hi and welcome to the occasional mutterings of Dave Doc, a military modeller and some time gamer. Gaming and model making has given me a real education, History & Geography(obvious really), Artistry, Politics, Economics, Logistics, Project Management -you try building miniature armies without the last 3.

I will use the blog to record my creations & the odd occasion I actually do some gaming.

I have always been inspired by the aesthetic side of gaming. Playing on well constructed terrain using excellently painted units is always a joy.

Wednesday, 18 March 2026

Back of Beyond - Buildings , workers and commander

I have completed a couple of Russian farm type buildings that I got from Battle Honours 3d .


I plan to add a few scratch built types and also some fencing areas etc in due course . 
They were very clean FDM  prints overall . Took a few minutes to clean up and then a dark grey rattle can basecoat. I then used a Tamiya desert yellow overspray . The rest is basically dry brushing with various fresh timber type shades . The doors and frames etc are a bluylight blue grey mix and highlight . 
I haven’t painted the inside yet , but that will come . 

 This weeks focus has been the last of the current stock for this period .

I have picked up a few Eureka pieces . Top marks for swift service as they are arrived a couple of days after ordering . 

First up a new mounted commander . It’s ages since I painted a white horse so felt a little rusty doing it . But happy with it . As it was rearing up I have added a thin piano wire support to it .

Next are the workers militia . Clad in boiler suits and flats caps but some with the classic Bundenovka
Very nice clean castings with a good range of poses . I could due with a few more in due course .


I had picked up a 3d print from Battle Honours 3d of a couple of Russian style farm buildings . 









Thursday, 12 March 2026

Back of Beyond - Captured tank for the Bolos

  Another new piece to bolster my Bolsheviks, armour in the form of a British Mk V tank . The Brits shipped around 70 as part of their intervention effort to bolster the failing Imperial Russian forces They were used around Archangel and in the Southern front area.  Some were destroyed to stop them falling into enemy hands but some were captured and repurposed. The Brits used them with the Whites in 1919 attacking Tsaritsyn - eg Stalingrad , now Volgograd . Well my Bolos have acquired one .


Some were used in Tallin in 1941 against the Germans and were shipped back to Berlin as prizes , and after 45 ended up back in museums in the Soviet Union .


This is a big old beast . 2 guns 4 MGs . Very useful . Unrealiable as hell   Even more so in the back of beyond . 

This only arrived in the post on Tuesday , so it’s been a quick turn around 


This is a 3d print piece from a eBay offer . I had the rails on the top to stick on and that was it. It was a decent print not too much clean up . A dark olive green Tamiya  rattle can and lighter green olive paint pen for the paint job , Black grey for the track's , then an oil wash and dry brush of beige brown . I added some tubing to carry a flag that can be removed or swapped out   I found some large stars in the decals stash and added these then painted the hammer and plough emblem in the middle . 

I will look out for a suitable figure to use as a commander as one stood out of the  hatch waving a flag would look cool . 

What better than to use the imperials weapons against them . “Workers of the world unite!”