The MICV-65 (Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle) was a project conducted by the United States Army seeking an armored personnel carrier vehicle to replace the M113, built by the FMC Corporation (Ford Machinery & Chemical Corporation). FMC was awarded to design and build the MICV and designated XM734. The XM734 utilized the M113 as basic platform, armed with a turret manned by a single crew firing a 20mm cannon. The newly designed vehicle was re-designated the AIFV (Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle), but the United States showed no interest in the vehicle; however, the Dutch government showed interest and placed orders in 1975. Further modifications were made and the vehicle was redesignated YPR-765 (Pantser Rups Infanterie 765). The YPR-765 PRI.50 is a lightened version, debuting in 1976, that replaced the 25mm cannon with the commander’s position and .50 caliber M2 heavy machine gun. It also allowed for a crew of three and seven fully equipped soldiers. A total of 110 YPR-765 PRI.50s were manufactured. A total of 207 YPRs were transferred to Ukraine in 2024, of which several were PRI.50s which were mainly issued to reconnaissance and engineer units.

This AFV Club kit is the sixth in their YPR-765 series, and the first PRI.50. This new kit includes:

• - A Dutch infantry fighting vehicle that was modified to be able to mount an M113 turret and was also provided to Ukraine is reproduced with some new parts.
• - New YPR-765 PRO.50 top equipment rack
• - New YPR-765 PRO.50 turret ring (connects to M113A1 turret)
• - New etching parts for YPR-765 PRO.50 included
• - Can be assembled in four different specifications
• - Includes new decals and painting instructions to recreate vehicles in service with the Royal Dutch Army and the Ukrainian Army

YPR-765 kits in 1/35 scale are limited to the six offerings by AFV Club and a Turkish YPR-765 produced by Hobbytime Model Kits.

Upon opening the rigid box top cover, there is a tabbed inner box that does a good job of protecting the kit’s eight plastic sprues, clear sprue for glass, two rubber tracks, PE fret, piece of mesh, chassis tub, and decals. The 16-page instruction manual covers 19 steps. This kit uses a majority of the sprues for the previous YPR-765 kits, and care needs to be taken as there are two C Sprues, denoted on the sprue layout page (pg 13) with a white and black C, although they are not annotated in the construction steps.

The model builds straightforwardly, and the sequence is logical. Remember to closely look for the C Sprues parts to ensure you have the correct part called out. The first 13 steps are the same for Royal Dutch Army and the Ukrainian Army versions. Steps 14 are sub-stepped for the Ukrainian mesh armor versions (a. for the Reconnaissance and b. for the Engineer variants). Steps 16-19 are used for both nationalities. There are minor notes that are identified here by their instruction step:

Step 2:

• Trim the four protruding tabs on the exterior rear ramp (B11) so it mates cleanly with the interior ramp (B10). Verify the correct C Sprue for C39.
• The instructions show parts (B1 and B2) reversed; dry fitting easily prevents this mistake.

Step 4:

• Verify which C Sprue to use for this step.
• Pay attention to the front mud flaps (G13 and G14) and how they attach to the hull. The included photos help, but I had to look online to verify the alignment and connection point.

Step 5:

• Part C11 (again verify the correct sprue), needs to be trimmed so the trim vane (Parts B15 and B16) sits flush on the hull.
• The two antenna mounts (2 x PE Parts G10) don’t have a bending guide. Really study the image and test bend a piece of stiff paper to get it right. The PE won’t take more than a few bends before it breaks (ask me how I know).

Step 6: The smoke grenade guard (C16) alignment it hard to judge. I recommend the smoke grenade launchers (C31) in Step 8 be installed first to ensure the proper location.

Step 10: Hull sides spaced armor (B3 and B18) need the tabs to be cut and cleaned so they fit flush on hull sides.

Step 12: The left stowage parts (H12 and H14) are reversed.

Steps 14-15:

• These steps are for the Ukrainian versions with mesh armor (PE parts and nylon mesh are provided; I highly recommend the PE for additional strength affixing them to the plastic frames). The mesh armor side panels found on both variants are different.
• a. Reconnaissance Vehicle
• b. Engineer Vehicle

Step 15: There are two options for the cable reels: Reconnaissance Vehicle has one on the left side; Engineer Vehicle has two. The kit builds the cable reels with no cable included. I recommend using a straw cut to size, then wrap sewing thread around the straw (to provide bulk without going crazy wasting yards of thread). Assemble the cable reels as instructed after the wrapped straw is complete.

Step 16:

• The clear periscopes (Parts H5) fit very tight in the cupola (C21) – test fit and sand to fit before committing glue.
• The armored gun shield (Parts C17-C20) is remarkably produced in scale thickness without resorting to PE.

Step 18: There are two options for the M2 HMG, but the instructions are not clear which is for what version. The option on the left fits to the gun shield, the option on the right does not.

Step 19: The instructions recommend 7cm stretched sprue for each of the two antennae. With this updated kit, it is a bit disappointing metal antennae are not included.

I followed the instructions, and it was still challenging. This is an intermediate or advanced model as care must be taken, and the two C Sprues issue needs to be addressed and monitored. Attention and care must be used as there are a lot of fiddly bits, primarily in the form of handles. The mesh armor is also very fragile and prone to breakage.

If I was to build this again, my strong recommendation is to assemble the mesh screen side armor (Step 14) and roof armor (Step 14b) as sub-assemblies, paint the mesh armor and mounting legs, then final assembly would be to place the mounting arms around the mesh armor to ensure alignment. To be honest, assembling the mesh armor nearly broke me as the instructions are vague and there are no locating holes to ensure alignment.

There are four marking options for this model, with three in NATO three tone camouflage, and one in UN white:

• Ukrainian 3^rd Separate Assault Brigade, Bakhmut, June 2023 (does not specify Reconnaissance or Engineer Vehicle but has roof armor indicative of the Engineer Vehicle).
• 11^th Armored Engineer Battalion, 43^rd Mechanized Brigade (NL)
• 42^nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 41^st Armored Brigade (NL)
• United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1994-1995

As a former Army Engineer, the choice was obvious, I chose the 3^rd Separate Assault Brigade, plus the Ukrainian white identification stripe really stands out. As the top mesh armor was an Ukrainian addition, I painted the mesh armor is Russian 4BO green.

I had a lot of fun building (except for the mesh armor stage noted above) this unique offering from AFV Club. It is a lesser-known Cold War/modern armored vehicle that builds into a great model with lots of detail. While this is recommended for Intermediate and Advanced modelers with its small parts, lack of locating tabs on a few parts, and sometimes unclear instructions noted above, it does build into a beautiful and impressive model. Two Ukrainian variants are pointed out in the instructions, but only one painting guide with decals is provided for the Engineer Vehicle. I look forward to seeing what more talented modelers can do with this kit.

Slava Ukraini!

Profuse thanks to AFV Club and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.