Hi all

A little time ago I started to build the BMD-1P kit produced by Skif


It was very cheap indeed (It cost me 15 €, about 21 USD) but when I bought it, I really didn't know about its quality. Checking the sprues I was very pleased to notice that the kit is quite good, more than I expected from an eastern Europe kit. Of course, it doesn't have the same quality of the latest chinese releases, but it doesn't have any flash and seems to depict in a quite convincing way shapes and dimensions of the original vehicle. In the box you can find also a little PE fret, but it looks quite rough so only few of their parts actually can be used. Kit gives singular track links, which are a little simplified but accettable.

Eduard produces a set for this kit ( http://www.ecomodelismo.com/bmd-1p-Ref-EDUA-35517.html ), but I've decided not to use it so i'll make some scratch build to improve the model

Regarding the original vehicle, you can find short information here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMD-1

If you'd like to read a review of the kit you can look here.
http://www.internetmodeler.com/2002/december/first-looks/skif_bmd-1p.htm

Russian army has deployed the BMP-1 and BMP-1P (which is a varian of BMP-1 with a 9S428 ATGM or a 9P135M-1 ATGM rocket launcher mounted on the turret ) in Afghanistan, durung the Second Checen war and in South Ossetia campaign. As usual with my projects, I've collected a lot of reference pics from eastern sites but to be honest I haven't decided yet what will be my exemplar.

As the first step I modified the hupper hull. According to my reference pics, there were some mistake which I corrected using plastic card and putty







Some details looked too crude such as the periscopes. I removed them opening some loopholes. In those holes I'm going to insert new scratch made details.
Regarding the rear deck, Skif has reproduced it with details which are too raised and sharp. I sanded down them ans i replaced the bulges with plastic card details. It was quite a nightmare but I'm quite stisfied with the result

Skif rear deck


Actual rear deck




Rear deck modified


As you can see I also hopened the grills holes and rebuilt the grill frames. Skif offers photo etched grills, but they are simply awful, so I think I'll replace them with fine metal mesh.

My job so far




Any suggestions and helps will be greatly apreciated.
I'll post other steps soon


(Ps pics have been posted for discussion purpose only,)

I did that one years ago... it cost me around 10 € which was a real bargain.
But the kit was quite hard to put together.. the tracks are awful and also fitting the upper hull with the lower tub.

I wished I picked the Zvezda version...

It looks your getting a good job out of it so far !!

I recently trade a MTLB by Skif. The quality was ok. I did have a problem mating the upper and lower hulls. However, I used masking tape to bend the upper hull so that it would mate with the lower hull. Put it back in the closet and a few weeks later the hulls mated perfectly. My biggest complaint is the general lack of detail found in Skif's kits. I'm sure that, with a little detail work, it will build into a fine model.

Well I've already done some fitting trials. There's a large gap between upper hull and vertcal sides, but anyway there are no details in that zone so it wouldn't 'be difficult to fill it with plastic rods and putty.
However for a such low price, some fitting issues is the least I could expect On the other hand the kit is made with a plastic rather "soft" so, as Matt said, matching the parts using elastic bands and masking tape would be enough to obtain a decent result.




Thanks a lot John

cheers

Hi all

Another small update

I've done the rear grills. According to my reference pics they look a little bit raised





To replicate them I've used a dense wire metal mesh which I bought a while time ago in a hardware store (...Actually I love using cheap materials for my builds... )

As the first step I've stuck with double sided adhesive tape a piece of plastic card on my workbench. Plastic piece was 2mm thick and it had the same dimensions of the rear grill holes ( 10,5mm X 16mm)



Then I put the wire mesh on the plastic piece...



...and using a wooden coffee stirrer, I've deformed the wire mesh untill it was perfectly adherent to my jig...



Then using a pair of small scissors I've cut the wire mesh excess...



That's my final result:





I haven't glued yet because I haven't reproduced the blades which are under the grills.

I hope you like it

Cheers

(Ps pics have been posted for discussion purpose only.)

yippe, great postin Mauro!

got a Zvesda cloon half finnish in a box, but seeing your improvments and how to, I'm thinkin of getting out the saw and file and start altering mine following your lead

thanks!

Good start Mauro....

You're off in a prominent start Mauro!!!!!
Looking very good!!!
I'll follow the build with interest!!!!

Many thanks to all of you for your interest and for the kind words

I hope i'll be able to post other updates after this weekend. At the moment I've been removing some anaesthetic mould seams from the vertical sides...and it's quite annoying

Hi Pit

Zvezda BPM is slightly different from the Skif kit. Its hull probably is easier to build because it has less pieces so there will be less problems about the alignments Unfortunately it has also (ugly) vinyl tracks ...but you told me that is half finished so you've aready known
Anyway I'll be glad to see your model...and if you need references, let me know


Cheers and thanks again

As always Mauro,very nice!

Hi Sven, how do you do mate?

Thanks a lot!

Hey Mauro- I see you are really go to town on this! Fantastic detail so far and great references too. The work you've done with the rear deck and the rear grilles is simply inspiring.

I'm going to go have a close look at my Eastern Express kit to see how the detail in these areas compares.

Good luck with the rest of the build mate. Oh, any thoughts on paint schemes yet? How are the decals in the box?

Really nice additions so far Mauro !
Keep on the good job

Olivier

Thanks a million guys your very kind indeed

Olivier, I know the you've already done this kit. I hope I'll be able to do a very good job like yours. Thanks for the interst


Karl, thanks a lot...regarding your questions ...




I haven't decided yet. In our opinion what would be cooler ?....

Afghanistan:













Ossetia















Chechnya







KFOR











Uknown unit



Some of them are the first BMD version vithout the grills on the front glacis, so to depict one of them I'll have to modify the model

Decals look decent but to be honest I haven't tried yet


Cheers and again many thanks to all of you



(Ps pics have been posted for discussion purpose only.)

Mauro,the Skif Kit depicts a 1P that is with a Spigot ATGM launcher not the early Sagger ATGM. So if you decide to go with the Afghanistan war, I think you'll certainly have to modify the main gun too.
Some with more expertise than I may pop up and correct me if necessary.

Olivier

Mauro- I'm probably going to go with either the 2 or 3 Color KFOR paint scheme when I do my BMD. There are so many schemes to choose from for this vehicle! You could paint it Russian Green and then weather the hell out of it. Then there is that interesting scheme they had in Ossetia with the grey in it. So much choice!

I took a look at the Eastern Express kit and the rear deck appears to be the correct shape, or a better approximation of the correct shape, than the Zvezda kit. Unfortunately the rear grilles are moulded as small ridges on the EE kit and will likely need more work than the Skif kit.

Anyway, waiting for your next update bud, good luck!

Yes Olivier that's it.



Anyway on the reference pics it seems that rarely rocket launcher were installed, so I don't know if I'll put on my exemplar eventually
Here some reference with caption translation

http://otvaga2004.narod.ru/otvaga2004/armour-rus-bmd/a_bmd1p.htm



BMD-1P reconnaissance 317-th DMA 103rd Airborne Division. Afghanistan, 1985


Airborne reconnaissance unit on the BMD-1P in Afghanistan, 1985

Look at the T-62 fuel tanks on the rear deck


Soviet BMD-1P in Afghanistan




Yes Karl, Ossetian exemplar looks attractive indeed ... I have also a pic which depicts Russian exemplars on a practice field which are wearing an outstanding temporary winter scheme



Regarding EE kit, as far as i know is quite good, probably is better than the Skif kit. It has extra fuel tanks and its track links are depicted in a better way than the skif ones. Solid grill is a minor flaw which you, who are very skilled indeed, could easily correct in my opinion

Other exemplars:









Cheers

(Ps pics have been posted for discussion purpose only,)

I forgot about that winter white scheme actually, thats not bad. More options!!
And yes, I must say the individual track links in the EE kit are very good- a little soft in some areas but adequate nonetheless.

As usual "studying" reference is the most important thing to do

Doing that I've noticed that I have to be carefull if I decide to reproduce an Afghan BMD.

In fact some of the BMD used during the afghan war were the early series so they had different wheels

Early wheels






Mid series wheels (1980)





Late BDM-1 P wheels




Karl, Winter scheme is my favorite so far

cheers

(Ps pics have been posted for discussion purpose only,)

Mauro,
where did you find those technical drawings, great stuff!!

Sean

Hi Sean

Although unfortunately I don't speak Russian, when I do Google searches about eastern stuff, I allways use keywords written in Russian. It allows me to find more information, a lot more than those which I could find using English keywords

Anyway you can find interesting drawings and pics here

http://vadimvswar.narod.ru/ALL_OUT/TiVOut0809/BMD-1/BMD-1002.htm

http://vadimvswar.narod.ru/ALL_OUT/TiVOut0809/BMD-1/BMD-1001.htm

http://army.lv/ru/bmd-1/701/58

http://www.army.lv/files/98.pdf


I hope this is usefull for you

cheers

Hi
Some small upgrades here

According to my reference pics, on the sides of Bmd there's a sort of circular hatch





In Skif kit, this circular hatch looks raised, so I've decided to remove the original detail and engraving a new one.
First of all I made a jig using dymo tape. I holed the tape using a belt punch



I put the jig on the model and I engraved it using a sharp punch



Then I washed the engraving, putting on it a very light coat of Tamiya thin glue



This is my final result



I 've also made two scratch details to simulate the lamellas which appear under the rear grills













I haven't glued them yet. I need your suggestions and I'd like to know your opinion. Should I paint the lamellas before closing the hull or will it be enough painting them at the end with my airbrush ?

Anyway, looking for other reference pics, I've found another interesting exemplar which I could replicate







Many thanks for our interest

Cheers

(Ps pics have been posted for discussion purpose only,)

Very nice and crative Mauro,good work.

+1 for winter camo .

Looks great! Very neat scratch-building you got going on.
Keep up the good work!

On your question about the lamellas under the screens, I'd recommend painting them beforehand. The screen is quite fine and mostly likely you'd have very hard time getting the parts behind the screens evenly covered without cloggin the screens with paint.

@ Sven

Thanks a lot mate. So far winter scheme it's my favorite

@ Eetu

Yes, I think you're right, although mesh are incredibly fine i think it would be probably better painting them before. At least i think i have to paint them with primer

Thanks a lot for your advise and for the kind words

cheers