BMP-1 IFV - Soviet army, Afghanistan 1980s - Build

Ad Lav · Post by **Ad Lav** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:40 pm

Amazing work. Every time I look in to your builds they look like a master piece.

Maccrage · Post by **Maccrage** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:53 pm

Heh. The bad sculpt looks like Lee Van Cleef, and the other one looks like an alien from The Last Starfighter.

wibblywobbly · Post by **wibblywobbly** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 2:33 pm

May I commend you on your fine choice for a build, I took the lazy route, though the suspension and running gear is a bit of a pain. Mine will be a mud plugger rather than a detailed scale accurate model. Love the utilitarian look of the old cold war machinery, but as with most Russian armour, it was basic and it worked. These old workhorses are put to good use nowadays in the wild wastes of Siberia.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=26480

B_Man · Post by **B_Man** » Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:56 pm

Every time you post a build the bar raises higher. Great work as always Louis.

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 10:05 pm

Hi, thank you very much for your interest and encouragements, really appreciated, it makes me want to do a better job.

Here presenting the basic interior, minus the electrical cabling, straps, radios and other items that should be added only after painting. By reviewing the pictures for this post, I also noticed a few things that needs to be redone, common with scratch building.

The BMP interior is quite low and cramped. Makes you wonder how tall Russians actually fit in there. As a 6 feet 4 inch guy, I personally prefer the large electric ramp of the M113. Notice the fuel tanks inside the rear door... not a good idea, extra armor would be wiser.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

Not a smooth or fast exit under any situation.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

The ability for the infantry to shoot their weapons from inside the vehicles instead of sitting and doing nothing seemed to be a good idea when it came out and was copied by the Germans with the Marder 1 MICV and the US with the M2 Bradley IFV.

However, it proved impractical and was abandoned by all on later versions of their vehicle. It would probably work in the context of a post apocalyptic world to shoot at zombies standing on the side of the road. But when facing groups of tank hunter/killer teams firing RPGs strait down from the 4th floor of a building or an ATGM from 2km away, what an APC need are layers of armor (ie slat, active, reactive...) and supporting infantry outside the vehicle when facing enemy soldiers. The firing ports are useless weak points.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

The first task was to create the central module, composed of the main fuel tank in the front and battery compartment in the rear. Sitting on hundreds of liters of fuel in the middle of a warzone is a dangerous position.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

It became obvious that the idler arrangement should be installed before completing the interior.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP; Capture1.JPG (95.68 KiB) Viewed 3023 times

An HennTec Panther adjuster was modified to fit the BMP without taking too much room inside. The whole thing was cut in pieces. Plasticard spacers and reinforcement were created for the fit to the hull.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

Showing the adjuster hull attachments ready for installation

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

Modified Mato T-90 idler wheels were used, not ideal but at least they have 5 spokes. Once disassembled, the shaft on the exterior half was cut to create the core of a BMP idler wheel.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

Basic elements for the idler, with a flanged ball bearing at the center and an M4 metal pin as shaft.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

Idler wheels are assembled.

: Ludwigs BMP-1 1/16 RC build BMP

Continuing on following post

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 10:17 pm

Hi, continuing with previous post

The modified Henntec Idler adjusters are installed in a way that tries to represent the style of the real one.

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build; Capture7.JPG (99.29 KiB) Viewed 3021 times

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build

BMP idler hub caps are made with modified HL T-34 caps.

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build

View of the lower hull interior.

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build; Capture12.JPG (96.79 KiB) Viewed 3021 times

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build

Most of the work is actually on the roof.

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build

Rear view with the top of the chassis in place. The idea is to have something interesting to look at when the hatches are opened. It will come alive when all the electrical cabling, straps and equipment are installed after painting. It is not fully accurate but it is not too bad. I did more than what I was anticipating. The BMP interior is austere, building it was a learning experience more than a pleasant one.

: Ludwigs 1/16 BMP BMP-1 RC build

Continuing on following post.

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 11:08 pm

Continuing previous posts

Here is a short YouTube video of the turret in action with views from the interior.

https://youtu.be/mrDljCGLoSs

More views of the interior. Looking at the pics, I realised that I have to redo the tie downs on the sides with a much thinner brass.