A few 1/35 IFV's and AFV's

[Ramba]

I am doing a series of what if vehicles. First is the Skif 2S1 being converted to a sort of BMP-30 similar to the Bulgarian version but not 100% so it becomes a what if.

Here is the kit I am starting with.



The recessed headlights on the BMP-30 were moved to the top so the recessed area was closed off.



The BMP-30 has dual rear doors and dual rear hatches same as the BMP-2. I scratch built the doors and hatches but lost the two rear doors. I didn't feel like redoing them so I put the original 2S1 single rear door back on. I still have to make the latches and handles for the rear hatches.



The BMP-30 also uses the same turret as the BMP-2. I have a spare turret from a Dragon BMP-2 but no searchlights. This is where I am so far with it.



Here are the other vehicles I will be doing. These are all 6x6.

Hobby Boss PTL-02. It will be converted to a what if using an SP Designs Ukrainian BMP-1M Shkval remote turret.



Next up is the Revell TPz 1 FUCHS A4. It will get a Live Resin SAG II turret with Live Resin M134 minigun.



Lastly, the Trumpeter JGSDF Type 82 Command Post. This will also get a Live Resin SAG II turret with Live Resin twin .50cals. The raised rear section will be cut down to be level with the main upper hull.


Here are the three pre conversion.

[Buzzbomb]

All great choices, so looking forward to how these evolve.

Your use of the Skif 2S1 kit is possibly the best use for it. Then there is the gawdawful tracks. Could never bring myself to build the one I have in the stash.

It is engaging  how organised you are with all these and have a clear roadmap for each. I can just imagine if I started like this, none would end up the way I may have imagined it.

[Frank3k]

Great series of builds. The Skif kits can be very annoying - their T-55s are probably the most inaccurate in 1/35. The reviews for this kit (all in the box) say that the vinyl tracks are OK, which would be a miracle for a Skif kit. Are you going to keep or replace them? The JGSDF Type 82 looks like a real life super-deformed or egg AFV. The addition of a SAG turret will help!

[ChernayaAkula]

Great lot of projects! 

The Fuchs doesn't get near enough modelling attention, I think. It's kinda odd no one has come up with a newly-tooled Fuchs. Should be right up the streets of Trumpeter/Hobby Boss, Meng, TAKOM,.... Same goes for the Marder, actually.
Seeing that grey Fuchs hull, it has a somewhat.... Imperial look to it, doesn't it?  Turbolaser instead of the Minigun? 

[Ramba]

All great choices, so looking forward to how these evolve.

Your use of the Skif 2S1 kit is possibly the best use for it. Then there is the gawdawful tracks. Could never bring myself to build the one I have in the stash.

It is engaging  how organised you are with all these and have a clear roadmap for each. I can just imagine if I started like this, none would end up the way I may have imagined it.

Thanks! I change my mind like the wind. I went through a few different proposals before deciding.

These are the Skif 2S1 tracks. I haven't tested them yet.


The 2S1 went together a lot better than the Skif Strela. The Skif Strela was horribly warped and needed lots of clamps to hold it together. The 2S1 didn't need any clamps at all.

[Ramba]

Great series of builds. The Skif kits can be very annoying - their T-55s are probably the most inaccurate in 1/35. The reviews for this kit (all in the box) say that the vinyl tracks are OK, which would be a miracle for a Skif kit. Are you going to keep or replace them? The JGSDF Type 82 looks like a real life super-deformed or egg AFV. The addition of a SAG turret will help!

Thanks! The 2S1 actually went together fairly well. The Skif Strela was a different story though. The Skif Strela kkit was horribly warped and needed a lot of clamps to hold it together. See photos above in previous post.

Yeah, the Type 82 looked wobbly like it would topple over. I removed the raised section on the upper hull and it looks a lot better. It looks more aggressive/meaner and the SAG II turret makes a huge difference.

Here it is with the SAG turret before I removed the raised section. The white line shown in the second photo shows where I cut it. I outlined the area to cut with dymo tape and scored along the edge then used a fine razor saw. Will show the results in the next update.

[Ramba]

Great lot of projects! 

The Fuchs doesn't get near enough modelling attention, I think. It's kinda odd no one has come up with a newly-tooled Fuchs. Should be right up the streets of Trumpeter/Hobby Boss, Meng, TAKOM,.... Same goes for the Marder, actually.
Seeing that grey Fuchs hull, it has a somewhat.... Imperial look to it, doesn't it?  Turbolaser instead of the Minigun? 

Thanks! The FUCHS plastic was very shiny and polished. The FUCHS is a very cool looking vehicle and really like that design. The reason I got the FUCHS, the JGSDF Type 82 and the Chinese PTL is because I like the forward cab design. Looks futuristic. The Revell kit wasn't too bad except for the big connecting holes on the outside of the hull for the grab handles and tools. The holes were about 3 times bigger than the pins that go in them. All the holes needed filling.

[Old Wombat]

Carry on, sir! Watching your progress.

[Ramba]

Carry on, sir! Watching your progress.

Thank you! Progress is slow but steady.

[Ramba]

Some progress on the FUCHS. Filling all those unsightly over sized holes. You can also see the SAG II turret being test fitted.



Got the drive train and axles assembled.


Test fitting the upper and lower hulls.


I also worked on the SP Designs resin turret. One of the view ports is missing.



The main gun was warped. Hit by an RPG maybe?


Turret completed. The missile tubes on the right need to be aligned better. The 4 plastic rods at the rear of the main gun I had to do myself. SP Designs didn't include any nor did they even say what length to use.

[Buzzbomb]

Wow... that is all on ramming speed.

Very swift work

[Ramba]

Wow... that is all on ramming speed.

Very swift work

Thanks! Moving along but slow and steady.

[Ramba]

Started working on the Live Resin M134 minigun. I replaced the barrels with RB Models metal ones.

[Old Wombat]

Suspension isn't complex at all!

Great work! The upgraded mini-gun is a little work of art!

[Ramba]

Suspension isn't complex at all!

Great work! The upgraded mini-gun is a little work of art!

Thanks! Yeah, the suspension was a bit complex. The metal barrels were quite fragile. You had to be very careful not to crimp or bend them. Unfortunately one of the barrels arrived crimped and when I tried to straighten it, the small part that was crimped just fell right off.

[Ramba]

So the PLA already uses a ZSL vehicle with a remote turret and Hobby Boss does have one. I should have just started with the Hobby Boss ZSL-92 IFV kit instead of the PTL-02. Would have been much easier.

Here is the Hobby Boss ZSL-92 IFV kit.


The suspension on the Hobby Boss kit was much simpler than on the Revell FUCHS.


By using the Hobby Boss PTL-02 kit, I had to fill in the huge turret ring from the 105mm turret to fit the new SP Designs remote turret. If I knew about the Hobby Boss ZSL-92 IFV kit first I would have just gotten that to begin with. The Ukrainian remote turret looks a lot nicer than the PLA turret though. The PTL-02 doesn't have the rear upper hatches or the side firing ports which the ZSL-92 IFV does. Luckily the parts were included in the PTL-02 kit as they use most of the same parts trees so I added them myself. Not entirely correct but mine is a what if after all. I am also adding a resin E.T. Models DUKE antenna.


New remote turret test fitted.


Here is the PLA ZSL-92 IFV and my what if version.

[GTX_Admin]

 

[Frank3k]

The  ZSL-92 looks a lot like the Fuchs, minus the side doors. It's not a bad kit and usually sells at a great for whiffing price. The new remote turret looks good!

[Buzzbomb]

Yes appears to be  case of Snap !
Pretty close. Still I do like you work. I have used SP Designs as well, when their stuff was the only way to get a BTR-80 30mm turret on to the Zvesda BTR-80.
Now there are  multiple versions of it out.

Like you.. I think the Fuchs has lots of promise for vehicles along with a fairly extensive stable of real world mods that make it interesting.

[apophenia]

That Ukrainian turret looks much 'tougher' than its RW ZSL-92 equivalent. Gives the whole vehicle a beefier appearance 

Looking forward to the chopped-down JGSDF Type 82 CP. Its quite a compact-looking 6x6 already.

[Old Wombat]

As usual, I like where you're going & will be watching intently!

[Ramba]

The  ZSL-92 looks a lot like the Fuchs, minus the side doors. It's not a bad kit and usually sells at a great for whiffing price. The new remote turret looks good!

Thanks! I like the SP Designs Ukrainian turret much better than the ZSL-92 IFV turret. Mine sits a little further back though. I prefer it to be more mid section like on the Hobby Boss kit but that would have been way more work on my part than I would have liked so it sits as is.

I did a search yesterday for a Hobby Boss ZSL-92 IFV with the remote turret but prices are not as low as I thought. Over two years ago I bought the Hobby Boss PTL-02 and ZSL-92B for around $20 USD NEW each which also included free shipping. No such prices today.

Here is my ZSL-92B. It is being built OOB.

[Ramba]

Yes appears to be  case of Snap !
Pretty close. Still I do like you work. I have used SP Designs as well, when their stuff was the only way to get a BTR-80 30mm turret on to the Zvesda BTR-80.
Now there are  multiple versions of it out.

Like you.. I think the Fuchs has lots of promise for vehicles along with a fairly extensive stable of real world mods that make it interesting.

Thanks! Yeah, SP Designs makes some nice conversion sets. I got mine from BNA World a couple years ago when they had them on clearance sale so I got them really cheap.

[Ramba]

That Ukrainian turret looks much 'tougher' than its RW ZSL-92 equivalent. Gives the whole vehicle a beefier appearance 

Looking forward to the chopped-down JGSDF Type 82 CP. Its quite a compact-looking 6x6 already.

Thanks! Yes, I really like the look of the Ukrainian remote turret. Mine sits a little too far back though. I prefer it to be more mid section like on the Hobby Boss ZSL-92 IFV kit but that would have been way more work on my part than I would have liked so it sits as is.

The chop top JGSDF Type 82 will be posted today.

[Ramba]

As usual, I like where you're going & will be watching intently!

Thanks! Moving slowly but surely. Some progress here and there as I keep changing my mind on what I want to do with each but I think I got most figured out except the JGSDF Type 82. Trying all sorts of different weapons configurations but haven't found one I really like just yet.