how to "blow up" vehicles?

Just remember armor plate really doesn’t bend, it breaks off in chunks. The parts that bend would be like storage rack & binds, fenders, etc. Some “shaped” rounds might show a slight melting around the entry point.

*Sorry if my terminology is slightly off I’m primarily an aircraft guy, but I’m learning.

find some books on desert storm ( concord, squadron/signal,etc...) and you may not find a bmp, but i'm sure there is something similar.

There is a great Concord book on the BMP family. I can E-mail you some of the pix from the book of blasted bmp's if you like? Sorry but at the moment I am at work and cant remember the name of the book. I will reply when I get home.

Well sorry about not replying yet. My wife thought she was going into labor, that really throws off my schedule when she does that...Dont worry I have not forgot about you.

Before you go destroying the model. Take some heavy guage aluminum foil and lay it on the specific parts you want damaged. Burnish the foil to the shape of the section of interest and then you can "damage" the foil easily. If necessary, cut out the damaged section and replace it with the foil. This looks very realistic on military pieces as well as that passenger car you wish to have had an accident

Why blow it up?

I did my Shock-n-Awe to capture the moment just before impact!




All you need is a fighter plane to steal some parts from
Or in your case, scratchbuild a 120mm projectile.

Ok I have been doing some research and it depends on the weapon that hits the BMP and where it hits it at. For example, an RPG that strikes the BMP in the rear will cause the vehicle to explode nicely. Most BMP have two doors in back and the doors are feeled filled with fuel, also the ammo is stored in a ring around the base of the turret. And if the ammo is hit or set off the turret explodes and flies off the BMP. Now in one of the books I have a BMP-1 was hit by a SABOT round at the base of the turret. This round did not set off the ammo and did not hit the fuel. Instead it went in the turret damaged the gun and killed the commander and the gunner. There is small hole with some flashing scattered out from the hole and the loose equipment on the BMP is knocked around. But other than that the vehicle looks ok. So. I quess what I'm saying is it depends on how much time you want to put into it. If you have the time and resources I quess you could have the turret blown off and show all the detail inside. And if not then you could go with the small hole and so on.

The two books I have that show some "ok" damaged and blown up BMP's include "The War In Afghanistan 1979-1989" BY David C. Isby And "Sword In The Sand, U.S. Marines In The Gulf War" BY Tony Engelhart And Pat Foran. Both books are published by CONCORD.

If you need detailed pix and drawning of the inside of the BMP and family check out "BMP-1 Soviet Armoured Fighting Vehicle In Detail" BY Wings and Wheels Publications, Photo Manual for Modelers. This book is by far the best for inside referances!!! And "Russia's BMP Infantry Combat Vehicles" BY Steven Zaloga and David Markov, CONCORD published.

FINALLY once you decide on the amount of detail you want, post again on the subject and I can help you some more.

(PS) I know I sent you this in a E-mail but I thought there might be others that would benefit from this info. so I posted it here as well.

sadly, before i had recieved the emails, i had already gone to work destroying it. i just used an old pocketknife, a candle, and my imagination. probably not super realistic, but for me, i think its ok. i held the model over the candle to warp hatches and the doors, and heated the knife to cut holes out and damage the side armor. just need to color it. will post when finished. thanks guys!

Try a Google search under "Destroyed Tanks" there are some good links here are 2 one of which is just what you were asking about

www.gulflink.osd.mil/ du/fig24.htm
www.Defense-Update.com
Hope it helps??

QUOTE: Originally posted by clfesmire Before you go destroying the model. Take some heavy guage aluminum foil and lay it on the specific parts you want damaged. Burnish the foil to the shape of the section of interest and then you can "damage" the foil easily. If necessary, cut out the damaged section and replace it with the foil. This looks very realistic on military pieces as well as that passenger car you wish to have had an accident

Can you perhaps post some pics of this process, I would really love to actually visualize this.

This is a technique used by model railroad guys for some time in creating wrecked cars for junk yards and truck loads. Here's a link to an online clinic:
http://www.horailroad.com/a_onlineclinics.shtml

That is a great link. There is a great shot of a APC taken out by somali troops in the Documantary Black Hawk Down. A totally great shot. Just pause the DVD and copy away.

here's an idea (although u might have completed this by now)
I was working on my Abrams and when I drybrushed a little too much black, I said oh what the heck and I added some explosion like blast thingy to simulate RPG hit

If you want check out the cold war GB, I have some pic's of my destroyed T-55, I used some metal, bent it, cut it and super glued it into place.