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Cold War NVA, part 3: BMP-1

Two more vehicles from Butlers Printed Models arrived last week, one of which is this BMP-1 armoured personnel carrier. To me, the BMP-1 perfectly reflects the Soviet design aesthetic: ugly as sin, but it gets the job done! 

DDR NVA BMP-1

BMP is short for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty, which translates as (if Wikipedia is right) infantry fighting vehicle. Unlike many APC’s, which usually only carry a machine gun, the BMP actually packs quite a punch and can even take on tanks with its 73 mm gun and wire-guided anti-tank missile. It has a crew of 3 and can carry 8 infantrymen in the back.

DDR NVA BMP-1

Many countries have used the Soviet-built BMP-1, including East Germany. Unfortunately for me, East German BMP’s were never given any interesting camouflage paint jobs. Just solid green, I’m afraid. Looking at photographs of the period, it seems that two different shades of green were used. In some pictures the vehicles look to be a shade of olive drab similar to that used by NATO countries, while in others they seem to be painted a much brighter sort of green. See, for example, the image above. I settled on the brighter green, to differentiate it from my Cold War Dutch vehicles.

DDR NVA BMP-1

This is how the printed model arrived. A few minutes with a set of pliers later the vehicle was freed of its support material. I feel that this print is a bit rougher than the DAF YP-408 that I received earlier. The angled front hatch, for example, was full of deep grooves which needed to be filled and sanded smooth (Of course, I was too lazy to take pictures...). The road wheels also look pretty simplified and the tracks are entirely smooth with no attempt made at modelling individual track links. I hid these simplifications by gluing on some used coffee grounds to represent mud. These niggles aside, it is a pretty nice model and it paints up well, as you can see. 

Most East German BMP’s have very little in the way of markings apart from a little DDR emblem on the side of the turret. For some reason, the tricolour is always turned 90 degrees, so it looks more like a Belgian than a German flag. I tried to replicate the emblem, but painting the wreath, hammer and compass was a bit beyond my capabilities. Some BMP’s apparently also had the vehicle number painted on the sides in white, which I also did for some added visual interest.

DDR NVA BMP-1
DDR NVA BMP-1
DDR NVA BMP-1
DDR NVA BMP-1
DDR NVA BMP-1

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