Pegasus Hobbies 1/72 BA-6 Armored Car

The BA-6 (Broneavtomobil 6) was an armored car developed in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. The 45 mm gun turret was the same as that used on the T-26 and BT-5 light tanks. It was built on the GAZ-AAA chassis. This 6×4 chassis was a modification of the US Ford AA 4×2 truck. This chassis limited mobility to roads or very hard ground. Mobility could be improved slightly by fitting tracks to the rear pair of dual tandem wheels, making this car a convertible half-track.

The BA-6 is externally very similar to the earlier BA-3; the BA-3 has a door in the right rear of the hull that is not present on the BA-6. The BA-3 had slightly heavier armor which impeded performance; in the BA-6, the armor was thinned and a new rear suspension and transmission improved performance. Both cars were superseded by the later BA-10. All cars of this series were very heavily armed for the era; they could knock out other recon vehicles with ease. However, their thin armor made them vulnerable to heavy machinegun fire and small caliber cannon fire.

The BA-6 was used in combat against the Japanese in the Battle of Khalkhyn Gol, in the Spanish Civil War and in the early stages of fighting on the Eastern Front against the Germans. Ironically the German Army used a few Spanish-built six-wheeled armored cars that were close copies of the BA-3/6 series. The heavy scout vehicle role was taken over by light tanks such as the T-60 and T-70 later in the war.

Those familiar with Pegasus Hobbies kits realize that they produce nice kits that are as much snap kits as regular glue kits. These are designed for those with minimal skills and those with more advanced skills will have a basis for a very nice model.

This BA-6 kit is no exception. I imagine these are developed for war gamers as much as anything else as there are few parts with large alignment pins. Few parts doesn't mean minimal detail, as they are nearly as nice as some other kits I've built in 1/72 scale, though one would consider the detailing to be a bit softer than the norm. That is where the standard kit comes into play.

There are probably no more than 20 parts per kit and most of those are the wheels (which seem to have a tendency to come adrift from the sprues in transit). It appears that the turret can be moved in azimuth.

Instructions are one side of a small sheet of paper. No painting instructions are provided nor are there any decals.

Due to their simplicity, if one isn't paranoid about little Johnnie choking on small parts, it would be an excellent initial kit for the kids and will produce a lot of play time. For non-wargaming adults, it should prove to be a breeze to assemble and paint, adding interesting vehicles to a diorama.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BA-6

February 2010 

Picked this on up at the LHS so it should be readily available.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

Back to the Main Page

Back to the Previews Index Page