Welcome To My Modern Equipment Alterations Page One

Spetsnaz Modern Russian Webbing  KGB Hobby AK-74M Assault Rifle  KGB Hobby Byteks OMAN Boots

As a change to my usual German figures, I have decided to move over to kitbashing modern Russian spetsnaz figures. This was because I had become bored with the hobby, so I needed to work on something completely different to what I usually put together.

Spetsnaz Modern Russian Webbing

The pictures below show how I have used a Brown chalk pastel wash on various 1/6th scale modern Russian items. In exactly the same way that I did the pastel wash on my German uniforms. Another page I made to explain about the pastel washes is here, Pictures 1. & 2. are from the KGB Hobby sets, on the left in both pictures are the new items. With on the right another item that has had the pastel wash treatment, to both lose the new look and also add a darker colour to them.

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New Items

The pictures below show various items from my spetsnaz kitbash as they came from the manufacturer, which is a mixture of both KGB Hobby and DAM. The first thing that I have done with these items, is to rub the eyelets or drain holes on the bottom of some of the pouches, metal clips and metal rings gently with sandpaper. The purpose of this is to make them look like that they have been used or worn.

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Picture 3. is a new Dam chest rig, with Picture 4. after I have given it a chalk pastel wash. Picture 5. shows a small KGB Hobby pouch, with a new one on the left and the chalk pastel washed on the right.

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Picture 6. is a new KGB Hobby grenade pouch, above another one that I have given a chalk pastel wash to. Picture 7. is of KGB Hobby seat pad above one from DAM, that  have given a chalk pastel wash to.

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Picture 8. is a new DAM radio pouch on the left, with one that has had a pastel wash to darken it off. Picture 9. is a new KGB Hobby large back pouch, with one that has had a chalk pastel wash on it.

Picture 10. is a pair of DAM kneepads, the new one is on the top with a chalk pastel washed one underneath it. I have also given it a pastel wash. As well as using some fine sandpaper, to remove some of the paint on the pad itself. To simulate the pad has been used and damaged.

On the right are two KGB Hobby waist belts, again the new one is on the top with one below it that has had a pastel wash to darken it off.

After a Drybrush Of Light Sand Weathering Powders

With the pictures below I have taken them outside to show the same items again, after I have given them a drybrush with some Tamiya Light Sand weathering powder. My reason for doing this is that I was getting a variety of different colours to the items, every time I used the camera flash indoors.

Also the reason for doing this outdoors is too hopefully show that the Brown pastel chalk wash has added a dark colour to the items, and now with the weathering powders. They will add a highlight to the edges and stitching, so that they stand out against the darker parts of the items.

Also as the items are a mixture of both DAM and KGB Hobby, I have tried to get a near flat uniform colour to the different manufacturers parts.

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For information purposes, the items in Pictures 11. 12. 16. and 17. were made by DAM. The other items in Pictures 13. 14. 15. were made by KGB Hobby.

KGB Hobby AK-74M Assault Rifle

This rifle is the one that came with both KGB Hobby spetsnaz sets that I bought (KGB-001-A & KGB-001-B), and to be honest I was put off by them at first. As they are made of resin and they do not have any slings supplied with them, plus I also compared them to the DAM Spetsnaz Vympel figure and it's weapon.

So to try to improve the KGB Hobby rifle I bought two loose DAM Black AK-47 Alpha slings, to see if I could fit them to these rifles. And I found that the slings had an elastic end to them, that could be fitted over the rifle stock. I tried them and I found that it would work, but as usual with me I got to wondering if this could be improved upon.

Unfortunately I have not taken any photos as I did this. So in the picture above and right, I have made and fitted a sling connector out of metal to hold the first part of the sling. The first thing I did was to make a hole in the stock, and then bend a staple to form a 'U' shape. I then cut one side of the 'U' shape shorter than the other, so that the longer piece will go into the hole, with the shorter part resting on the stock. I then used my pointed tweezers, to carefully put some superglue around the 'U' shape. So that it was fixed in place to hold the sling ring that I will fix next.

The sling ring was made from a WW2 US belt equipment clip, I cut off the single leg so that it left a square ring that I pressed onto the 'U' shape that I made earlier. As the ends are not joined, so I just pulled them apart slightly to clip it onto the 'U' shape.

I then cut off the elastic part of the first part of the sling, which I replaced with some Black webbing material. Which was put through the sling ring I made and the plastic buckle clip, the webbing ends were then sewn together as shown above. The webbing loop was moved around so it is in the sling mounting, with the sewn ends moved inside the plastic buckle.

The pictures here show the finished rifle with the grenade launcher and telescopic sight glued into place. Note: Because the whole rifle is made of resin, I had to use superglue to fix the items in place.

The magazine for the rifle is a loose fit, so I used some Blutak to hold it in place. I also had to do the same with the grenade I put into the launcher.

The whole rifle was then given a wash of diluted Black acrylic paint to add depth to the weapon.

When that had dried I gave the what would be metal parts a light drybrush of some Gunmetal weathering powders, to add highlights to these areas.

The final things I did was to paint the rear of the telescopic sight with some Matt Black acrylic paint, as this I believe is supposed to be rubber. And I gave the what would be plastic parts of the rifle, a light drybrush of some Coal Black weathering powder.

KGB Hobby Byteks OMAN Boots

This section is about how I have altered the KGB Hobby Russian Byteks OMON boots I bought loose. In Picture 19. these are the new boots, before I have done any alterations to them.

One thing I did notice about these boots that they are well made, but I think that the soles look too thick, which to me makes them look overscale.

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Picture 20. are the pair of boots I have altered, firstly by painting them with some Black artist's acrylic paint to lose the new look they have. This I have found also helps to soften the boots material. As well as using my model knife and some sandpaper, to remove the paint from the lace eyelets to add to the whole look of a pair of worn boots. To add further detail to the boots, I have in Picture 21. sanded the sole down on the left boot to make it thinner, with a new boot next to it as a comparison.

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Picture 22. again shows a new boot on the left alongside an altered one, this also helps to show the differences between the sole thicknesses. In Picture 23. this shows how I have squeezed the altered boot together, which helps to crease the boot. Which is made easier to do because of the paint I applied to the boots earlier. This then adds to the whole worn effect as shown in Picture 24.

This section is continued on Page Two