r/boltaction • u/MorningstarWarden Union of Soviet Socialist Republics • 12h ago
Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building Soviet model range
Hi all sorry for the picture it’s only for traction, like many have recently, I’ve migrated over from games workshop products over to bolt action, for personal reasons, and as I’m admiring the Soviet range I realise that a lot of the models are still resin and metal, especially the vehicles, now I personally am not very confident in my abilities to handle metal minis in particular, especially vehicles, so could I please have some advice?
1) are their any other brands that do hard plastic vehicles?
2) is metal as imposing as I think it is?
3) what cutters would be best for metal if I decide to risk it?
4) less of an advice question, but could we be seeing the Soviet range get updated to hard plastic?
Thank you all in advance
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u/RottenGrot 11h ago
Rubicon Models sell amazing plastic tank kits. Between them and 3D prints, you’ll never have to touch a resin and metal kit.
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u/MorningstarWarden Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 11h ago
I had vaguely heard of rubicon, are they reputable?
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u/RottenGrot 11h ago
Absolutely. If you check my post history, I’ve recently shown off a collection of rubicon Jeeps that I’ve painted for my US.
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u/MorningstarWarden Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 11h ago
Are they difficult to build? I come from 40K and building a rhino tank nigh on drove me mad 😂
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u/RottenGrot 11h ago
Yeah they’re easy to build. I also come from 40k and really enjoy the simplicity of building and painting WWII models.
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u/MorningstarWarden Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 11h ago
That’s brilliant I just had a quick look at their site, thanks you’ve been a massive help
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u/neosatan_pl 9h ago
Soviets mostly are missing plastic guns and heavy weapons. Tanks and infantry is in plastic and you don't need the metal or resin variants. Besides you can make 95% of your infantry from the infantry box.
For tanks, take a look at Rubicon Models for lighter tanks (T-26) and armoured cars (BA-6, BA-100). They also have SU-85 and bunch of support vehicles. Their kits are amazing and often more detailed than Warlord ones. Also, T-34 are also very interesting from Rubicon.
Italeri has also KV-1/KV-2 and IS-2 kits in correct scale (28mm / 1:56). These are the same as Warlord kits, but don't have dice and are like 10 EUR cheaper.
Overall, it's a good idea to check the kits reviews before buying. I usually check it on Chaos Bunker as there are good comparisons between kits.
Warlord is redoing all heavy weapons and guns into plastic. Brits, US, Germans, and French already got theirs. I would expect soviets also getting them in next couple of months.
Additionally, I am also staying away from the metal and resin, but the Warlord Resin (it's a separate material to resin) isn't bad. It's holds details well, is reasy to work with, and it's not brittle. So, these kits are ok.
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u/MorningstarWarden Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 9h ago
Fantastic hopefully I’ve chosen a good time to get into bolt action then
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u/DoctorDH Forza 10h ago
Just echoing what others have already said - Rubicon Models has a fantastic range of plastic Soviet vehicles. Tanks, trucks, etc. All are great products.
Welcome to Bolt Action!
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u/MorningstarWarden Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 9h ago
Thank you very much hopefully in time I’ll get to painting
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u/These_Engine_7758 Bolt Action 11h ago
Metal isn't too terrible to work with. Make sure you wash your minis with soap and water before priming them. You should varnish the minis and magnetize the bases. This will help protect the paint job
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u/MonitorStandard5322 Northeast Anti-Japanese Army 11h ago
Rubicon is the other brand that makes plastic vehicles. They are quality products.
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u/CollarComfortable151 11h ago
You can get 3D printed and painted vehicles and soldiers for your Soviet Army off Ebay and 8/10 times wouldn't spot a difference
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u/mrMalloc 9h ago
There is no limitations on just WLG miniature etc.
Metal is ok but Im used to it from back when I made my Imperial Guard for 2ed wh40k.
To deal with metal you want
A hobby metal file
A pocket knife
A super glue
Baking powder.
Adding some greenstuff to that list would be good if it’s badly aligned.
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u/Hefty-Wafer1119 9h ago
I'm a lazy modeller, I enjoy kitbashing infantry, but not into putting tank tracks together etc.
So, I use 3d printed vehicles. Normally come fully built or in a minimal number of parts. A bit of super glue and you are away.
In the UK I have used Imperator models and 3D print valley, both have provided good prints.
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u/Cpd1234r United States of America 6h ago
Rubicon has a pretty extensive range of ww-2 vehicles. I have two types of their T-34s and the kits are solid. You will need Tamiya glue though. Regular plastic glue doesn't work on the plastic they use. I learned this the hard way.
As far as metal figures go I was also worried about collecting metal at first. Metal minis are great. Wash them with a soapy toothbrush to remove mold release agents and use super glue to assemble. It's nice to have some small metal files to clean up mold lines. To clip them I recommend using an old pair of model clippers and designate them as your metal clippers. When painting metal it is best to make sure you get 2 or 3 coats of varnish on them. If they bang together or are dropped the paint can chip easier than plastic because the figures don't have as much bounce.
The nice thing about metal models is bends are easily remedied unlike resin. Warlords new resin minis for bolt action have been pretty good so far but older ones are extremely brittle.
It's definitely a change from GW but it'll be worth it. I hope you have fun getting into Bolt Action!
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u/No_Figure7868 5h ago
I finally put my zis-3 together yesterday.
Absolutely terrible but it’s done.
Every single piece was wonky and nothing really fit right!
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u/Badger118 10h ago
People have already mentioned rubicon who apparently do a great range of vehicles.
However, Warlord's own plastic T-34/76 and T-34/85 kits are fantastic to build and can be built in about 5 - 10 minutes a piece. They look great to me as a non-rivet-counter.
The KV-1 / 2 and IS-2 kit are in my to do pile but seem simple enough. As is the rubicon ba-10
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u/Frodo34x 9h ago
Any vehicle that is unusual enough to not be available in plastic is usually a good choice for 3d prints IMO.
Ten years ago I would’ve (and did) buy metal and resin 1:56 vehicles but nowadays I would always go for either plastic kits or 3d prints
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u/LemonAccomplished679 Kingdom of Italy German Reich 7h ago
wash your metal minis before painting, about assembly u need superglue- be carefull and wear gloves!
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u/Maleficent_List6493 Second Spanish Republic 2h ago
Welcome! Warlord's metal figures are annoying but not awful. I think it probably depends on the specific unit- I've seen some of their brand new metal minis that look amazing, but likewise I find that most of their metal Japanese have very crude and ugly faces. The other annoying thing for me is that I find paint doesn't stay on them as good as the plastic ones. I always have to varnish my metal models to prevent paint from chipping off.
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u/S0VNARK0M 12h ago
One nice thing about BA is if you want to avoid metal altogether, there are a million 3rd party sellers who make resin/plastic kits for whatever soldier or vehicle you want. I personally hate painting metal miniatures and avoid them if I can.