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

square4 · Post by **square4** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:42 pm

Very fine work indeed, like it a lot.

Ad Lav · Post by **Ad Lav** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 7:22 pm

Awesome! Didn’t expect any less, well done on another fine model

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:16 am

Hi, thank you everyone for your kind words and encouragements. This is certainly the most complicated model I have ever built. I must say again that everything about the BMP makes it a complicated AFV to replicate, builders beware. I had to spread the build over 4 months with many breaks in order to keep my sanity, my longest and toughest build so far, and I have seen a lot...

I am currently preparing for the crew and infantry rider buildup. This is the fun part.

In the end, I have decided to purchase all 3 Soviet Maim T-72 crewmen for the BMP and i have assembled material for 5 Soviet Paratroopers and 2 Afghan embeded infantrymen.

: BMP-1 crew and infantry riders

Maim T-72 driver

: BMP-1 crew and infantry riders; Capture1.JPG (91.97 KiB) Viewed 4137 times

Maim T-72 tank commander

: BMP-1 crew and infantry riders

Main T-72 gunner

: BMP-1 crew and infantry riders

Regards, Louis

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sun Mar 31, 2019 3:48 pm

Hi,

Here is the buildup of the Soviet airborne VDV forces for my BMP-1. The VDV troops were the largest airborne force in the world, were fully mechanized and used as elite infantry in Afghanistan.

The base kit for the infantry is the Kirin kit "1/16 Soviet VDV in Afghanistan 1986". I purchased five on Ebay from the same seller. It is a figure of a running infantryman. With modification, it can be turned into a tank rider because the bent knees on both legs and split lower hips allow for easy manipulations and redesign.

: Kirin 1/16 Soviet VDV Afghanistan; Capture.JPG (35.24 KiB) Viewed 4108 times

Lightly equipped like mechanized infantry should be, the figure comes with an AKS-74, 5.45mm automatic rifle. This is the weak point of the model. The rifle is made of 4 parts, with the pistol handle and trigger molded with the hands, and buttstock molded with the arm. It does not allow for much modifications. I decided on only use it on one figure.

: Kirin AK-74; Capture6.JPG (94.84 KiB) Viewed 4108 times

Three of the figures are armed with the Quasar AKS-74U, the commando version of the AK-74. It is expensive but of superb quality.

: Quasar AKS-74U; Capture7.JPG (90.84 KiB) Viewed 4108 times

One figure is armed with the Reedees Miniature PKM machine gun.

: Reedees PKM

A Reedees Miniature RPG-7 is provided to one of the infantry. I would have liked to find a more recent version of the RPG but i did not see any available.

: Reedees RPG-7; Capture8.JPG (82.15 KiB) Viewed 4108 times

Each infantry is provided with a bush hat, an AK bayonet and also a water canteen

: Kirin 1/16 Soviet VDV Afghanistan

The buildup is starting. Need to first have a vision as to the overall positioning of the figures. Each pose is made unique, a small project by itself, and quite fun. It is important to dry fit many times everything, make adjustments, with the available space on the BMP, general layout and the weapons as tri-dimensional base to position the legs, torso and arms. Putting resin parts one to two minutes in the microwave allows for nice reshaping of parts, such as for adjusting the angle of bending on the legs, and for the fit of the lower part of the flak vest against the legs.

: BMP-1 infantry

The lower body is assembled as required for the pose, and made solid with plasticard reinforcements.

: BMP-1 infantry

Then the body is recarved, reshaped and the joints are redone.

: BMP-1 infantry

Arms can be easily repositioned, with gaps filled with plasticard and as few putty as possible.

: BMP-1 infantry

Continuing on following post

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sun Mar 31, 2019 3:57 pm

Here are the 5 Soviet 1980s infantry figures ready for painting. The heads, hats, weapons and most hands will be painted separately and assembled later.

Overview of the figures, all coming from the same Kirin kit