Sudsy's Benchtop - BMP inspired Chimera replacement

zathros

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Fantastic? Quite right, to say the least. These don't look like paper or plastic, they looks like tanks! :)
 

zathros

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Have you ever made one of those Russia BMP vehicles? I am sure you could give them great justice. ;)
 

Sudsy

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Have you ever made one of those Russia BMP vehicles? I am sure you could give them great justice. ;)

I've got some 15mm resin BMP-1's I made. I used them for a game of "Team Yankee" (15mm game based off of the book made by the same company that makes WWII Flames of War). Only problem is the BMP-1 is a death trap in the modern era as seen in Afghanistan during the Soviet involvement there (which accelerated the BMP-2 development).

Given the features, this Chimera tracked AFV certainly draws more from the BMP-2 than the BMP-1, right down to the firing port for the PK machine gunner (it is a rectangular-ish door on the right side I believe). I strongly suspect Mr. Patoroch has spent a considerable amount of his early adulthood operating near or out of one of the Soviet/Ukrainian BMP-2s. When I dug into a blog that is a top to bottom crawl through the BMP-2, this model features so many of those details (albeit with 40K twists here and there like the Chimera tracks and weapons like twin linked heavy bolters on an octagonal turret...) right where they need to be. At the very least, he did his homework! I suspect the much more, personal, research collected through experience however!
 

Sudsy

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So, I made some progress today. Mostly an afternoon of rolling tubes around a drill bit. One autocannon barrel, six smoke grenade tubes, and a single snorkel kit tube (if I recall from the blog about the BMP-2 I posted a page or two back).

Tracks are built and grebled with the main hull and primed. On to the turret, paint, and then final assembly! BIMP 3 is nearly complete, about 70% or so!

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Sudsy

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So, here it is, all primed. All primary assembly is complete.

All that remains of this project is painting and final assembly! A platoon of BMP-Chimeras!

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I even have a flag I will use on a couple of these for the force they will be a part of...

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Yup, with the Vulture displaying proudly the colors of Novum Kioviensis, re-united with the Imperium of man some time in M40; and they had some unique STCs that included the BMP-C-2 variation of the Chimera along with a few others...
 

Sudsy

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Well Zealots, it's been a great run on this thread! From October 5 2018 until June 2 2019, I have completed my regular BMP platoon of three vehicles! TO&E of a Mechanized Rifle Platoon of BMPs back in the Cold War was three BMPs with three squads of 9 soldiers. Gunner and Driver stayed in the BMP, giving each squad of dismounts seven troopers. Novum Kioviensis would follow Imperial standards, and likely have the standard 10 man squads inside these STC machines built for that many troopers while maintaining the ability to have the driver and gunner stay aboard the vehicle to provide fire support to the dismounted squads. This brings up the strength of this platoon to 36 troopers. Six remain as drivers (as Tech Priests provide the mechanics role in the Imperium....) and gunner/vehicle commanders. Three squads of ten men would make the standard Imperial Guard platoon. Obviously, Novum Kioviensis would be a much higher percentage of Armored Fist squads than a standard Imperial Guard Regiment, but that is the stratagem they have brought with them when they were reunited with the Imperium of Man, and one the High Lords of Terra are more than happy to employ in exchange for the STC that the Cult of Mars was rather pleased to see return to mankind.

Such quirks in a human society are more than acceptable when the Imperium benefits greatly!

31JUL19 Edit:

All the "BIMP 3" build photos! Having documented the first two pretty thoroughly, I think I only snapped the big landmark photos for this one.

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zathros

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An excellent thread, and fantastic results. Thank You very much for including us on your journey. :)
 

Sudsy

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I announced three special projects... Two will get onto that thread. Later.

First, I'm building BMP #4! Now that I have printed a BMP on A4 card stock for the first time, this one will be 3% or so larger than the ones previously built scaled to fit US Letter (ANSI A size). I'm also going to attempt to get water slide decals onto some surfaces...

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Back to where I started, just two ninja swords and maximum effort... err... wrong line (quoting Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool...). But yes, I'm back with the model that started it all with 40K papercrafting. I've learned much since BMP #1... Lets apply it all here, and then some!!
 

micahrogers

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I need to get a set of those 1,2,3 blocks, not an expensive set, just a cheap set to make 90 degree bends, and weight stuff down.
 

Sudsy

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I need to get a set of those 1,2,3 blocks, not an expensive set, just a cheap set to make 90 degree bends, and weight stuff down.
Good thing these days, you can find some inexpensive 123 blocks on Amazon and Ebay. The pair I have, I made from A2 tool steel, heat treated, and ground as part of my Precision Machine and CNC courses while attending a local community college using my GI Bill. Most cheap import 123 blocks are precise enough for most industrial applications (unless you are doing nuclear/NASA grade tool/instrutmentation machining operations....), and therefore will work with most paper models. I remember one fellow student had a cheap set that he tested on the stone table, and they were pretty accurate compared to the more expensive Brown and Sharpe 123 blocks the school had.
 

Sudsy

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Nothing too fancy that you haven't seen on this thread before. I do have the advantage of three previously completed models to reference however.... Which is fun. This is like meeting an old friend again, but finding some new things to talk about.

You'll note the size difference between the older (printed at 96% to fit on US Letter size card stock) versus the newer model printed in the native ISO A4 size. I've also beefed up some points where warping drove me nuts three times before...

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Sudsy

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I certainly am likely to never cease experimenting with my greeblies! I decided to 'cheat' for time sake and use some alluminium wire form mesh in lieu of my attempt at venting. When I referenced the BMP-2, this is more in line with the real world inspiration, so I'll stick with it. Also, I enjoyed turning paperclips into handles, and toothpicks into hinges. Other than that, nothing fancy, just the simple fore to after greeblie away!

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dr_tetrode

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Looks like you are having fun! I am surprised at the length difference that the 4% makes. Just a little bit easier to work with, being bigger.
 
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