For my fifth Z modelling, here is the ModelCollect BMP-3.
Successor to the ubiquitous BMP-1 and BMP-2 Soviet Infantry Fighting Vehicles, the BMP-3 was developed in the 1980s and appeared for the first time in public at the 1990 Victory Day Parade. But following the turmoil of the end of the USSR, it was only in the second decade of the 2000s that the first massive orders were placed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The BMP-3 is one of the more heavily armed combat vehicles currently in service. He is fitted with a low-velocity 100mm, with can fire conventional shells or AT-10 Stabber ATGMs, coupled with a 30mm autocannon. He also has a 7,62mm coaxial machine gun in the turret and two more in bow positions.
The last variants are equipped with state of the art fire control system with two-plane stabilised gunner's sight, integrated laser range-finder and panoramic thermal imaging camera.
Compared to his predecessors, the BMP-3 has an unconventional layout with the engine in the back of the vehicle. The driver is seated center forward in the hull together with two infantrymen (one on each side). The gunner and commander are seated in the turret with the remaining five infantrymen aft of it. Troops leave/enter the vehicle over the engine located under the double bottom floor.
The ModelCollect kit was a nice one but with some little inaccuracies and not the version I wanted. So I made some corrections, modifications and additions and I'm pretty happy with the result. The figurines are also from ModelCollect and even if they are not the prettiest I have seen, they will do here.
