I started this with the intentions of placing it in a dio as a KO’d vehicle during the opening phases of Operation Barbarossa. I decided against this because this has to be IMHO, one of the ugliest vehicles ever produced for armed conflict. The kit was very sparse on detail and the fit of the upper armored section to the lower chassis was poor at best. I built this OOTB, adding just door handles, misc. stowage and the antenna lead. The fenders were thinned to a more accurate thickness. Tread on the tires was accomlished with a razor saw and patience. Vallejo paints were used for the Soviet Green. Weathering was accomplished with W/N washes and a liberal(a tad too liberal)dusting of pastels. The kit supplied decals were applied with Micro Set & Sol. A laquer dull coat was applied to seal everything up.
Great job…so ugly its beautiful! Well done! Now can anyone tell me where I can purchase a Soviet BA-64? Several manufactuers are out of production and I haven’t seen one on E-Bay.
Did a scratch-build on a GAZ thirty years ago but has inaccuracies and limited expertise at that time. Would love to do another.
Fine work Mobious. I picked this kit up a couple of weeks ago along with an Italeri BT-5 and a Skala T-34-85. Got all three for 25$. Nice to see that with a little TLC that an ugly duckling can be turned into a swan.
@madmike: the “Russian Green” is a custom color mix.
@Ramseur: I have to agree, The first thing I thought of was “This thing would have made a great ganster ‘drive by’ car.” It looks like the off road capabilities would be nil, and the armor so thin anything larger than a rifle would pose a threat.
@doog: I try to follow your advice and others who contribute here on this forum.
@dannerbergerblitz: I have a Zvezda Gaz-AA that I plan on substituting as replacement in the dio. I thought about scratchbuilding the armored section of this one because it was seriously THICK, but decided to “button up” and use the truck instead. I’ve got it settin next to my VW’s now and I think it sort of fits in.
That sounds like a great deal, I unfortunately spent nearly $25 on this one kit. Live and learn. I did come across that pic while doing research. It served with the Finns until the end of the war, I think. I wanted to build this one before the Ivans gave them to the Jerries.
[bow]Fantastic job, Mobious, you turned something hideous into something beautiful (as beautiful as russian armor can be [;)])!!!
Though I got to agree with Manny that it could have use alittle more dusting on the bottom, especially the tires, they just look to clean. But otherwise, you did a great job!
I lucked out on the deal. I stopped in at a HS in Mass and the guy was having a sale on stuff that was collecting dust in his back room. Gonna try and get back there next week and see if he has anything left.
I thought about doing it in German marking’s but then I saw that pic of the finnish one and that skull and cross bones. Dont know if I’ll try to find decals or just hand paint it.
Hmmm-I would say that this is probably a “museum special”? I would research that paint scheme there–the huge swastika’s seem to me to be a little too garish for actual use?
I could be wrong of course, but does anybody else think this looks a bit suspect?
The Finn’s captured twenty BA-20’s and somewere around fifty BT-5’s and 7’s so I will be doing my BT in Finnish marking’s also. In the second link take a look at the BT 5 in pic 8 and you can see that the marking is the same as on the BT 20 in the museum pic. You can just make it out on the vickers in pic 5 also. I’m still looking for a pic of one of the BA 20’s in Finn service to see where the marking’s would actually have been been placed. But this does seem quite possible.
armored plate on an old Russian
sedan.
Good build, good paint and great job, that equals realistic results.
The angle of the swastika’s suggest that you could be on to something here… 