'Water Feature' from BenF: 1984 Soviet Landing Craft

Being back at work this week has meant that I've spent a lot of time trying to juggle new baby Evie and full time teaching. Consequently, I've not had much time for painting.

That said, I have managed to paint up these three for this bonus round. One of mys 6mm forces completed this challenge has been a mid 1980s Naval Infantry brigade. These brigades were to operate with the Baltic, Pacific, and Black Sea fleets, attacking Denmark, Sweden, or Turkey. They also appear to have been slated to support any Soviet attack on the Nordkapp, Northern Norway and Sweden. In order to transport my Naval Infantry in any amphibious attack, I needed some landing craft.

First off, the Akula, or shark class landing craft, called the Ondatra class by NATO. Roughly comparative to the US Landing Craft, Mechanised, the Ondatra can carry one tank, BTR, or BMP, or a platoon of infantry. The Akulas had a range of 500 nautical miles at 9 knots, and they would have operated from the Ivan Rogov class landing ships. This model is from Scotia Grendel's superb 'Ship-to-Shore' range. I added the soviet naval flag using the tin wrapping from a paracetamol pack. I also added some rust weathering, to fit in with my idea of rugged soviet technology.  The BTR-60PB is one painted previously for my Naval Infantry, and is added for scale.

Next, it's on to the air cushioned vehicles, with the Kalmar class, better known by it's NATO designation, the Lebed. A precursor to the US LCAC, the Lebed was a high speed hovercraft capable of carrying a pair of armoured vehicles or a company of infantry. As with the Akula, the limited range of the Lebed meant it operated from the Ivan Rogovs. Unlike the Akula, the Lebed was fast - with a top speed of  70 kts. It was also armed with one ADM-G6, a 30mm gatling gun Close-In-Weapons-System. I was the forerunner of the US LCAC, whose design it clearly influenced. The Lebed is also from Scotia. I might get another of these from Scotia, as each Ivan Rogov carried an Ondatra and two Lebeds.

Finally, it's the beast of the three, the Dzheyran Class, better known as the Aist in NATO parlance. This giant is actually the second largest hovercraft used by the Soviets, after the gargantuan Zubr. Despite this, the Aist is huge, being the size of a cross-channel ferry. With a top speed of 70 kts, it is capable of carrying a platoon of tanks along with two companies of infantry. It's also armed with two AK-230 30mm twin anti-aircraft guns and a quadruple Strela-2 SAM launcher. This giant is also from Scotia, and as with the others I aimed for a rusty, weathered look as I imagine vessels in the cold Baltic and North sea. 

I've added aerials and painted the Soviet naval ensign on the tails of the hovercraft, as well as adding some number decals. If i'm perfectly honest, the Aist, and probably the other two as well, are somewhat ridiculous. While they are unlikely to feature in a huge number of games, they will definitely be a focus point and feature of any amphibious landing. If I can convince myself to shell out the cash, I may even eventually add a Zubr to the collection, along with a Udaloy class destroyer. 

As far as points go, I'm not really sure with these. They're technically all 6mm, but the Ondatra is the same size as a Cruel Seas US PT Boat, the Lebed around the same size as one of my 20mm tanks, and the Aist dwarfs my 28mm Matilda II tank.