Trumpeter’s 35th Scale PLA WZ505 IFV

The Chinese have been building their copy of the BMP-1 for quite a while and have created many variations.  One of these took the turret of the Type 92 wheels vehicle and adapted it to their BMP-1 clone in lieu of the regular gun turret.  Trumpeter almost did the same thing.  They took the Hobby Boss Type 92 turret and dropped it onto their nicely done BMP-1 kit hull.  Note, I did not write adapted.  One must carefully center it then glue it in place or have it flop around and maybe fall off.

Nice box art for the prototype.

A color painting guide is included.

The decal sheet includes complete sets of numbers for the non existent battalions of WZ505.

Sprue A hails from Trumpeter’s BMP-1 kit.

Sprue B hails from Trumpeter’s BMP-1 kit.

Above and below, sprue C hails from Hobby Boss’ Type 92 kit albeit in gray plastic this time.  The 25mm muzzle is opened up but not the 7.62mm machine gun.  Pay close attention to the size of the turret ring (with locking tabs) on the turret base (C2).

Sprue F hails from Trumpeter’s BMP-1 kit.

Above and below, sprue G hails from Trumpeter’s BMP-1 kit.  The tops of the rear doors could use a bit more detail.

The Upper hull hails from Trumpeter’s BMP-1 kit but still lacks the fuel port on the top and ribbed detailing on the vent.

The lower hull hails from Trumpeter’s BMP-1 kit.

The tracks trick you into thinking they articulate.  Actually, they do until you breathe on them and see them fall apart.

The PE fret hails from Trumpeter’s BMP-1 kit.

A simple adaptation (perhaps a new tooled turret base) would have done wonders.  Oh well, one can still fix it simply or make another of those wacky Afghan field modifications!

I will probably use the turret on another build and replace it with one from SP Design.