A 2nd plea
I looked on line for cold war era 1960-80 Soviet infantry, I got the DML naval soviet infantry , its kind of terrible , out of scale and no detail.
Any resin sets ? Am I not searching in the right place ?
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You’re asking to cover a period of some 20 years; a lot can change in any army in that timescale. The Soviet Army introduced new uniforms in 1969 for instance. You’ll need to identify if you require warfighting poses or otherwise, depending on what you’re trying to depict.
The main manufacturers do not see fit to produce much regarding Soviet Cold War forces - or any NATO ones come to that. Dragon’s efforts are about the nearest you’ll get to any. Their Naval Infantry figures look OK to me, although I haven’t assembled them.
If you require figures from 1960 onwards you will have no real option other than to convert; for figures up to 1969 you can utilise WW2 figures as long as they’re not modelled with their groundsheets slung over their shoulders, or wearing puttees.. You’ll have to replace personal weapons so they have AKs, and manufacture your own ammo pouches. That isn’t as difficult as it sounds. A study of personal equipment will enable you to make your own in 1/35 using Milliput, Magic Sculp or similar. Hornet Heads will help too.
As I say, new uniforms were introduced in 1969. ICM do a passenger set in such kit:
Dragon also do these:
and an airborne set:
From around the mid to late 70s, Soviet troops - certainly in GSFG - were to be seen wearing the camouflage coverall; this is a boon to the modeller as it’s relatively easy to modify any figure using the materials above; the baggy folds and crease are relatively simple to make..
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I haven’t looked in a long time but Tank, Stalingrad and Evolution miniatures might have some that are close as far as resin goes but they will definitely be more expensive. I’m sure I’m forgetting some manufacturers.
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Evolution makes several sets of Soviets in Afghanistan and Chechnya, I don’t know if they can be converted to what you’re looking for.
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Zvezda has a few figure sets as well
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An ancient set from Lo Model.
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And I’m afraid to say are completely unuseable - poorly moulded, simplified, horrible, horrible figures.
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Good that they are no longer available….
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Appart from resin offerings, try with ICM sets
And if you look at aliexpress you could find there resin offerings of various producers “with no labels”
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To be honest Marko, these are nearly all figures designed for Afghanistan which is along way from the original poster’s question, which required a range of figures encompassing 1960-80.
I’ve already indicated that that is a tall order, not least uniforms changed from 1969; I further suggested that conversions are really only the way to go, however, the kits you have listed will certainly a) enhance an Afghan dio, b) lend themselves to modifications for some mor prosaic figures for say, GSFG.
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Fair enough…Cold war, along with Afghanistan war, is underrepresented. these are some of the basics in terms of equipment, which is a first step to further modifications. The same goes for French Indochina war. bottom line: basic figures + research+alterations+equipment = a lot of nerves and time.
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Sorry Marko, I hope you don’t think I’m being difficult; we’re certainly agreed on the need for converting, but it is labour intensive.
I don’t claim to be an expert but I manage to obtain an effect, though never as well as I’d like. But you’re right re the research, let alone the actual hands-on with Magic Sculp or Milliput; it is all very involved - and of course, it’s not just the Soviets:
L to R: A Brit, Belgian MP, Bundeswehr (relatively simple to be honest), Brit female, Belgian
Some of the opposition (East Germans):
I did have to set up a sort of production line for these.
But the only Cold War Sovs I’ve tackled are these, and the uniform mods didn’t take much, I just added fresh heads, added some leads and tweaked the positions a bit:
The only other type I’ve had a go at were figures wearing the camouflage smock, which given the nature of the garment, was relatively easy:
Unlike the Traffic Regulator which I didn’t really manage that well:
The paint job was a bit lacking I admit, which was probably the main problem.
His opposite number - albeit a decade earlier - although an equally involved construct, came out, arguably, a little better:
This is not to show off; there are errors a-plenty, but if nothing else it shows the amount of work required even for fairly basic changes, however, I feel that figures can make a model; anyway, perhaps this’ll get a discussion going, but I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers , especially when it comes to sculpting.
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Yes the pre 1970 uniforms were pretty identical to late WWII, mainly just needing new weapons and web gear as long as the figures were in the basic uniform… no padded telegroika winter uniforms or leg wrap puttees in place of high boots. Pilotka and Ushanka caps, are good, greatcoats are good, and of course the standard steel helmet.
Prague, August 1968.
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