64. Day, February 7, 2022


Our friend has moved to his final pedestal, which I packed first - as a precaution against accidental pawing...

Then I mounted the small "Zorkij" camera - deliberately a little crooked, because being absolutely straight would look boring...:










Cheers

Jep, of course!

Excellent! I like the contrast in the various leather bits, and the gym looks spot on!

Phil

65. Day, February 8, 2022


Today we turn to our hero's service pistol!

Basically, two different models were worn in the Red Army:

The first was the "Nagant" revolver M 1895, a tried and tested in five wars, mature and indestructible weapon, caliber 7.62 × 38 mm, seven shots.



The gun fired special ammunition, the projectile of which was completely surrounded by the case before firing!



The weapon was absolutely "man-stopping", it was often used by NKVD troops - also as a weapon shot in the neck during executions...:





Its disadvantage: The "Nagant" was relatively unwieldy and heavy with a length of 235 mm and a weight of almost one kilo.

At the front, another pistol was far more popular:

The self-loading pistol "Tokarev TT-33", the "33" indicates the year of manufacture, fired lighter cartridges of caliber 7.62 × 25 mm, eight cartridges each fit in the magazine...:



Ammunition was readily available, the Soviet submachine gun "PPSh 41" (and later also the "PPS 43") fired the same cartridges.

With a length of 196 mm and a weight of 0.8 kg, the Tokarev was significantly more manageable than the "Nagant" revolver, like all Soviet weapons it was technically robust and indestructible...:



However, the "Tokarew TT-33" had two disadvantages: A single bullet was not always "man-stopping" and it had to be cleaned relatively often, otherwise the mechanics tended to jam.

Nevertheless, many officers preferred the "Tokarew" to the "Nagant" - including our hero.

I cleaned the holster of sprues today...





... and then attached to the bust with two-component glue...:





Then the cleaning rod was attached, which was attached to the front of every "TT-33" bag as standard with two leather loops...:





In this respect, the kit is exemplary in terms of detailing!



Tomorrow the pistol holster will be primed and painted.


Cheers

Nagant over Tokarev any day. I had both on my ticket back when such things were possible here. Nagant service ammo was hard to get but my "Tok" was a licence built one from Egypt in 9mm Para - ammo no issue.
KS is getting closer!

Phil

Slow and steady wins the race......Looking very good...

Wayne

66. Day, February 10, 2022














Tomorrow then the metal parts of the holster.

I'm still debating whether to "scratch" the thing...


Cheers

Interesting how different the two holsters shown in the photos are. Bottom photo is an early TT-33 with the fine vertical milling at the back of the slide, quality blued finish and a nicely made holster, probably horse hide. Top phot is a late production version with the simpler/cheaper milled slide, a potassium-blacked finish and a cheap cowhide holster. I've seen "kirza" fake leather holsters for the TT-33 as well, nearly all post war.
I would probably distress the leather just a bit, not too much, just a suggestion of wear in use.

Phil

67. Day, February 11, 2022


First of all, I gave the pistol holster a couple of selected highlights - by adding a strong dash of "Naples yellow" to my basic color.



Then I painted the metal parts:

The contours of the "Tokarew TT-33" that are just visible in the bag were painted with "Oily Steel" and then "washed" with black.

The clasp pin and brass ring at the top of the belt loop were given a "Brass" base coat and then washed with a mix of "Brass" and black.

I painted the cleaning rod attached to the front of the holster with "Steel" and then dry-painted the areas facing the light with "Silver"...:



Then I painted a few more or less deep scratches on the holster - as if our friend had gotten stuck somewhere with the pistol holster.

For example, when leaving a car in a hurry to seek protection from a low-flying aircraft attack in a ditch...:



With this, the pistol holster is finished...:












Cheers

Jep!

68. Day, February 12, 2022


Next step: The work bag that our hero carries!

Let's first look at "Brad Pitt" again, who also wears a bag...:



Unfortunately, I can't use it like that, because it's a fabric magazine pouch for the PPS 43 submachine gun, which has "Brad" on its back...:









I could now rebuild the thing for my purposes - but that would be stupid!

For various reasons, my "Konstantin Simonow" is built without a submachine gun, that seems too warlike and the PPS 43 doesn't fit the time either.

Instead, he used a leather officer's report case, which also served as a desk pad...:





Here we have such a bag...:







I want to make this pouch myself, because it would be unwise to butcher the magazine pouch for my purposes! Who knows, I might not need them again someday..

Over a "core" of three pieces of plastisheet - the inner one being shorter than the other two by design...



... I sculpt the main body of the bag.

Damage and signs of use are incorporated at the same time...:



Tomorrow the bag will be detailed.


Cheers

Nice work, and useful photos too. Those PPs43 mag pouches - no two are the same. You could almost become a collector of them as the variations are endless
Love the progress Martin!

Phil

69. Day, February 13, 2022


The first thing I did today was use "Milliput" to correct a couple of imperfections on the bag that I didn't notice yesterday.

Then the front was detailed.

The metal fittings are made of "Milliput" as is the closure strap.

I used solder to represent the small eyelet...:






Cheers

70. Day, February 14, 2022


Started to paint the little bag...:



There is still a lot missing - but you can already see where the journey is going...:



In any case, it will look nicely "used" at the end...

Cheers