BM-30 Smerch

Ingo F
Started my new project. This time it will be the BM-30 Smerch. So far this build was fun without any big issues. Unfortunately i already found an mistake (picture 5) but it was very easy to fix.
Got the MENG Smerch sagged wheels in my stash and they look very good. I compared them to the kits wheels and the Meng one's are 5mm smaller. Now i am not sure if the Trumpeter messed up with the wheels or Meng did.

Ingo F
Took me more then a year to decide to start this one. 😄

Dan M
I'm in of course. I too have some huge kits in the stash that I keep avoiding 🙂

Ingo F
Welcome on board you two.
Yeah the problem with the stash. I moved this one down from my stash and had enough place to stash four more kits. 😄

Bryn Crandell
Interesting kit. Strange that the wheels ha a small variance between the kit and the aftermarket ones.

Ingo F
Little update on this one. Also added some pics of the kit and resin wheels.

Ingo F
Hey guys here the next update on this monster. I was out with a cold for the past few days and therefore could not build or post in this time. The frame is almost finished and i will prime it tomorrow. Then moving to the cabines and interrior.

I had to search long for the pictures of the BM-30. Especially for the pictures of the frame. I was not sure if the frame is black or also painted in the camo colors. I found both variations: Smerch painted in camo with a black frame and also a Smerch completely painted in camo colors even the frame.
I decided to go with a russian two tone camo sheme: Green and light green. The frame will be also painted in camo colors on the outside. I will upload a picture of the camo sheme later.

The building process till now was without any problems. The only thing i didnt like so far was that you have to use the PE parts. There are no plastic parts that you can use instead of the PE parts.
Trumpeters PE parts are way to think on the bending points and it make it very hard to bend very small parts.
Advise for you guys: use the sharp tip of your hobby knife and go with it over the bending points. Two or three times are enough. Just turn around the PE part and look if you can see the wells on the other side. After that you can bend the parts without any problems.
I am still not sure if i shoud use the kits wheels or replace them with MENGs resin wheels. :/

Dan M
Ingo, when I look at one of your builds I'm always admiring your PE building skills. You do a good job and it inspires me to try harder on my builds as I always do crappy PE stuff.

Ingo F
Hehe, thank you Dan for your kind words. 😄
I llike to use the PE parts on reasonable places but not like using them everywhere and replace half of your model with them.

Ingo F
This PE madness is really killing me. Took me almost two hours to get the fenders right and glue them to the model. The fenders are hold by 6 parts that are made from PE parts and you have to glue them to a structure that you later need to glue to the frame. And here the problems started. Somehow it was not possible to glue the PE parts and they just fell off. I managed to glue them but had to use too much off CA glue. In the end i decided to remove the parts again, clean the attachment points and glue them anew. Now the parts are fixed and very hard to remove.
I think i messed up two or three of this holders while bending them.
Its some kind annoying that you dont have an choise and have to use the PE parts. 🙁

Ingo F
Thank you James. Yeah using PE parts for engine grills and covers is a good idea but i dont like to use them to connect two plastic parts as i am always afraid that they could easily break off.

Ingo F
Painted the frame in base color and assembled both cabines. Could not find many pictures of the cabin so i had to use what i found and Przemek Przybulewski his BM-30 build for reference. I hope he do not mind it. 😄 Trumpeter did not provide any information about the inside colors of the cabin, only the base color.
The interior of the cabin and some parts on the frame looks different if you compare the Trumpeter and MENG kits with eachother. The oxygen tanks are facing different directions in both kits also the cabeling is different. Trumpeter kit have no fire extinguisher in the driver cabin.
I am not sure which kit is accurate, maybe both are but each manufacturer looked at the different version of this vehicle. We all know how russian and soviet vehicles may vary. 🙂
Next step will be masking of the windows and primin the cabines black.

Dan M
Nice, starting to show some color! About the interior I was always under the impression that the usual color is white (maybe a very dirty white) but then I searched online and you are right with that color as can be seen here: [img1].html

Ingo F
Thank you James and Dan!
@James: Yes James thats disappointing but hey searching for references is part of the hobby too. 😄
@Dan: I think the interior color depends on the army the vehicle is used by.

Ingo F
Have not posted an update for a long time now. 🙂 The build is completed and as you can see only the rocket pods needs to be painted. I decided to go for an overall green as it is my favorite color on russian vehicles and tanks.

Dan M
The beast is starting to take shape! What color did you use ? Maybe it's the light but it looks kind of like a khaki or tan

Ingo F
Hey Dan. Its Green Khaki from MIG - MIG-056.

Ingo F
Finally finished this monster. It was really a piece of work to build this kit. Took me almost 2 month from the star to finish.

Dan M
Looks cool Ingo 👍. Nice comparison shots, a true monster with its size.

Ingo F
Thank you Dan. Yeah its really is a monster. Four more will follow in the future. 😄 Scud B, Rubezh, Bereg and S-300PS.
Now i need to find some place for this one. 🙂

Ingo F
Thank you James.

Dan M
Yeah, Ingo, I know about the space problem 🙂. I also have some of those monsters (the SCUD, Smerch, Rubezh) and I'm always postponing to start on them due to their size and how much space they would take. And I don't even wanna start about all the tank transporters that are waiting their turn 🙂.

Ingo F
Hey James, the next project will be BMP-2D in Afghanistan. I am going to replace the vinyl tracks with single link tracks fom Trumpeter and also replace the kits barrel with one from RB Models. I am going to add stovage and maybe some figures.

Dan M
What figures do you have in mind Ingo ? I'm always at a loss what to add to cold war era soviet stuff as unfortunately there aren't that many options (or I'm not aware of them)

Ingo F
Dan i am going to use scalemates.com/kits/266121-icm-35637-armoured-carrier-riders

Ingo F
Here some examples for cold war soviet figures that can be added to the vehicles/tanks:
Trumpeter 00435 - Soviet Tank Crew
ICM 35637 - Armoured Carrier Riders
ICM 35636 - Soviet Army Servicemen
ICM 35281 - Soviet-Afghan War, 1979-1988 Soviet Tank Crew
ICM 35601 - Soviet Tank Crew (1979-1988)
ICM 35331 - Soviet Motorized Infantry
Dragon 3008 - Soviet Motor Rifle Troops
Dragon 3010 - Soviet Tank Crew

Dan M
Good choices. Thank you Ingo!