COBI BMP-1 Set 2631

COBI's BMP-1 is a 1:35 model built from 758 blocks, 19.5 cm long, buildable with either Soviet or East German markings. The turret rotates, the gun elevates, the rear and top hatches open, and the tracks and wheels run. An East German commander figure with signal flags is included, plus a collector's plaque printed in English and Russian.

Designed for a nuclear war

The BMP-1 was the first infantry fighting vehicle anyone built, and the distinction from an armoured personnel carrier is the whole point. A carrier takes infantry to the edge of a battle and lets them out. The BMP was designed so they would not have to get out.

Firing ports along both sides let the squad shoot their rifles from inside. The hull was sealed and pressurised with filtered air. The reasoning, in the mid-1960s, was explicit: Soviet planning assumed the next European war would begin with nuclear and chemical weapons, and that infantry would have to cross contaminated ground and keep fighting without ever breathing the outside air.

Everything else followed from that requirement. It had to be light enough to swim rivers whose bridges would be gone, so the armour is thin. It had to carry real firepower, so it got a 73 mm gun and an anti-tank missile rail. It was exported everywhere and built under licence in Czechoslovakia and Romania, and every conflict since has shown the same thing: excellent mobility, guns that aged badly, and armour that stops rifle fire and very little else.

Specifications

Pieces: 758 · Figures: 1 commander · Scale: 1:35 · Age: 9+ · Two marking options
Model dimensions: 19.5 × 9.5 × 9 cm (7.7 × 3.7 × 3.5 in)