 |
| The Federal Republic of Germany's Bundeswehr inherited 764 Soviet made BMP-1s (KM3 / Kurgan Factory) from East German NVA stockpiles. These vehicles were brought up to Bundeswehr safety standards and redesignated BMP-1A1 OST. |
 |
| German Ministry of Defense soon decided to declare the modified BMP-1s "surplus" due to economical and political reasons. 500 of the vehicles were sold to the Hellenic Army in 1993 -1994, at a price roughly covering the cost of modification. The remaining vehicles (264) were sold to the Swedish Army, who redesignated them as Pbv501. |
 |
| All Soviet style headlights, signal lights, dimmed driving lights, position lights and mirrors were replaced by new parts identical to those on the Marder-2 IFV. |
 |
| The Sagger A/T missile system was removed and the missile loading hatch was welded closed. The mounting lug for a Spigot/ Spandrel 9P135 launcher was added to the turret roof. After 1995 Hellenic Army BMP-1A1s received a mount for a .50 caliber Browning M2HB machine gun on the turret, in front of the commander's cupola. |
 |
| Indicating the Ministry's excellent crisis management training, the accident-prone automatic loader of the 73mm 2A28 Grom gun was removed as it was very difficult to maintain and a safety hazard to the crew. |
 |
| This ACE kit is nicely detailed and measures out very well. It definitely looks like the real thing. |
 |
| Photo etched parts are provided for the gunports, gunner's optics, lightguards, smoke discharger covers and rear fender "swim vents". |
 |
| Anti-slip coating strips were added to the upper hull of the BMP-1A1s and are represented on the kit by dark crosshatched decals provided on the sheet. |
 |
| The fuel cells built into the two rear hatches were deleted on A1 mods. Middle East battles proved that they were extremely vulnerable to heavy machine gun fire and easily caught fire, preventing the riding infantry from dismounting from the back. The Bundeswehr style convoy light was missing from the kit so I borrowed one from an old ESCI Leopard. |
 |
| Hellenic vehicles had a boarding ladder added to the left side of the hull. The kit does not include this detail so I built mine out of stretched sprue. |
 |
| My BMP took some extra effort to assemble, but no more than would be expected from a short run kit. The final result is a very nice detailed kit. |
| BMP1-A1 Specifications |
| Crew: 3 Passengers: 8 |
| Weight: 13.5t |
Dimensions
Length: 6.74m
Width: 2.94m
Height: 2.15m |
| Maximum Speed: 49.7 mph. (80km/h) |
| Maximum Range: 311 miles (500km) |
Engine:
UTD-20, inline 6-cylinder water-cooled diesel, producing 300 hp at 2,000 rpm. |
Armament:
1 x 73 mm (2A28) with 40 rounds.
1 x 7.62 mm MG (coaxial) with 2000 rounds. |
Transmission:
Manual, 5 gears forward, 1 reverse. |
Kit: Ace # 72117 |
Scale: 1/72 |
| Review: For a detailed review with assembly stage photos go to the BMP-1A1 Review page. |
| Comments: See BMP-1A1 Review page. |
| Decals: Decals are provided for Bundeswehr or Hellenic Army. See BMP1-A1 Review page. |
| Paint: I started with a base coat of Testors Model Master "Russian Armor Green" #4808. Adding White to the base color, I spayed "paint fades". I painted the tracks a base color "Rust". After hand brushing a coat of Future Floorwax on the entire kit, I used an oil wash of mostly Ivory Black with a touch of Titanium White. I cleaned up the excess wash with Mineral Spirits, then made applied a second oil wash of Umber, Yellow Ocre and Ivory Black for the sand and dirt. A number 2 pencil to add metallic highlights to the tracks. I dry brushed a lightened version of the original base color on raised details and dry brushed a tan color over the tracks and roadwheels. Last I sprayed an overall coat of Testors Dullcoat. |
| After Market Parts: None |
| Customizations: I used tiny pieces of silver sequins coated with 3 minute Epoxy for the headlamps and searchlight. Small slivers cut from pearlised sequins were used on the many vision blocks and optics. Strips of masking tape were used for the turret tie-down straps. German style Convoy light was cut off an old ESCI Leopard 1A1 kit. Hellenic style boarding ladder was built from scratch out of stretched sprue. |
| Cost: This kit sells for around $15 US. This is fairly good value considering the inclusion of photo etched parts and keeping in mind that this the only 72nd scale injection molded BMP available. |
