One of the first if not the first videogame I played on a computer as a kid was Codename: Panzers Phase One (2004). And I remember little from it but I remember a mission where I used a lot a BA-10 from the Red Army. There I found about this cool machine and I love it since then. I love it that much that I think it deserves its own post. So here we are!
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| AI generated using this 3D model: https://free3d.com/es/modelo-3d/ba-10-armored-car-4466.html?dd_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F |
Between wheel vehicles and tanks there has always been a spot that has seen weird ideas and machines. One of them is the BA-10. The BA-10 is the final version of the BA-3/6 series. They were basically a GAZ AAA 6x4 chassis (front wheels doesn't have traction) with a lightly armored hull and a tank turret. The BA-10 had 15 mm in the front and 6mm in the back. I doubt if 6mm can stop some shots from a MG34 for example. The cannon of the turret is a 45mm 20-K the same of the BT series and the T-26 tanks. It could knock out all of the German tanks available in 1941. In fact I would say the turret of the BA-3/6 is the same or almost the same as the T-26 with that tail at the back to fit ammo and a radio if I'm not wrong. Later the space was redistributed and the tail wasn't necessary anymore. The costs to create and mantain a vehicle like this compared to a tank are really low but once you are out of the road in the snow or crossing a field the vehicles with wheels are in a disadvantage. I guess that's why the BA-10 was the last one with this philosophy (the 17 units produced of the BA-11 say hi) and was replaced by light tanks for scouting purposes even the Soviet army later in the war developed the BA-64 which was an small 4x4 based in the chassis of the Soviet copy of the Willys Jeep. All in all I think the design is pretty cool. I love the fact of having the fighting power of a tank in the body of a gym addicted truck. The BA-10 was produced from 1938 until 1941 and a bit more than 3300 units were made. After the end of 1941 was rarely seen.
This is a model I have been wanting to create for a long time now. I had the doubt for years of making it 6 or 7 studs wide. Then after last year I created my BA-20 being it 6 studs wide I knew this one must be 7 studs because the BA-20 should command presence over the BA-20 as it is bigger taller and wider. The turret turns 360º and all the elements are LEGO except for the wheel rims that LEGO doesn't create in that color and 2x BrickArms U-clips to hold the front wheel fenders. I think it is one of my best designs and it deserves this post. Can't to wait to create some MOC's using it. It was used in the Winter War against Finland (and they captured some) it was used in the invasion of Iran too and in the clashes of Khalkhin Gol and the invasion of Poland and the defense of the Soviet motherland against the Axis armies so that's plenty of possibilities and scenarios to work with!
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| Here with a winter crewman. The awesome coat is from Brickfabric. |
While building it I had a problem with a door since what you have to do so they look like that is put the door knob inside the hole of a 1x1 technic brick. The lenght of the door knob is the same as the diameter of the hole in the brick so once you put it inside it stays fixed inside and doesn't fall. The problem is with the left side I put it at the first try but I broke 3 door knobs before I could put it in the right side and once was inside I saw through the hole that the knob was damaged so I used glue to make sure it wouldn't fall. With the BA-20 I used the same technique to recreate the doors and I didn't have any problem.
I created instructions for it. As you will notice the instructions are in a purist version I crate for all the people who want to keep it 100% LEGO purist. If you don't want that you can always get the remaining parts (basically the wheel rims made using a gear piece) at Brickwith and the 2x U-clips you will need in a BrickArms reseller like BrickMania in the USA and Brickizimo in Europe.
While building this I had a dilemma because the color of the Soviet vehicles from the 1930s wasn't the same as the ones of the war. Their paint got darker over time but the most appropriate color for early war and pre-war vehicles is the Olive Green I would say. I thought about sand green too but I ruled it out. I haven't seen Olive Green Soviet tanks before but oh well who cares. So I also created a partlist in case someone wants to build this vehicle in Olive Green as I will in the future. You just have to choose the parts in Olive Green or Dark Grey. You choose the color. https://www.brickwith.com/en/part-list/share/agre0zn3psn?ref=ari23_ww2
Note that the previous is a referal link and if you buy the parts using that link you are helping me as a little part of your spending will go help me create more content! (I think you only need to allow cookies). If you want a Olive Green BA-20 it also available so here is the link too: https://www.brickwith.com/en/part-list/share/ujjvn38ipcv?ref=ari23_ww2
On both partlists there are 5-6 unavailable parts in Brickwith and they would require you get them at Bricklink for example. You can see them at the top section that says "Not available". Take care so you don't buy both the purist and "unrestricted" versions of the wheels and save some money on it!
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| Note the lighter tone of the green camo. Source: https://all-andorra.com/ba-10-soviet-medium-armored-car/ |
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| Source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/BA-10 |
I also have published a YouTube video about it:
Many thanks for reading and see you in the next one guys!
