6mm WW2 Soviet infantry painting guide - Keeping it simple

 Unhappy with my previous platoon of Soviet infantry I wanted to go greener and brighter. Again, I wanted them to better reflect how they look in Sudden Strike. I wanted a uniform green colour that stands out a little more from the darkness of the table. Here is how I did it.

These are the vaguely recent (as of 2025) Heroics and Ros Soviet infantry in SUMMER UNIFORM.

I painted the figures on strips, which was not a good move, it made basing them harder. On some of the stands you can see shiny copper coin glow through. Next time I paint any I will base them and prime them first. Then paint the base sand yellow - with no coin showing through. I will then follow these steps:

Step 2: Flesh - I was not careful at all.

Step 3: Uniform - I used a colour called Russian Uniform from Vallejo.

Step 4: Weapons and boots black. No wooden stocks at this size. If any paint from boots goes on the base then sobeit.

Step 5: Washed the miniatures with Citadel: Agrax Earthshade. Did not bother washing the base.

Step 6: Painted their helmets Vallejo Russian Green.

Step 7: Painted bayonets with Citadel: Runefang Steel.

Step 8: Flocked the bases. Covered entirely with flock. Painted the rim of bases Vallejo German Grey.

Step 9: Seal miniatures with a matt spray. 

Two different types of light. I really like how these Soviets have turned out. So much better than my first batch - they were too dark. These guys were so simple to paint. The shiny bayonets really help them pop off of the table. 

More Soviets and a warrior tortoise.

 I managed to finish painting my second squad of WW2 Soviets, along with a few vehicles. All I need now it one more squad, a command stand, and perhaps another Maxim crew and a mortar and I will feel they are ready to face off against some Germans. Weirdly my main takeaway from this is that I need to sort out my photographing. I need to create a new photo booth or something. 

I now have four trucks. The large gun will likely be spending more time as an objective I guess. It will probably be too massive for a Battlegroup table.

Not Soviet, but still important. This has been languishing for a while. I finally managed to get it finished. I think the crew might have been US gun crew, but oh well. This will also likely spend more time as an objective than actually being used. 

An SU-76. It doesn't seem to be the best or most useful SPG, but I love the look of this vehicle. 

A squad of infantry, a sniper team and an anti tank rifle team. It is a bit hard to distinguish them, but I like them.

Three people for Five Parsecs. They can be military, militia, government security, local starport workers.

Battle Tortoise. My kids painted this and then I repainted it. Will be useful for some Song of Blades and Heroes, or some  DnD or something.

Irregular Miniatures WW2 Soviets - First batch.

I painted up one squad, a Maxim MG team, three T-34s, and a 76mm ATG with a tow. I did a little research regarding colours, but don't really want to purchase any new paints right now. Luckily, I have all I need to paint the infantry, but deciding on a good green for the vehicles proved more difficult. 

I am really pleased with how the ATG and truck turned out. It felt a little awkward painting the crew while attached to the gun, but in the end it worked out pretty well. The truck looks good. I decided to paint the windows blue, after I had washed the vehicle in Agrax Earthshade. The windows are really pleasing me. They make me feel like I have progressed as a painter. I genuinely think the cannon with crew attached might be the way forward for me now.

The tank at the back is a different colour - the same as my US vehicles. The other two are a mix of Russian Green and Medium Green or something. I'm not too bothered to be honest. I highlighted with Khaki of all colours. I had originally planned to highlight with a light green. My next tank platoon might have more experimentation. I like the commander. While he seems almost cartoonishly big, I like that I can use him as an easy-to-spot officer. So far so good with Irregular Miniatures.

I was nervous about the infantry. Firstly they are all SMG armed - which isn't ideal. Then, their bases are really tall. When painting, I really struggled to see where the weapons were on some of the figures. It was frustrating. But, to be fair from table distance it won't really matter all that much. It looks to me like I will still be buying the new Heroics and Ros Russians, as they look amazing. I am, still though, pleased with the Irregular vehicles.

Here is the Maxim MG team. I imagine they are pretty good. But again, the infantry moulds don't seem all that clear. I sort of painted some bits and hoped for the best.

 This is them all together. I experimented with putting little bushes on the stands - no real reason behind it. I like them. From a distance all seems fine. If anything this photo is better than the others. I need to look at my backgrounds again. Having moved house, I got rid of my little photo booth thing.

I look forward to painting up more. I need to paint up two more squads and some other support weapons. 

Armourfast T-34s.

These are the two T-34s I used in my dry-brushing lesson. After going over them myself, here is how they look.

Here it is being taken on by a Panzer IV.