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Polish Armoured Train (PBX05) Russian Armoured Train:
The Polish Armoured Train in Soviet Service
by Mark Hazell

I fell in love with the Polish Armoured Train as soon as I saw the great job Evan had done on it. While I don't play Poles (currently), I decided to do some research and see if any Polish trains were captured by either the Germans or the Russians (since these are the two armies I collect and play).  As it turns out, I was in luck as one particular train had not only served in the Polish campaign but survived to be captured by the Russians. This same train was then was bombed by the Germans and captured and put into German service in December 1941.
Background
On 22nd September 1939, the Polish armoured train Nr. 51 (former I Marszałek) was abandoned by the crew near Kovel (Poland), after three weeks of combat with Soviet units invading the Polish eastern territories. The train was captured and repaired and placed into Soviet Service as the Bepo (Bronyepoyezd, BP - Armoured Train) of the 77th NKVD Regiment from the 10th NKVD Division, otherwise known as the BP Nr. 77. It retained its Polish armament of four 75 mm guns wz.02/26 and a 7.92 mm machine guns wz.08 Maxim (up to nine in artillery wagon).

Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train As an interesting side note the train’s artillery wagons were actually former Soviet wagons of a standard type built in Krasnoye Sormovo plant in Nizhny Novgorod (Gorki) around 1919 during the Russian Civil War. They were captured by the Poles in 1920 and used afterwards in the Polish-Soviet war but by 1939 such wagons were completely extinct in the Soviet military. Apparently the Soviets didn't use the train's assault wagon, since a standard composition of the Soviet armoured trains consisted of two artillery wagons only.

I only managed to find one black and white photo of BP Nr.77, apparently this photo was taken just after it had been captured by the Germans. This photo seems to indicate that the only cosmetic change the Russians had made was to remove the Assault Wagon and repainting the three colour Camouflage in a single colour. (I think it’s safe to assume that colour would be green).

Right: The reference photo of the train in Soviet service.

Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train Armed with this information I proceeded to build the engine and the two artillery cars. Once built I undercoated everything with a black primer and then spray painted the three sections with War Paint Tankovy Green (CWP240).

Learn more about the War Paint range here...

When this was dry I added weathering effects for rust and dirt and grime build up by applying washes of brown and black shade.

Learn more about the Polish Armoured Train here...
Although I couldn’t find any evidence of Russian stars on either the engine or the artillery wagons I decided to add them in to add a little colour to the model.

Overall. I'm happy with how it turned out. ( Now all I have to do is convince Phil to write me some rules for Early-war Russians so I can use it in a game).

~ Mark.

Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train Russian Armoured Train
Russian Armoured Train


Last Updated On Monday, June 22, 2015