Tank Politics

Local miniature painter saves £££ time with this one simple trick! Don't bother painting camouflage on tanks, just do one colour. In all seriousness though, the Caunter Stuart has been in the "to do" draw for months and I've only just finished it, but the Valentines I bought last month have had the final layer of varnish on within weeks.

Non-binary pride Stuart (left, Plastic Soldier Company) and asexual pride Valentine (Right, Armourfast).

Painting monochrome tanks allows one to use a big brush and slap on the paint without worrying about painting over the boundary of stripes. Highlights are applied by drybrushing, again without needing to take much care. The final part is applying a "pin wash" of ever-reliable agrax earthshade in very thin lines in the gaps between plates and in corners.

As before, Girls und Panzer derived markings are placed according to appearance in the show, or if not in show, then manufacturing nation. St. Gloriana's Valentine on the left, Saunder's Stuart on the left.

The Valentine was also supplied in large numbers to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease, so I've painted one up in Russian green to accompany the Armourfast T-34s I got for my birthday last year. Russian WWII tanks were often painted with various slogans. Being lucky enough to have a Sister with a degree in Russian I was able to apply phrases of my own invention and not just rely on copying from references or (the horror!) writing them in English. And that's where things get a little political, well, even more political than LGBT pride flags...

 Armourfast Valntine (centre) and T-34s, the latter received as birthday presents last year. Finally got them done!

The slogans read "Vote Corbyn" (left) and "Clement Attlee" (right). The T-34 is going to look pretty dated before too long...

Although "Jeremy Corbyn is a communist" is fairly well-trodden ground in political comedy, the sentiment here is without irony (what luck that I'm posting this just in time for a general election!). In December we in the UK are going to face a choice between a self-serving etonian who is content to sell of the NHS, the Greatest British institution, and a principled opposition candidate who will reverse a decade of austerity for the poor and playtime for the rich. The only sensible option is to vote Labour.

With hindsight I should have put the T-34s, with their never-before-seen Pravda Girls High School marking, closer to the camera.

To close off I will now reveal my second secret technique, that of getting good photos in low light conditions. Turns out that my phone camera has a shutter speed setting, and so the exposure can increased and brighten the photo more naturally. Huzzah.