Review

This offering from Hobby Boss arrives in the usual sturdy cardboard tray and separate lid; these boxes will survive most postal services. The contents are individually bagged accept where duplicated and the hull parts plus photo etch and decals are protected in a portioned off area of the box. The mouldings have no obvious issues, but you will of course need to watch for exposed ejector pin marks. The gates in this offering do look to be a little on the large side and so clean up will need attention.

The lower arrives as a single piece moulding and has the amphibious propulsion system replicated. The suspension swing arms are moulded separately and secure in a neutral position. Wheel detail is generally good as regards the pattern, but there are two types and the ones with the tier drop openings I cannot find reference for. The other wheel set looks to be in common use, but the hole details on them will need to be opened up by the modeller.

The track links are non-workable individual links; which have a pleasing level of detail on them. As they are all attached to a sprue at four locations clean up will take some time and so a pain plus I am aware that individual track links are a Marmite subject with modellers. The rear panel of the hull adds the vent covers for the water propulsion system but are only shown closed and not highlighted as to what they are or the option of having them open. I have noticed on a number of reference images that these often have rope ties keeping them closed and so may be something you wish to replicate.

The upper hull of what is a fairly small vehicle needs the addition of quite a lot of parts. The usual light and tool detail needs to be added as you would expect and crew access hatches are separate and so could be shown open if you can hide the lack of internal detail. One thing that concerns me about this vehicle is the external fuel tanks which are located above the engine deck. The detail looks correct with my issue being a vent between them which means a fairly minor amount of damage to the fuel tanks could give the crew a really bad day. Looking at them they do not appear to be armoured with just the pressed lines present to give them strength. 

The turret of the model requires you select the correct one as two are present. External detail is good in all regards from my observations. The light mounted looks to track with the 30mm turret gun. Mounted on the turret is an anti-tank weapons system which I am informed can be either an AT-4 or AT-5 missile system; reloading this system will put some poor sod at risk but Russia never really seemed concerned about that. Offensive weapons also list two 7.62 PKT MGs, one is correctly replicated at a forward facing fixed location on the hull front on the right side and the other has to be next to the main gun it is not obvious being mounted just next to the light mechanism.

In typical Hobby Boss style no details have been provided on what the four provided finishing options replicate and is one aspect I wish they would change. With that said these are listed as being in service with Russia and Ukraine which will add to its appeal due to the current conflict. There are two variants of the vehicle which are the:

BMD-2K a command vehicle with no anti-tank system and extra radios; so an easy conversion.

BMD-2M which only requires smoke grenade launchers added to the turret sides; again an easy alteration.

Conclusion

This offering from Hobby Boss is a good model in nearly all regards with one issue which are the wheels needing a considerable amount of drill work, but if you do that it is I believe looking at shape and form accurate. The vents at the rear for water operations can be shown open or closed you just need to be aware of what they are as it is not indicated in the instructions. Another high point is the ease with which you can alter the base model to one of the other two types with minor effort. I will say that Hobby Boss could avoid a lot of negative comments by just covering what the finishing options represent. An overall view of the model and what it offers rate highly against online images of the production vehicle.