Does anybody know if this is a good kit or am I buying it just for the figures? I can't seem to locate any reviews on it.

Hello Matt,
it is reputedly better and more accurate than the Dragon one.
Hopefully Jacques or another Soviet stuff guru will pop up to say more.

Olivier

Ive not got it or ever seen it in the flesh but its apparently pretty good. Has the correct rear hatch layout which Dragon screwed up.

I have the kit but have not looked at it in awhile. From what I remember it is quite basic which is not suprising as it is about 20 years old. It is more accurate then the Dragon one namely becuase Dragon screwed up the top hatch arrangment. IIRC the rear and top hatches are molded closed on the ESCI kit but I may be wrong. The tracks are pretty basic as are the road wheels but there are After Market ones available. I believe that there are metal barrels available for this kit as well. Hope this helps.

Roy

Thanks guys. That is what I needed to know. PE, road wheels, tracks, and a barrel.

I don't recall any figures coming with it, unless it was reboxed with some later on. I have the kit relatively handy if you need a few comparison photos.

Jim

It was the BMP-2 with the hatch positioning problem, not the BMP-1, and both the ERTL/ESCI and Dragon/Zvezda/Revell got it wrong. (Hardly surprising considering that they are essentially the same mold . . .)

KL

You're right about the rear hatches. It's not an Esci kit problem.

I don't think they all come from the same mold. Look at the access hatch just right to the driver station. Esci represented it correctly, that is away from the driver's hatch. Dragon set it nearly in contact with the driver's hatch.
The air vent behind the turret is a separate part in the Esci kit and is molded solid in the Dragon ...
Have a look at this picture of the Esci upper hull from another forum.


Olivier

Jim: Here is the kit I am looking at

"1/35 5036 ESCI BMP-1 Soviet or Finnish with 14 Modern Russian Spetsnaz Paratroopers Good Injection Molded new
Includes 14 Spetsnaz with painting instructions..."
Let me make sure I understand this. The Esci BMP-1 is more accurrate than the Dragon one?.

Matt,
I think the figures may be molded in soft plastic and are probably a scale up of ESCIs 1/72 spetsnaz set so i wouldn't expect too much.

Sean

The DML kit had working hatch hinges which were goofy and out of scale, but other than that I don't think there is a discernable accuracy difference between them.

KL

Allright. I'd have to throw too much money at it to make it worth my while.

I know that the wheels are way better then than the Dragon kit, ESCI wheels have detail on both sides were as the Dragon kit has it on one side.