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BTR-60PB Upgraded

Trumpeter 1/35

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I thought it was about time I got a new year project started and, since this has been sitting in the stash for over a year, I thought I should get it done. I actually picked it up at the time, simply to use a couple of the decals that came with it on my Akatsiya build, to enable me to put a rather obscure reference on the model that, to this day, nobody has ever noticed. Yes, I am that sad.

Fortunately, I love these big 8 wheel APCs so I knew I'd build it eventually and now seems as good a time as any.

Not much progress so far. Just a few brackets and suspension mounts on the lower hull

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The kit comes with a full interior but, even with all the hatches open, you can't see that much, so I'll be leaving the internal details out and building it with everything buttoned up. I did think about getting some weighted resin wheels but decided against it. I want this to be a simple, out the box build to ease into the year. I'll probably try the screw through the bottom of the tyre method to give them a bit of a pressure bulge. The only slight mod I'll be doing is to put some turn on the front wheels which will require a bit of modification to the wheel mounts, but doesn't look to daunting. At least the two hull halves are a good fit, which isn't always the case with moulded sections of this size

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More soon

Andy

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Thanks guys

Got a bit more progress done on the running gear. As I mentioned in the intro, I'm going to add some turn to the front wheels. This required some light modification to the suspension parts. The drive shafts had the end pins that connect to the wheels hubs removed, allowing the hubs to turn freely between the upper and lower suspension arms. After that it was just a matter of setting them at the correct angle and fixing them. There's a little more turn on the front pair of wheels than on the second pair, and I penciled guide marks on the chassis to help align the hubs

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The steering linkage also needed a bit of alteration. Fortunately the arm comes in three parts, so it's just a case of gluing the parts at a slightly sharper angle to line up with the turned hub. A lot of this can't be seen with the wheels in place, so you could leave some parts off to make life easier.

My original plan was to use the kit wheels and tyres, and add a screw through the base of the tyre to add a pressure bulge/flat spot. A test run seemed to work OK, but I'll need to find some screws with smaller heads that I can countersink into the bottom of the tyre

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Unfortunately there's a bit of a problem with the tyres. All eight are identical but they all have a very noticeable good and bad side. I'm assuming this is something to do with the way they're removed from the mould. One side is nice and flat, and the wheel rim fits perfectly but the other side is quite distorted and leaves a gap around the rim. The photos below show it better with the good side on the right pair and the bad on the left pair The good side is the same on each tyre, with the tread running clockwise

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Good side

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Bad side

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I've got to use the bad side otherwise one side of the vehicle would have the tread running backwards. I've tried immersing them in hot water, but the vinyl's too stiff and goes back to it's original shape. On one wheel I've superglued the rim to the tyre which has been partially successful, but I'm not sure if it would pull the worst of them in to line. So, at the moment, I've got three choices.

Glue the rims to the tyres and make the best of them that I can

Use the good side on all the wheels and have one side of the vehicle with the tread reversed

Get a replacement set of resin wheels.

The last option is my least favoured. The only company that do a suitable set (as far as I've seen) for this version of the BTR-60 are ET, and they're not cheap or easy to get hold of. To be honest, it wouldn't overly bother me to have the tread backwards on one side, but I think I'll try superglueing them first and see how well that turns out. With a bit of mud weathering I should be able to hide any slight gaps around the rims.

Apart from that problem it's looking OK with the wheels in place. The turn seems about right, although the second pair may have needed a bit more. I can probably adjust that slightly when the wheels are properly fitted

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Andy

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That's annoying about the wheels, first thing I'd do is shoot some primer over them to see how bad it 'really' looks. Also Maybe 2-part epoxy might work better than super glue, I've used that before on rubber band tracks.

Keep up the good work!

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Thanks guys

Following with interest (& to remind you not to neglect the poor vorne). :popcorn:

Don't worry. The Vorne's having a little hibernation until spring, then I'll give it it's new home

That's annoying about the wheels, first thing I'd do is shoot some primer over them to see how bad it 'really' looks. Also Maybe 2-part epoxy might work better than super glue, I've used that before on rubber band tracks.
Keep up the good work!

Yes, I think I'll give it a go with epoxy. Hate using the stuff as it's so damn messy, but it does stick like the proverbial.

The wheel's have poly caps, so they're only a push fit. That way I can swap them down the line if I decide to pick up some resin ones.

Andy

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Some slow progress on the BTR.

I've mainly been adding the multitude of hatches and other bits and pieces to the upper hull. Still got a lot more to add. The glazing for the windscreens and vision slits has been added and, since that is the only internal detail I'm adding, I should be able to joint the hull halves together soon.

I'll probably give the vision slits a coat of clear green on the inside, although looking at ref shots, they don't have a noticeable tint

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There's a whole bunch of tie downs on the rear hull that were moulded solid, so I've sliced them off and replaced them with fuse wire

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The tyres have all been glued to the rims now. The ones with the warped side aren't perfect but I think they'll do once they're weathered. I found some smaller screws for adding the pressure bulge which work better, so hopefully the tyre issues are sorted now

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It's now just a process of adding a whole load of fiddly little parts to the hull. I can only take about a hour of doing that at a time, so it won't be quick, but it shouldn't be too long before I can start getting some paint onto something.

Andy

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Looking good Andy

Glad you have managed to 'sort' the tyres out, love the subtle bulge.

Tie downs look good, I'm not surprised you can only manage an hour...darkened room and cool beer as a reward no doubt.

Cheers

K

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Thanks guys

Looks like a nice kit. I know next to nothing about the BTR-60, is it an accurate kit OOB? Might have to add it to my to do list.

Well, I've been going through various walk arounds and it seems to be pretty accurate. There's a few simplified details like the tie downs that I've replaced, but that's true for most kits. Dimensionally it seems to be pretty good too, maybe a touch short, but we're talking a couple of mm at most so nothing noticeable. Best thing is it's a really nice kit to build, and Trumpeter have a whole collection of them, going from the original, open top BTR-60 right up to the BTR-80

Andy

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Interesting way of doing the tyre bulges. Must try it...

Lovely job so far. Will be watching the rest with interest

Thanks Sean. It's not my idea, I saw it first in a magazine a couple of years ago. This is the first time I've tried it and it seems to work quite well, so I'll use it again. It's certainly cheaper than buying resin replacements.

I've been slowly adding all the bits and pieces to the hull, and also building up the main turret, which is one of the main changes on the upgrade model, and comes from the BTR-80.

It's got a slightly odd construction sequence which I'm going to modify to make clean up and painting easier. The main 30mm gun casing has a pivot bar through it that holds it in place in the mount. The problem is you can't slide the pivot in at the end as it's keyed to connect the main gun with the coax machine guns mounted on the outer edge of the mount.

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The flattened section goes through the gun casing meaning the casing has to be built around the pivot, which would make the clean up of the casing (which is in two parts) much harder

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To get round it, and to allow me to build and paint the main gun separately, I'm simply going to cut the pivot bar in two so it can be slid in from either end. That way I can also add the coax machine guns to the outer ends of the cut bars, and paint them up separately too.

Incidentally, if you want to see what that turret can do...

I've also been test fitting the finished, weighted wheels to the hull. They still need a bit of adjustment to make sure everything touches the ground squarely, which I should be able to do by tightening or slackening the screws. If some are still sitting a bit high, I'll shave a bit off the mounting pin on the hub, so the wheel can drop a bit

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Still got a lot more details and PE bits to add to the hull, but before the delicate stuff goes on I need to give it all a scrub so it's ready for paint.

Andy

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only just noticed this thread. Very cool subject Andy, you don't see too many of these around.

Great work so far!

So, are you going to have this as full dirty, weather beaten or clean?

As others have said, the tire idea is really good. If I was mounting the scud launcher onto a base, I'd consider doing that.

I have found Trumpeter have really come along way since their early stuff. I have found no real ejector piin marks in any hard to get places on mine. Is this one an early issue or a new kit?

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only just noticed this thread. Very cool subject Andy, you don't see too many of these around.

Great work so far!

So, are you going to have this as full dirty, weather beaten or clean?

As others have said, the tire idea is really good. If I was mounting the scud launcher onto a base, I'd consider doing that.

I have found Trumpeter have really come along way since their early stuff. I have found no real ejector piin marks in any hard to get places on mine. Is this one an early issue or a new kit?

Thanks MH

It'll be weathered, but I'm not sure how much yet. Probably just light dust and mud.

This one's new-ish. 2012 according to the box, and yes, you're right, the newer Trumpeter kits are much better than the early ones. I've not had to fill any pin marks on this, only a couple of (very minor) sink marks on the engine covers. The fit's been near perfect throughout.

Andy

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PS - The co-ax MG looks more like an AGS-17 30mm AGL to me. :nerd:;)

Yes, it is. I was just being generic really, when I called them both coax MG's. Main armament's a 30mm 2A42 cannon, with the 30mm AGS grenade launcher on the left, and a 7.62 on the right.

All of which are built up now, baring a few details. The pivot bar for the guns has been chopped in half, and each end attached to the respective armament. These will be painted separately, along with the main gun, then slid together at the end. The barrel's have been drilled out but, apart from that, the detail's pretty good out of the box. opening up the muzzle on the 30mm was a pain, but it saves me from having to get an after market replacement

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Just noticed that I've forgotten to add the MG barrel, but it's drilled out and ready

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Andy

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