BMP-2 Re-Paint - 1/56 Scale

BMP-2 from Sloppy Jalopy

Last year we moved to a new house in Winnipeg.  I am now finally getting around to unpacking some parts of my collection from storage (a.k.a. the big pile in a room downstairs) so I can display them on some new shelves. But as we have all experienced, transportation of our gaming figures, particularly vehicles, can be dangerous. I was disappointed to find that one of my BMP-2s from Sloppy Jalopy had experienced a "transportation failure", and was in a few pieces when I unpacked it.

Before the repaint - the cannon had been knocked off the turret, and bent a little...

I had painted these vehicles several years ago....2007 to 2008 timeframe, I think.  While I was re-attaching the gun barrel to the turret last week, I thought it would be fun to try and upgrade the paint job a little bit.  I originally painted this model along very "Soviet" lines - everything was a dark, military green - and the treads were metal.  No flash, no camouflage, just green cannon fodder for the front lines.

Close up of the damage

These vehicles have typically seen action in Afghanistan games - because they are 1/56 scale (i.e. the wrong scale for anything) they have seldom been used in our Soviet vs. NATO games as they appear comically small on the table next to the (allegedly) 1/48 scale Kitech tank models that served as the basis for the original Soviet armoured force as part of our insane modern build-up.

Finished re-paint - the 28mm motor rifleman is from Mongrel Miniatures

I have been doing some Osprey reading lately, and found many references and pictures to camouflage patterns being applied by Soviet troops to the BMPs in Afghanistan.  I decided to throw a quick cammo  pattern on the tank, as well as some other small improvements.

Rear view of the re-painted model.  You can see from this photo why 1/56 scale sucks with 25/28mm models...or for anything, for that matter

For cammo I stippled a layer of "Tallarn Sand" from GW's new paint range, and stippled a layer of "Rakarth Earth" (also from the new range) on top of that, before yellowing it again with a bit more Tallarn Sand.  After the cammo was down, I did a lot of black-lining to try and bring out more features on the vehicle.

I painted in the "glass" on the search lights and the vision ports.  These things seldom look like real glass on actual tanks, but I like adding this effect to models as it makes the ports etc. really pop and gives you a clear idea of what they are supposed to be.

I need one of those lighting studios for these pictures....

I used floral wire to add an antenna on rear of the turret, and repainted the canvas section around the 30mm cannon on the turret, using GW "Snakebite Leather" as a base and "Rakarth Earth" as a highlight.  I also re-painted the AT-4/5 launcher on the top of the turret with a different colour of green from the armour of the vehicle, as many of the references I have seen on line over the years show something similar.

Last step was the weathering powders - as this vehicle is fighting in Afghanistan, I wanted it to be plenty worn, so I was heavy with the dust and rust on the tracks, and lots of dirt over the engine vents.  I blackened the tip of the 30mm cannon as well to give it the appearance of use against the Mujahideen.

I left the original decals I used for the tactical numbers (from a GW Cadian decal sheet of yore) in place, but the weathering faded them out a lot, and I like the look of it.

Overall I was very pleased with the results, and it did not take long at all - just about an hour.

Now that I have more vehicles from Imprint - which are 1/50 scale - my Sloppy Jalopy BMPs may yet make an appearance in a game versus NATO or other opponents on the Fawcett tabletop.  I have four BMPs from Sloppy Jalopy - three BMP-2s and a solitary BMP-1.  At some point in the future I may give them a similar re-paint (or something different, perhaps, who knows).  But that can wait for now, as progress on the Golan Heights Project continues....progress report pending very soon on that...