RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Thanks,

Here is the upper hull main structure.

The rear was assembled without concerns once each part was lengthened. Various gaps need to be taken care of.
As usual, the technique to deal with them is to throw residual strips of plasticard with lots of superglue in each gaps for a fast and solid build, after which a thorough sanding will smooth things out and create nice armor lines everywhere.
The core structure is sanded and ready for more detailing. I put on the turret and front plate over their hole just for the picture and give an idea of things to come. There is much to do on the chassis.
Troop compartment is cramped. I have designated the back panel to be lifted with the upper hull when opening the tank, it will be stronger this way. Some kind of locking mechanism will be created.
As the BMP-1 is a rare RC animal and pretty sure most people never saw one, here is a short comparative study;

Against a Hooben T-55, the BMP is longer.
Against a Marder MICV, the BMP is a bit shorter and lower.
Against an M113.
Next to a HL Panther G
It is a fairly big RC tank. Although its turret and gun are really not impressive and quite ineffective in real life, it was ground breaking for its time to have such firepower on a APC. It should look very good with a Soviet commander and the five planned paratroop infantry riders on top, armed with AK-74 rifles, PKM machine gun and an RPG.
Regards, Louis

Wow Louis it's stunning such a large rc beast. Well done and quite quick I must add

Hi,

Continuing with the hull, this post is for the front hull and engine related hatches.

There is a shape at the front that is important to reproduce accurately because it is the base for the side skirts. The simplistic part provided with the kit (top) needs to be discarded and a new one (below) hand crafted using references.
The 1/35 Trumpeter kit provides the required shape, angle and positioning points for this area.
Without these parts, the side skirts will not rest correctly at the front.
This is the BMP exhaust at the left when viewed from the front.
This part to plug the exhaust hole can be discarded because it is not accurate.
As per Trumpeter instructions, this is what it should look like under the grill.
It won't show much but an attempt should be made to be somewhat resembling.
The grill and brass work is completed on the exhaust. It will never be perfect but it is not my style to take too long on a specific item. The build need to move forward all the time and not get bugged down.
This is what the kit provides for the hatch on the right. It is useful but it needs to be positioned correctly and dressed up.
Continuing on following post

And this is the same hatch repositioned closer to the edge because of the hull extension, and dressed up.
Frontal view of the BMP, this is what I had to get as close to as possible. This tank is missing most of its bolts on the top but the holes can be seen.
Same frontal view of the model.
Bolts used are Knupfer brass M0.6 and M0.8 size.
The interior support for the air intake grills need to be removed. The grills need to be lowered flush with the hull.
Overall view of the hull front.
These are the engine air intakes. They should have small handles on the sides but they are too small and thin to reproduce in brass. I'll see if they can be done in other ways.
Overall view of the model.
Next step are the crew hatches.

Regards, Louis

What a fantastic job Louis with the brass and bolts. Wow you make this hobby very entertaining

Another sublime build making the hard look simple !!
By now you would be working with C.L. and his team to improve his line of kits ??
If not, you should be

Hey Louis,

You've got another amazing build in the works! As always your build pace is dazzling.

Cheers,
Barry

When I grow up I want to be as good at this stuff as you are, Louis. Your work really is amazing.

Hi, thank you everyone for your encouragements.

Max-U52 wrote:When I grow up I want to be as good at this stuff as you are, Louis

I must have looked at the Ludwigs website for over a year before deciding to buy my first Ludwigs basic kit, the M113, and see what i could do with it. Since then, I feel my skillset improved exponentially after being mostly the same for decades while a was doing regular kits or enhancements to HL models. Just try one. I do not think i can go back to Tamiya kits...

This post is for the Driver and Commander's hatch.

After completing the more simplistic driver's hatch, I realised that using Shapeways 3D printed King Tiger periscope would not do. They are of the wrong shape, too small and totally inaccurate. My desire to minimize the workload has again failed with commercial 3D printed parts, I am getting use to it and I will limit future purchases in this area as I have been quite disappointed about these lately. I therefore had to craft the periscope and I needed a lot.
First step is to create the core component in 3mm thick plasticard.
Then the front section is created on the same size in 0.5mm plasticard
The shape of the front (len) section has to be trimmed with a Dremel file because a knife would distort and break them.
Front and core parts of the periscopes are assembled on the left, and final product showing on the right once shaped and polished with nail files of various grain. I know many modellers would 3D print these but building 6 periscopes took me about 1.5 hours of effort, including the design, prototype and production.
The more complex commander's cupola is a real puzzle and references must be studied carefully on how to use the parts provided by Christian.
Christian did a good job in providing the core parts and they can be easily assembled. Accuracy is pretty good, although there are a couple of issues that I did not correct.
It is the brass job that takes a long time in order to dress up the cupolas and periscopes as per reference pictures, the Trumpeter 1/35 showing very few details in this area. Notice how better the crafted periscopes look compared to the Shapeways parts on the first picture.
The 2 brass bolts going up on both side of the central periscope are the attachment for the IR emitter that I will install later.
More close up on next post.

Front driver hatch
Close up of a crafted periscope.
Rear view of commander's cupola.
This is the 1/16 MAIM T-72 crewman purchased on eBay. Honestly, I much prefer resin figures. This thing will require a lot of clean up and polishing. Although it is made of good qualify plastic and is obviously well designed, it is expensive and the 3D printing technology is still not yet at the required standard that I am used to with resin figures at the same cost. Look at all the micro lines that will need removal and polishing. I am unsure of the results unless looked at from 2 meters away.
Dry fitting of the commander at his post, looks ok.
Regards, Louis