The VBCI is an Infantry Fighting Vehicle which entered service with the French army from 2008. It is used by the armored infantry regiments and replaces the AMX 10P. Approximately 500 VBCI have been issued as well as 138 VPC (command variant).

The VBCI is designed with the engine at the front and offset to the right, the driver and the vehicle commander on the left. The turret is in the middle of the hull and offset to the right. The troop compartment can accommodate 8 soldiers fully equipped. The access is made by a ramp at the rear which also has a door.

The VBCI is fitted with turret armed with 25 mm M811 automatic cannon and a 7.62 mm coaxial MG (AA-NF1 then MAG 58). The 25 mm cannon has a range of 2700 m and can be fired at day and at night thanks to the gunner sight which includes an optical day sight, a video day channel, a thermal channel and a rangefinder. The vehicle commander has an independent sight as well as a panoramic viewer on top of the turret. In addition the VBCI features Galix grenade launchers with smoke and explosive ammunition.

The protection of the VBCI relies on a reinforced aluminum hull and additional high density steel plates. The protection against mines is integrated in the floor design. All the seats are independent from the floor to enhance the crew protection. The protection against fire is ensured by an automatic detection and fire extinction system. The VBCI is also protection against NRBC agents.

The VBCI has seen combat in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Mali. During operation Serval in 2013 34 VBCI of the 92nd Infantry Regiment were deployed. Those vehicles were not fitted with the RPG nets and the LIRE jammer.

The kit

Heller kit depicts the version deployed in Afghanistan. To represent a vehicle deployed in Mali you need to make some modifications in addition to not use the Afghanistan specific parts.

The kit comprises 261 plastic parts with some clear parts, 8 vinyl tires, a piece of net, a small sheet of decals and a 20 page instruction booklet.

There are 6 sand plastic sprues and 2 clear ones. The carving is the current standard and offers a high level of details. The cast is usually good however there are some heatsinks and some flash on a number of parts. The inner faces off the hatches and the  rear ramp display ejection pin marks. To show the hatches open you need to redo the inner faces. There are also some ejection pin marks on the FAMAS and the MINIMIs. Heller provides a basic interior. However many parts need to be modified and many missing details need to be added.

Some parts such as the RPG net supports are very thin and require extreme care to cut them from the sprue. However for the version deployed to Mali they are not used.

The instructions come in a booklet and comprise 51 steps for the assembly and 2 for the decoration. Almost no text is available. Some easy to understand symbols (a drill, a cutter, a brush, a glue bottle) indicate what to do at each step. The caption is printed inside the box. The color references are in the Heller range.

3 decorations options for 2 different regiments during the war in Afghanistan are available. To represent a vehicle during operation Serval you nned to use Model Miniatures decals.

The modifications

Prior to starting the assembly of the kit per se, I made the necessary modifications to the hull to fix the kit mistakes. The front plate need tot be modified. Heller has molded the lower part with an extra thickness. The plate is cut and the lower part is thinned from inside. The upper part is also fixed. In fact the edges are angled up to the top. Plastic card triangles are used to fix the shape. Then the panel lines must be engraved.

On the upper hull the engine grille is oversized. The whole frame must be created. A piece of vinyl mesh is added.

At the back an extra thickness is added to the inner face of the rear plate. The Galix launchers are cut away and replaced by the KMT parts. The ramp inner face is redone with several pieces of plastic card added. The ramp locks are also added.

At the front the rear view mirrors supports are entirely redone. Heller molded them solid in the raised position but do not provide the mirrors. From the kit parts new supports are done in the stowed position.

On the turret front face the protection for the Galix tubes on the right of the cannon is redone. The shape is wrong. All the bolt heads on the angled faces are replaced by o.6 mm bolt heads from Masterclub.

All the inner faces of the hatches are redone. Heller has molded solid the various details. Moreover the padding is too thin. On the commander hatch the locking system is also added.

Finally under each wheel arch 2 4x3 mm plates are added with 8 bolt heads on each.

After the modifications to the exterior, you need to modify nearly all the interior parts and to add most of the main details mainly in the troop compartment.

The troop seats are redone. Only the seats are used while the back rests and the supports are made from plastic card. In the front compartment the driver and the commander seats are entirely made with plastic card. The most difficult has been finding the right references. Unfortunately without precise measurements the seats are not totally true.

The troop compartment is detailed with the many missing stowage racks including those under the roof. The rear of the turret protection is also modified. The vision blocks are modified by cutting the lower part. In the VBCI you look through a foldable mirror.

In the front compartment the details on the engine wall are redone. On the left side some stowage racks and the radio racks are added.

In the end the locking devices of the ramp are done. The hooks are made but only glued after the vehicle is painted.

The build

The hull

After having done the modifications the assembly of the hull can start. You do not need to drill the various holes to fix the RPG nets. The whole suspension is assembled when the rear of the shock absorbers is filled. The belly armor is cut and only the central section under the intermediate axles is used. The wheels are replaced by Djiti resin ones which require to cut the Heller axle by nearly 1 cm.

The both hull halves are glued together before gluing the details. This way prevents any breakage during the handling. The hatches are not glued to keep the painting easier.

The AM sets from KMT and Blast are added. The luggage carrier at the back is very thin and fragile. On top of it you need to add a square piece of plastic card with a large round hole in the middle. The straps for the side bags are added. The large bags are shorten so they do not make contact with the wheels. The Galix brackets and the tubes are replaced by the KMT ones. The retaining cable for the cap is added. For the loaded tubes I used Blast parts from the set dedicated to the Leclerc. Like on the period pictures I used the tubes loaded with explosive grenades. The tow cable and its supports are replaced by the Eureka reference which is spot on. The pioneer tools are not glued. They are missing on all the period pictures. Anyway they are not true.

Because the VBCI is represented during operation Serval the MINIMI on the roof back and the bin between the roof hatches are not used.

The turret

It is built buttoned up. The LIRE jammer is not used so you have to modify the base. The Heller barrel is replaced by the Blast reference. Unfortunately my sample was badly warped and despite the use of hot water it never got its shape back. So I cut the barrel to keep the base which I glued to the Heller barrel. The Blast flash suppressor is also used. The Galix supports and tubes are replaced like those of the hull. The grenades used are the smoke type.

The decoration

During operation Serval all the VBCI deployed sported the Central Europe 3 ton camo. The scheme provided by Heller has one single mistake on the front right side. A brown patch is missing above the front wheel. The French colors are obtained with the following mixtures:

Green: XF-5 Flat Green and X-24 Park Green (70/30). Then I added to this mixture some Pale Green MIG 0060 (approximately 20%).
Earth Brown: XF-10 Flat Brown, XF-52 Flat Earth and XF-3 Flat Yellow (60/30/10 approx) then I added some XF-78 Wooden Deck Tan (approx 10%).
Black is XF-1 Flat Black.

The green for the inner faces of the hatches is a mixture of XF-5 and X-24 (50/50).

The antislip coating is made with some Mr Surfacer 500 applied with a brush and then tapped over with an old flat brush. All the bolt heads are masked as well as some panel lines.

During the application of the paint the hatches and the rear ramp are secured with blu-tac. When the paint is dry a coat of Klir is sprayed to facilitate the application of the decals which are a Model Miniatures reference. The decals are very thin. The camo of the backpacks in the side bags is made with pieces of decals.

The name chosen is Mont-Mouchet 1944 which is a major battle of the Auvergne resistance group from which the 92nd infantry regiment was recreated. Model Miniatures does not give any indication to apply the decals so you need to refer to period pictures for the right location of the name as well as the correspondance between the name and the registration plate. This VBCI did not have the NATO unit symbol.

For the weathering I applied a brown wash all over the vehicle to give a basic dusty look. On the areas which looked to clean I added some Mig Vietnam Earth and Europe Earth pigments. The wheels tread are painted with some XF-52 Flat Earth and then the same mixture of pigments is applied.

Conclusion

The Heller kit is not flawless however it builds into a fairly good VBCI as long as you do not want to show the interior. It is far better than the VAB of the brand and is easy to assemble thanks to clear instructions and a limited parts count.

I would like to warmly thank Nicolas Favard for his invaluable help during this build.

Click on a thumbnail to see the full sized picture

 

Index

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07/2021