It's been a few years since we showed you TMP's own unit of 15mm WWII Russian T-26 light tanks - models from Peter Pig, painted by Coyote 
of The General's Tent.
However, what's never been revealed to the world (until now) is that there was a previous unit of T-26s - luckless, prone to wandering - that at last are ready to take their place on the battlefield.
These models were showcased on TMP back in 2000, donated by Battlefront (well, actually the company that would become Battlefront) - eight Russian tanks.
In 2002, arrangements were made for the models to be painted, and they were shipped to the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the original painter had to bow out due to scheduling problems.
So the models were shipped to a new painter... who also, eventually, was unable to complete the assignment (in 2004).
Then in stepped Brian Datta, formerly of the Armies 2 Order painting service, who was able to paint the models! (Thanks again, Brian!)
But alas, the models were heavily damaged in shipping! Tread pieces were knocked loose, hulls were split and broken, hatches were askew, and gun barrels were bent and loose.
So these hard-luck models finally made their way to my personal workbench, where I nursed them back to health. I reattached hatches and commanders, straightened and glued on gun barrels, and rebuilt fractured hulls. One commander figure was completely AWOL, so I re-posed one tank's hatches closed; another tank no longer had a gun barrel, so I carved a passable substitute from a wooden toothpick.
When it came time to touch-up the paint job, I chose to go with a "battlefield repairs" theme, so deliberately used a different shade of green for some of the "repaired" areas.
And now, at last, this far-traveled force of Soviet early-war tanks is repaired, based, and ready to take the field!
Brian even painted a white stripe around the turret of one tank, giving us a command vehicle for the unit:
As I said, one tank lost its commander and had to go "buttoned down" (I also used paint to suggest a replacement turret on a battle-damaged vehicle):
And here's the toothpick-gun (yes, it's obvious in a close-up, but on the tabletop it'll be just fine...).
