Hi guys thanks for posting and the kind comments. Actually this was the first time I used Mig Productions Oil and Grease mixture. It was an interesting product to use and can give a wide range of effects depending on how much you thin it or mix with thinner.

As for the Zvezda plastic tankers they are very good figures and a real improvement on recent Zvezda figures. Actually I also have Zvezda's Vympel unit box set, and the anatomy and posing on the Tankers is far superior. The poses are very life like and match the reference photo very well. One really nice feature is the separate fur collars, and the tank helmets made up of three parts. The extra parts for the helmet really add to the depth of the heads and faces and is much better than a one piece casting I think. I'd recommend them for sure.

One only problem is that some of the detail is a bit soft. For example the faces could do with a little sharper detail, the fur collars are quite soft, and the jacket details need a little refinement.

On mine I added detail to the fur collars with some Mr Surfacer 500 and a little stippling. I also improved the jacket detail by adding plasticard strips to the pocket detail to make it stand out a little more. I also reposed the figures and did some work there re-sculpting the anatomy and using filler. I also added replacement resin hands and heads from Hornet. I still used the plastic Zvedza tank helmets, these took a little work as the Zvezda heads have the top of the helmet cast into the head, so I had to chop that off and hollow them out so they would fit onto the Hornet heads. I then had to add the separate side sections and fill the gaps with filler.

One thing to watch out for is the "creases" in the plastic where they haven't cast fully. These are easily filled and covered with a bit of filler though. Here are the two tankers that I will be using on my T-80:

So I'm finally finished! Here are a few quick photos:

Lovely work Jon, pleased to see you got it finished! The weathering on the tank looks great. Totally echo as well what you said about the figures, they are really fantastic.

Really nice job on the figures too.
The final scene is great. I'm just not sure that the tank commander would be this high at his station.
I think your blog will be helpful when I tackle the Bars kit. Thanks for sharing Jon.

Olivier

Thanks guys, actually I have to finish off the wooden edges on the base, theres some cracks in the black paint! I just noticed this on the photographs!

Olivier actually for the tanker yes your probably right but I had a few problems. Actually this Zvezda figure is made to sit lower and operate a machine gun. In the case of this T-80 though there is no MG mounted in this position so I had to adjust the figure to be leaning over the hatch.

Maybe he's a little high but it's similar to some Tank Model resin tank crew figures I've seen. There's a Tank Model commander who's leaning very high over his hatch like this also, so I can live with it , actually though this guy isn't glued in place so I have the luxury to move him around a little I might try shuffling him around later to see if he works any lower.

Actually though I think If I did this project again this guy would be one of the things I'd redo (along with a few other things).