Russian GRU Spetsnaz Team - Spectre: Operations

After many moons waiting to get into Spectre: Operations, I finally decided to take the plunge after Spectre Miniatures decided to release a Starter Set and I was eventually coerced rather horrifically by my lovely group of totally-not-persistent 'friends'. I joke of course, it was all my idea...

So here we are. My first set of Spectre Miniatures fully painted (bases are to be decided depending on gameplay). These dudes are GRU Spetsnaz Special Forces, they're very capable in a wide variety of situations and are pretty well equipped!

These guys were actually really fast to paint, completed in about 4 sittings. So... I'm gonna break down the process of how I got these chappies from pieces of metal, to fully painted Special Forces Operatives. I hope you brought your brown pants...

First step. Order the bastards.

Second step for me (which I didn't take photos of - SILLY) was to get a dremel with a small grind head fixed and start to take the mould-lines off. Now the lines aren't horrific on these guys, in fact they're actually not very noticeable at all. But with close attention to detail, I would've shot myself with one of their AKs if I had missed one.

As they're metal, I needed the dremel... Because I was categorically NOT going to file them all down by hand. So with some precision magnified glasses, and a lot of patience, I carefully stripped the models of their mould-lines and they were looking nice and shiny, ready for the next stage.

Third step (swear I took a photo of this, but it has mysteriously vanished) was to wash with warm soapy water. This most certainly helped the next step as it removed any release agents (KGB heheh, military jokes) used to get the models out of their moulds. - Now whilst this isn't fully necessary with the right primer, I didn't want to take any chances with my first proper set of metal models. I no longer wash metal models, I just prime them instead.

After that, I superglued them to old bits of sprue to act as a spray-stick.

Fourth step: Prime the models. (Note that these guys in the photo are Task Force Operators, not GRU).

Now this is something I rarely do. Most of the models I paint are Warhammer 40k, so the Citadel spray cans are great for priming and undercoating in one. But with metal models, I wanted to ensure that I had a great starting surface to apply my undercoat to. I also now no longer prime then undercoat. I use a primer/undercoat like Hycote Grey Primer or Citadel Chaos Black.

For the primer I used Hycote Grey Primer, which is used on car parts, so is great for coating metal models if you are lean and don't go overboard with how much you spray.

Fifth step: Undercoat the models with Chaos Black Citadel spray.

Previous experience using this spray has given me a wonderful undercoat to start popping colours on. You can't go wrong with black for recesses as well. So this was a perfect choice.

Popping them all on 25mm Warhammer bases for gameplay. Doesn't he look nice?!

Painting step 1: First slapping on thin coats of Straken Green to build up the pouch and helmet colours.

Pretty self explanatory!

Painting step 2: Secondary colours and tidying.

For this I used Waaagh! Flesh as the Base colour for the uniforms. Then I used Abaddon Black to clean up any paint spills onto other parts (not the boots though, that came later). Also I painted in the majority of their vests with the black to split the colours up.

And before we know it, we're already onto painting the camo!

Camouflage

So this took a little bit of research as I wanted these guys to look nice and modern, but not too similar to my Task Force Operators. So a more green camouflage as opposed to flat tan and black Special Forces look.

After browsing the internet I found that Spetsnaz sometimes wear a camo called Russian Digital Flora, so as a reference image, I broke down the camo layering into the key colours and also paid attention to what colours were put on top of others.

Camo step 1: Death Guard Green

I used a very stiff and bristly brush to get the random pattern. By doing a 'stipple' technique I was able to replicate a random digital looking pattern. It's also worth noting that I didn't dry the brush off like you would if you were dry-brushing. Instead I wanted the paint to be very prominent on each bristle, so I wanted the paint to still be quite wet. This also helped achieve the random pattern.

Whilst waiting for this to dry, I washed the Straken Green helmets and pouches with Athonian Camoshade to pop the green a bit more.

Camo step 2: Ushabti Bone

You're probably thinking "Christ that looks bright!", but seriously, that's what you want. As the next step will plop a dark colour over all of this and then a wash will tie all the colours together and also bring the tone of the colours all down.

Also, hey! This looks like a nice pattern for ACU Digital Cam used by the US Army.

Camo step 3: Dryad Bark

See what I mean about a darker colour?! This was layered over the top of the previous colours so that it 'muted' the bright colours. Also it was a vital colour on the actual camo.

Camo step 4: Agrax Earthshade wash

This was the wash to bring all the colours together! It really achieved the dark look that I was going for. I also applied this wash to the rest of the model including the previously painted helmets and pouches, then knee pads and other pouches that I painted with Zandri Dust (sand colour).

Detail painting time.

Selected weapon attachments were painted with Zandri Dust to make them stand out from the weapon and make them look 'Gucci'. Then washed with Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil.

Also Zandri was layered over previously washed desert colours to give them an extra highlight (knee pads and holster)

It's also fair to say that cleanup painting was required for most colours after stippling the camo paint on, as it spilled over. Mainly Black and Zandri. The boots were also painted black at this point.

Massively important part! Detailing the black parts is not easy, but it is VITAL! This was applied to detailed edges on the weapons, vests and boots.

These were then all washed with Nuln Oil to drop the grey standout right down and just give a subtle highlight to the black.

The balaclavas were painted the same as the Straken Green pouches and helmets, but were then given a Nuln Oil wash and a very thin coat of Waaagh! Flesh to change the hue.

Skin tones were done similarly to my 40k faces, but I just used this method:

1. Cadian Fleshtone
2. Reikland Fleshshade
3. Kislev Flesh

Eyes:

1. Ceramite White
2. Abaddon Black - pupils

BOOM. GRU Spetsnaz Team DONE!