Following the theme of my year (or entire life from here on out) October proved to be busy with family stuff. Luckily we squeezed in some time to work on the Iron Dice Studio.

We painted the walls and the parts of the ceiling that would not be covered by sound insulation panels. We went with a color called “Slate Tile” from Sherwin Williams which proved to be a nice medium gray with a hint of blue. Our silly hopes of one coat coverage were crushed but fortunately 1.75 coats did the trick.

The room has two air vent covers that looked like they hadn’t been touched in 15 years. Once I scrubbed the dust and dirt off Anthony gave them a nice coat of black paint before adding some bright yellow hazard stripes. The light switch plate was also hazard striped… for visibility in case of an emergency of course.

We took the door off of its hinges and filled it with expanding foam to offer some more sound insulation. Teddy’s wife also designed us a slick sign for the studio door. I don’t want to spoil the surprise on what we decided to name our little slice of hobby heaven but let’s say it gave us all a chuckle.

True to form Teddy went hog wild and ordered a pair of butcher block tables with custom powder coated legs. The idea is to have a table for recording that can be combined with a smaller table to make a full-size game table. He also ordered a third smaller nesting table to act as an army and accessories staging area. As of writing the tables are being prepared for varnish.

The crew also tried their hand at installing the first 36 sound dampening tiles on the ceiling. It turns out the manufacturing tolerances for Amazon foam tiles isn’t up to the same standards as a Luger pistol. Who knew… but despite the looser than expected tolerances we were satisfied and more are on order. Who studies a ceiling anyway? Teddy was also looking at some sound panels for the walls. We could make our own but the team’s analysis figured it would be cheaper to just buy them once labor hours were figured in.

We figured carpet would be a welcome comfort (and sound treatment) for the studio. Fortunately, our room is approximately the same width as a standard roll of carpet which made it super easy for us. A nice plush roll of carpet is now sitting outside of the studio waiting to be installed after the electrical work is done.

And the final big piece for the studio this month was the purchase of some friction fit rigging rails to mount the lights to. Once these are in we will be able to start pumping out more content. Without the studio style ceiling lights it is either too dark or looks like an interrogation room.

Soviets

This month I also got a bit of the hobby bug so I worked on some loose ends. I have had a platoon of three primed T-26 model 1938s kicking about for more than a few months. They are from Night Sky Miniatures and printed on my Elegoo Saturn. I plucked one from my Soviet motor pool box and got to work.

I was excited to add interesting tactical markings on this little fella. I did a lot of research and to my dismay early war Soviet armor did not typically have tactical markings. Most communication was done by hand signals or flags which meant it was very short range. Not much thought was taken towards long range identification numbers until later in the war. However, units were basically left to their own devices so it’s possible to have more than a few variations of tactical number styles and placements even in the earlier phases of the war.

The T-26 was the most numerous Soviet tank at the start of World War II. It along with the light cavalry BT-7 series tank formed the backbone of the interwar Red Army Armored Force. Infact it was the most produced tank of the interwar period with more than 11,000 units of all models produced including exports.

So what does that all mean to me? That means I can take some liberties as far as markings go. There were literally thousands of T-26 tanks at the start of the war in the east. I found a photo showing tactical numbers on the rear of the turret and I liked the look. Funnily enough I presented several photos to my wife and asked which she liked the best and she chose the rear numbers as well. So being a good husband I went for it. That counts for brownie points right??

Those of you who are keen eyed will notice a rather prominent marking is missing. Soviet tankers learned quickly that the red star national symbol stenciled on their vehicles made an excellent reference point for their German counterpart’s gunsights. I decided my tankers were a crew who took note of this disturbing trend and removed the offending marking.

I am pretty happy with how it turned out and I have fixings on finishing the other two soon (well maybe starting as stopping them several times – as is tradition).

The T-26 is a nice addition to an Early War Soviet force for Chain of Command or Bolt Action. In Chain of Command the little tank costs 4 support points. The armor 3 is pretty standard for an early war tank. The 45mm main gun is AP 5 and HE 4 which is respectable for its era. The turret also has the customary co-axial machinegun next to the main gun. The T-26 scoots along at an expected average speed. The initial plan for the T-26 platoon was to represent the armored elements of the 61st Tank Division for Table Top CP’s July 1941 Smolensk Pint Sized Campaign. I hope to play through the campaign with Anthony in the (near) future. He has been working on some Panzer 38(t)s for my T-26s to tangle with.

The T-26 has a similar profile in Bolt Action. For a T-26B you will pay 84 points for an inexperienced crew and 105 points for a regular crew. It boasts a measly Armor 7+ but comes with a turret-mounted light anti-tank gun (Pen +4) and a co-axial medium machinegun. As far as mobility the T-26 is unsurprisingly tracked. Against any late war tanks you are going to have a bad time. But least it’s cheap and cheerful.

I finished up one of four my red army jump off points, the morale enhancing field kitchen. I bought this STL from Night Sky Miniatures as well. If you’re going to protect something on a cold battlefield it may as well be hot chow right?

The last Soviet bits I finished this month are a team of six assault engineers. The models are a mix of Warlord Games and Artizan Designs. They are tooled up for mid to late war as they are sporting the iconic SN-42 body armor and sub-machineguns. The SN-42 steel bib began seeing use in 1942. This squad has been in my “primed to paint” pile to far too long. I am excited to use them now that they are fully painted. I’ve used them against Drew (only primed, boo) and they proved to be a real thorn in the side if they are allowed to get to their target. The Bolt Action game’s 6” run limitation for body armored troops can really be a hindrance so they definitely need a ride. I have another 12 to prepare and prime before the whole lot is finished. They are a great addition to a force as engineers or as steel bibbed tank riders. They will also pull duty as (heavily armed and armored) non-combatant engineer teams in Chain of Command.

Maybe November will bring more Soviets!