Review - Model 1/72, ACE BMP 2 Re Release

One of the projects I have been working on is the construction of a reinforced Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment for the late 80's period this has been stalled for some time due to a lack of a BMP2 model on the market that would fit well with the first two battalions that were all ACE BMP1Ps and BMP 2s. I had managed to accumulate 2 old BMP 2s and 2 BMP1s and when ACE re released the BMP 2 saw an oppourtunity to complete the project and promptly bought two more allowing me to complete the Regiments third Battalion.

Having just built all 6 I thought it might be worthwhile reporting on the differences between the old and new kits. The new kit is much more than just a re release it is completely re tooled and molded from a slightly harder plastic compound than we are used to from ACE.

The Principal areas of improvement are:

• The hull, The hull base is more riged and conforms well to the track sides and hull top removing considerable effort in construction, although cleaning the spru attachment points is still a must.  The improved fit can clearly be seen in the pictures as can the net saving in filler required when compared to one of the originals.

• Road wheels, return Rollers and sprockets, The running gear is also much improved more cleanly and consistently molded with much better attachments for the Sprockets and considerably reduced effort on clean and fit.

• The tracks, The tracks are vinal, of a good length and they readily stick to the road wheels. This reduces construction time by hours compared to link and length.

• Smoke Grenade Discharger.  The smoke grenade discharger units are much more cleanly moulded, with a lot less flash needing to be removed and are of a more consistent and accurate shape ensuring that fitting them to the turret is far more straight forward

All up a significant improvement in the kit which now has a significantly lower level of effort required to complete the build, and correspondingly can be built much quicker.  This can only be good news as once built and painted ACE are one of the better BMP options out there.  They have I believe done the same with the BMP 1 kit.

References:

Review - Model 1/72, ACE BMP 2

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