After a long break from modelling which lastet several years for different reasons I finally found my way back to the workbench and was happily surprised to see all the new kits out there. So I took what I liked most, which at that time was the BTR-60 PU and quickly added a Voyager update set to it before any sort of strange outer space gravity could drag me away from the workbench again...



That is my starting gear... maybe I'll go for some resin wheels as well, I'll decide that later...

Since I haven't had a kit in my hands for a while I was eager to put as many update parts from the Voyager set on the BTR as possible. It is a very extensive set with a lot of update parts, but for the interior... there you're left with what you have in the kit. But that is not a problem at all, since the kit-provided interior seems to be quite good and let's be honest: How much will be seen after the upper and lower hull met for good anyway?

So I started the lower hull with... knife, drills, putty and a loooot of sanding. After an evening of sanding my right arms joint was so tired, that I couldn't tackle the sprues anymore, so I called it a day and admired my destruction work on the kits parts

The next day I finally started to unpack that Voyager set and got the replacements for all the removed parts from the day before fixed and set... And what can I say: It looks quite cool to have those PE-parts on your kit. After a lot of more cutting, sanding and preparation my mood reached "average" again, though: Not all the PE parts are perfect replacements and if you are not careful, you misplace them and a lot of work goes to hell. Anyway, I fought my way through, including a lot of engagements with the hungry carpet monster, and not all the battles where won here... That added some extra work for replacing small kits parts with Evergreen scratches

And finally I called the lower hull exterior ready for display when I realized, that most of the stuff won't be seen once the wheels and upper hull are assembled anyway... And that is halfway lucky for me, because I call it sparring to getting back to business with that modelling Not everything looks great and clean.

Result so far: All eight wheels touch ground (great!) but the overall appearance is "leaning to the back" (last picture), means, the vehicle seems to have loaded some concrete in the engine bay and noone sitting in front to counter that weight (if you know what I mean)... Well, I hope I can handle that misfortune later with putting the BTR on it's diorama base.
The Trumpeter kit is great and more or less flawless (some very few marks have to be sanded and filled with putty, but thats all), but geeez, how many tiny parts can one put in to one single kit? You have to be very patient to go all the way... And together with the Voyager set even more and be careful here: dry fitting and strategically thinking ahead is a must do, otherwise you'll have spent a lot of money and time for... the trash

So I won't make it a rush built but bring an update here and there in the future... Enjoy and critize as you please!

This version is interesting. I don't see the need of replacing the large oval grill under the engine compartment unless you depict a vehicle that has rolled over.
No pun against you intended here Marian. Sometimes I wonder why the PE companies provide such nearly "useless" parts.

Keep on posting

Olivier, no harm done, that is exactly the same thing I thought... I just did it to do it, no more, no less Next time I won't replace parts, that won't be seen by any means later.

One thing's cool with that update set, though: It brings all the parts to get the unfolded antenna done, and now guess what I'm gonna go for

And talking about the grill: cutting and sanding the hole was one thing, and then assembling the grill itself: each part is a separate PE-bit that needs to be put together what will become the grill finally...

I will be watching this. I have that PE set, specifically to raise the antenna!

I too will be following your build, Marian. It looks like a great subject and I can't wait to see what you do with it.
Good luck!
Terry

Since I have some followers here, I don't want to disappoint you with too long delays in my work. Not so much done, though.

I started the interior after studying my very good reference material... and I can say, that Trumpeter did a nice job here! All the main parts (radios and control panels mostly) are there and at the right place. I just need to place them correctly and add quite some wiring... that will be about it, because as I have mentioned before: even with open hatches we won't see too much of the interior anyway.









I will need to spray some microfiller and color base on it soon. Colors are a well discussed issue here as I take it and I will come up with something... But at the moment I'm waiting for my new compressor to arrive... until then I can't do too much about it and I will continue weathering this little guy:



But that's a different story and shouldn't interrupt this build blog here...

I worked a bit more on my BTR-60 and I'm almost ready for the first paint job (interior). Pictures will follow when this starts...

One thing I noticed though: Trumpeter got the versions mixed up both on the box art and the instructions. I am going for the R-145BM variant, whereas you can also depict the PU-12 anti-aircraft-missile guiding station. The R-145BM is the one with the big frame antenna on the roof. Trumpeter shows it exactly the other way round... Just for your notice if you are planning to go for one of those as well in the future... and wondering when comparing to your source pictures In other words: what you see on the box and on the picture below is wrong!



That's it for now... Cheers and have a nice may day!

One more (partly) wrong thing: the interior is only good for the PU...

That's right, you also need to fix some stuff there but can go easy on this one because of almost non-existing visibility on the finished model (unless you wish to)

This is typical of this company ! ( Trumpeter )
The PU - Punkt Upravlenje Air Defence Command Centre ( lokátortól receive in the detection of the target wireless data system and to display them in jus screen, and then distributed to the Strela -1 and 10 Silka and battery vehicles) , R- 145 Command command post and communications center.
This is typical of this company ! ( Trumpeter )
The PU -12 telescopic antenna receives a signal transmitted (P - 12,15,18 ) locators , its screen displays , blackboards plan .
Selecting your targets , tank radio transmitting the data to the anti-aircraft batteries , the time where it should act .
This buoyant fighting vehicle has all the necessary radio equipment, its detachable power supply ( dome in place ) , orientation and other geodetic instruments. You can read about it : http://www.rwd-mb3.de/pages/pu12.htm

He was replaced with the detection beams can PPRU -1 , you do not need other reconnaissance radar (independent) , and the ability to target any specific data to be transmitted to the Strela -10 , Tor, Tunguska , Osa rolling stock of the batteries , not just by radio, orally, but directly wirelessly Tor and Tunguska able to take over locators or other vehicles of radar data.

I did not have time to wait for the appearance of the set , I developed myself into a BTR- 60PB supply.

As promised I want to present some update on this one. The interior is ready and prepared for the paint shop. I will just have to set up my compressor and make some time and space for the airbrush action...

After that I will glue all the parts in and some wires, cables and also weathering will be applied before closing the hull... Pics will follow here as always






I also worked a bit on the upper hull already (as you can see in the pictures above) and basically prepared it for a good update job provided by the Voyager set. I will have to say, that this update set definitely has its ups... but also its downs... The propeller housing for example was a clear puzzle to me: it might look nice now, but nothing fit, was ill placed and I had the feeling that the Trumpy kit and the Voyager set came from totally different planets (both planets in the same stellar system though )







And finally I want to present one of the ups. After a long consideration (and consulting my girlfriend) due to the accuracy flaws mentioned above I decided to go for a PU-12 (the one without! the rail antenna on the roof) and assembled the fitting box for the hull. The Voyager set brings just the same as PE part so for the fun of it I wanted to see the difference. After what felt like the whole sunday afternoon the following came out of it. I would say: It was worth it!

(As a side note: I also thought about the PE fenders, but to be honest I just saw a huge amount of work coming at me with too little benefit here... so I decided to go for the plastic fenders included in the kit as you can see on the pictures above)




Alright, that's it for now. I will have to take a break from assembling this one for a while, but will definitely come back to it in a while! Cheers!