RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

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

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

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

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

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.
Not a smooth or fast exit under any situation.
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.
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.
It became obvious that the idler arrangement should be installed before completing the interior.
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.
Showing the adjuster hull attachments ready for installation
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.
Basic elements for the idler, with a flanged ball bearing at the center and an M4 metal pin as shaft.
Idler wheels are assembled.
Continuing on following post

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.
BMP idler hub caps are made with modified HL T-34 caps.
View of the lower hull interior.
Most of the work is actually on the roof.
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.
Continuing on following post.

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.
Periscope are Shapeways King tiger
The large hatches on the top provide good view of the interior.
The model as it stands today for the testing of the electronics.
Next to my built 1/35 BMP-2.
Next step is to redo the interior tie downs on the hull sides, then switch to the exterior.

Regards, Louis

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man Louis, I think you've bested your best! The interior is simply AWESOME!

Can't wait to see what's next
Barry

One word ......MAGICAL! Louis you have raised the bar beyond anything I could have imagined.

Simply brilliant.

Stunning work! Really great, the interior is awe inspiring.