From Military-Today.com: The BRDM-2 scout car was developed as a replacement for the previous BRDM-1. It was officially adopted by the Soviet army in 1962 with production commencing in 1963. Production ceased in 1989. Around 10 000 units including variants were built. Currently this amphibious scout car it is in service with Russian army and over 50 countries worldwide.

Armor of the BRDM-2 provides all-round protection against 7.62 mm ball rounds and small caliber artillery fragments. The BRDM-2 turret is armed with a 14.5 mm heavy machine gun and coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun. The heavy machine gun penetrates 32 mm of steel armor at a range of 500 m.

The BRDM-2 is powered by a GAZ-41 petrol engine, developing 140 horsepower. This scout car has an uncommon feature for vehicles of this class. When traveling off-road four powered belly wheels can be lowered to the ground between the road wheels, thus making it a 8x8 vehicle and increasing its cross-country mobility. Vehicle is also fitted with a central tire inflation system, which can be adjusted to suit the terrain type being crossed. It improves mobility over sand, snow, and mud. This scout car is also fitted with a self-recovery winch.

The BRDM-2 is fully amphibious and is propelled on water by a single water jet, mounted at the hull rear.

The model comes in the now familiar small red box. Included are resin castings for the vehicle (cast as a single piece) with separate tires, spot lamp, turret, and armaments. There is a small photoetched fret with rear hull details (the cover for the water jet among them), bits for a rearview mirror and front headlight guards.

The decal sheet is printed on a single sheet of carrier film so you might wish to cut them apart before immersing them in water. The decals include three complete sets of numerals (1 through 0) and national markings for either a Czech, Polish, or East German vehicle. Amongst all this is a single, one-sided assembly instruction sheet. [Pro Tip: Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the assembly instructions prior to assembly. I didn't and missed the spotlight part which didn't find its way onto the completed model. I shan’t tell you where that part did find its way....]

The resin casting for the main hull does have some nice component parts molded in with the extendable road wheels being represented along with some of the suspension details (springs, drive shafts, etc).

After removing the pour stub from the main vehicle and adding the four wheels, placing the photoetched details to the rear hull as well as the other odd bits, the assembly process is complete.

The only color suggested for the vehicle is to paint the entire thing khaki. A quick search on the 'inter-web' will give you a plethora of ideas should you choose to go with a different color scheme. The Syrian police vehicle is most intriguing....

My thanks to Brengun and IPMS/USA for the review copy.

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