Leman Russ 511

so, my first valhallan leman russ is finally done. painting this tank has been quite a pain because i painted this two other times and, as you might imagine, the surface wasn't that smooth but i managed quite well to avoid hiding details. yeah, next time gotta unpaint the model before i guess.
the camo scheme as you can see is quite simple, i'll refer to only 3 vallejo "game colors": cold grey (equivalent to citadel codex grey), german grey (from vallejo model color), black,

1. black undercoat
2. german grey uniform layer
3. codex grey heavy drybrush
4. black stripes
5. german grey highlight over the stripes

the bad thing about vallejo game color paints is that Cold Grey isn't the equivalent for Codex Grey, in fact is much more close to Fortress Grey. when i started painting this model i didn't know but now i do, so i'm gonna buy a better replacement.

what else? the tank commander is an old miniature that came for free with the tank but now GW sells it in the online store. i used a bretonnian decal (from bretonnian knights transfer set) to represent squadron markings (or commander heraldry if you like). in addition on the left track there are regimental colours and a 2-digits number (squadron + tank number). the font i used for the turret number is quite similar to the one used on german panzer during ww2, perfect on a grey scale in my opinion.
heavy bolters come from the heavy weapons team box (look at those targeters!) and the targeting device on turret as been converted with a little metallic mesh. the front lights come from the old rhino kit, remember?

i wanted to show correcty the equipment on this tank, so i assembled the smoke launchers and the searchlight. this last one is awfully painted, i know, i swear i will re paint it! the smoke launchers that come with the sprues are quite crappy so i cut the top of every grenade and drilled it to make them look like the space marines ones (that are much nicer). in addition i repositioned them, in a more horizontal way. the extra stowage came with the old leman russ box: i painted it with the winter scheme with dots, it looks very nice. if you look on the left track you'll see a killcount made with cadian transfers. tranfers have been treated with a matt varnish (not GW's one). i made many holes with my Minicraft drill and cut with the hobby knife to represent bullet holes, then weathered it with watered down black paint, on the other hand i weathered the flash suppressor and the exhausts with watered down snakebite leather, bestial brown, schorched brown and black.
i'm pretty sure there's nothing else to say.

PS: oh gosh! i was forgetting to say that the sandbags on turret came with the 1999 leman russ exterminator kit!