BA-10 WWII soviet armored car

[voozet]

Hi everyone.

I think I need a change from what I usually do. This GB seems to be perfect as a return to things I haven't done in a few years.

I found two models in my stash, which match the subject, both are in 1:35 scale. First is Dragon Sd.Kfz.10 Ausf.A (with PAK 38), second that's Zvezda BA-10. Dragon has "magic track" which scares me a bit (I don't think I can put it together correctly), so I chose Zvezda. It will be the second BA-10 in this GB (there is also Hobby Boss kit here).

 

It's a kit, I bought a few years ago for a never finished kitbash project. I even glued few parts together before I abandoned it.

 

The vast majority of parts are still in the sprues.

 

 

I don't have a lot of experience with AFVs but it seems to me that it's not the best quality kit 😆 (at least compared to things I've done before).

Some elements have decent detail:

 

But many other parts are really weak. I have a lot of sanding to do.

 

 

What surprised me the most was the barrel, which the designer placed in the frame of the sprue (part 10). I will have to drill the exit hole myself.

 

The manual is black and white even in the part about painting schemes.

 

And decals. The word ORLOVSKIE is divided into three parts for some reason (unknown for me at the moment).

 

The kit was very cheap, so it's hard to expect more than what's in the box. Now it's time to see how this affects assembling.

Cheers

Wiesiek.

 

 

[edjbartos]

Looks interesting, are those rubber tyres by the way? Good luck with the build...

 

Ed

[voozet]

13 minutes ago, edjbartos said:

Looks interesting, are those rubber tyres by the way? Good luck with the build...

 

Ed

Unfortunately not. It's hard to tell what they're made of. It's probably a similar plastic as the rest of the sprues, only a bit softer. I will do a glue test when I assemble the wheels.

[voozet]

Well. The first few steps show that it will not be a simple build 😆

The elements on the hull armor are positioned for assembling with the help of tabs in the plastic. The problem is that apparently some of them are in the wrong place. Of course it's possible I'm doing something wrong, but I don't think so.

This element, if it were placed on the tabs, would be too high in relation to the original. That's why I decided to remove the wrongly placed tabs and position the elements according to the plans of BA-10 that I have.

 

The plans are in 1:35 scale so it's pretty simple.

 

I also started working on the engine. Unfortunately, the casting is not good, so there is a lot of sanding. But I take it easy: I'm going to have fun making this vehicle, and minor difficulties won't stop me. That's why I'm trying to make this engine right, although it won't be visible.

This part shows the problem. Removing the plastic that has poured into the mold joints would be a pain.

 

I figured it would be easier to redo it using styrene rods.

 

 

Engine parts and muffler are ready to assemble. Before I do that though, I'm trying to find reference photos of the GAZ M-1 engine. It's not easy, because the engine is named the same as the popular Soviet car and google don't help.

 

Cheers

Wiesiek.

[Muchmirth]

Nice start and good improvement to the kit already! 

[PeterB]

The GAZ lorry chassis used on the earlier BA-6 was based on a licence built Ford one as was I believe the engine, and although the BA-10 used a modified chassis and more powerful engine I rather think it was another Ford clone 3.28L "L head"  if that helps.

 

Pete

Edited November 12, 2022 by PeterB

[MARADER]

2 hours ago, voozet said:

Before I do that though, I'm trying to find reference photos of the GAZ M-1 engine.

Here is a photo of the GAZ engine.

http://photo.rumodelism.com/page.php?page=340

http://photo.rumodelism.com/page.php?page=991

[MARADER]

10 hours ago, voozet said:

And decals. The word ORLOVSKIE is divided into three parts for some reason (unknown for me at the moment).

ORLOBC - KI -E - There is a hatch on the rear wall of the tower. Part of the inscription -KI- is glued to the hatch.🙂
The model is old and poorly made. Good luck with the build!

[planecrazee]

Great start you've made Wiesiek and I love the scratch building work you've done already - will be following with interest to see how you progress 

 

Kris

[Maginot]

Good start. Lots of scope for fabricating fun. It will be such a grand achievement when you've completed it.

[edjbartos]

Great start Wiesiek, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this build, looks interesting..

 

Ed

[voozet]

Thank you for the kind words gentlemen.

 

Progress is slow as I spend most of time sanding parts as well as puttying, because in many places the casting is uneven, with imprints of mold ejectors, etc.

Matching the elements also leaves much to be desired. I have to use clamps to close gaps.

 

The chassis and steering components are now ready to assembling/gluing. But it is also not easy, because the assembly instruction is not very detailed and not entirely clear 🤣 As @MARADER wrote: the model is old (although I've make much older Tamiya kits that didn't cause any problems).

 

Before I start gluing it, I need to think about the way of painting to make the process easy.

 

@PeterB you were right: the engine is apparently some clone of a Ford product. Thanks for the tips.

Cheers,

Wiesiek.

 

[voozet]

It seems that "closing" the hull requires mounting the chassis first (according to the manual the order is reversed but in my opinion, the distance between the lower plates is too small to mount the chassis).

 

And gluing the chassis, requires to finish the engine, exhaust and radiator first, so I started assembling it...

 

...and painting. I have not been able to find photos of the original BA-10 engine from the WWII times. Several contemporary photos show the engine in various shades of green (from lime to turquoise). It looks like someone used paint they just had on hand. Therefore, I will paint the engine as recommended by the manufacturer of the model, using silver and black. The black primer  will make it easier for me.

 

 

I also have to solve the dilemma: what exactly do I want to build.

The Zvezda kit allows to make two versions of the car: BA-10A and BA-10M. The earlier version (A) does not have fuel tanks on the fenders (normally the A vehicles had extra tracks at this point, applied to the wheels if needed). These tanks look terrible and are poorly matched to the fenders in my model, so I'd rather choose version A. It will be modified because I don't have tracks. 🤣

Tracks are not included in the kit, but that's probably why Zvezda proposes "Orlovskiye Partisans" painting scheme. Because the only photo of the BA-10 I found without fuel tanks and without tracks on the fenders is the vehicle of these partisans.

Cheers,

Wiesiek.

 

[planecrazee]

That's coming along really nicely Wiesiek - you're doing a great job 👍

 

 I also have the same issue of not knowing for definite what colour to paint the chassis and engine on my BA-10 as there's absolutely no colour references mentioned in the Hobby Boss kit and very few pictures I could find and like you say, if you do find anything it's usually a contemporary rendition so not accurate at all.  I will also be going down the black and silver route too, maybe with the addition of some green 

 

Kris

[MARADER]

Wiesiek, good job!
Good PE tracks are manufactured by PART

https://www.super-hobby.com.ua/products/Ba-3-Ba-6-track-Eastern-Express.html
The frame and chassis of the BA-3 BA-10 were painted black.

[voozet]

3 hours ago, MARADER said:

The frame and chassis of the BA-3 BA-10 were painted black

- Comrade Stalin, what should we do with the chassis of our armored cars?

- "I wanna see it painted, painted black

Black as night, black as coal." 😉

 

4 hours ago, MARADER said:

Good PE tracks are manufactured by PART

I know there are photo-etched tracks. But they cost just a little less than this model 🙂

I treat this project as fun and a break from the scratchbuild I usually do. By the way, I want to reduce the "shelf of shame" a bit. IMO buying accessories for this model would be like fitting alloy wheels to an old Lada car. Probably it is possible, but will it change anything? 😉

[edjbartos]

Very nice Wiesiek, it's looking good

 

Ed

[MARADER]

2 hours ago, voozet said:

buying accessories for this model would be like fitting alloy wheels to an old Lada car. Probably it is possible, but will it change anything?

Here you are correct. This model needs to be heavily cut or assembled by OOB.🙂

[Ned]

Good luck. My old ESCI kit has needed so much sanding that I have lost my fingerprints and cannot unlock my phone. The ends of my fingers are smooth

[voozet]

Chassis repainted. This part of the car, especially when driving off-road, is exposed to paint damage. That's why I want to make it heavily rusty. First layer protected with satin varnish. Next will be chipping fluid and a bit of black paint.

 

 

The engine should be considered ready to mount. I'll put bit of rusty pigments on the exhaust later.

 

 

Wheels ready for painting. It took several hours and lots of sandpaper. In addition, the parts are poorly fitted. On several wheels, the rims were difficult to secure inside the tires. What's interesting: the tires have a convex imitation of the inscription on one side and an arrow indicating the direction of rotation. But they must be mounted with the reverse (smooth) side towards the viewer. Because all tires are clones and the arrow is always in the same direction, which means that half of the tires have the arrow in the wrong direction 🤣

 

I visited a local model shop and found a K20 aluminum barrel for the BA-10 there. Earlier, I declared that I would not buy any extras, but it cost PLN 2.50 (aprox 0,5 € or 0,45 £). I couldn't resist 😋

Unfortunately, that's not a perfect solution either. The barrel in a strongly simplified way reflects the shape of the original. I need to think about what to do in this situation.

 

Cheers,

Wiesiek.

[planecrazee]

Love the work you've done on the chassis and engine Wiesiek - I'll definitely be borrowing some inspiration from you for my BA-10 

 

Kris

[voozet]

I mounted the chassis, which allowed me to push forward the work on the hull. While attaching the lamps, I realised that the model contains more inaccuracies (I think). The lamp glasses (made of green, opaque plastic) had an imitation of a wire/mesh protective grille. At least that's what it looked like. But the BA in the pictures I saw had nothing like that. If the lamp glass was protected, it was what looks like a tin case with a strap across the lamp. So I removed the grille, mounted the "glass" in the lamp and filled gaps with a putty. Then added strips of styrene. At this stage, it turned out that I had lost the horn somewhere in the past. Judging from the illustration in the manual, it was a simple cylindrical element with a slightly flared tip. As far as I can tell: quite far from reality 😉. So I decided that I would easily replace it, making it more like a BA-10 horn. I used heat shrink tubing and inserted two styrene rods into it, leaving a few millimeters gap between them. After heating, the tube assumed the shape of an hourglass. I cut off the piece I needed and glued it under the lamp.

 

 

This is how it looks mounted on the vehicle.

 

 

On the left side, between the fender and the hull, you can see a hook, which is also an inaccuracy, I think. The model has 4 such hooks, two at the front and two at the rear of the body. The assembling instruction does not precisely show the place of their assembly and there are no holes or recesses on the model that would position this part (as well as many others). So I looked at the reference photos. And in my opinion, in BA-10A there should be shackles in this place, not hooks. Of course, I can be wrong, as I wrote: I'm not an AFV specialist, and this Russian is my first wheeled armored vehicle.

 

Some photos of the hull.

 

 

 

As you can see, I decided to use the original barrel from the kit, I only bored it at the exit.

 

There are just a few more little things I need to add to  the hull, then I can start painting.

Thanks for looking,

Wiesiek.

 

[Stef N.]

Very nice modelling Wiesiek. 👍

[Muchmirth]

I like what you have done so far…. Good ingenuity with the heat shrunk tube horn!! Theirs a sentence and a half!

[Bertie McBoatface]

This looks like a kit from the 1950s. Well done for bringing it up to date.