My newest project………BTR-3U



Well my new side project just arrived in the mail today and I must say it’s some very beautiful casting from SP Design. My hats off to Sergej for making improvements in his casting. There is however a few minor casting imperfection in the model, but thankfully their all under the resin. You can see some air bubbles that formed under a thin layer of resin, but it’s not going to hamper the build. This kit is a vast improvement over the earlier ones since I read a review that someone had talked about this being pure junk and he would rather take it to a firing range. This is not the case in the kit at all. There are a few areas that can be improved on, but for most cases I plan to build this out of the box. I don’t want to go into so much detail as I’m doing with my T-62, but makes improvements in some areas. I plan to do a simple overall green camo, either Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan with a cool shark’s mouth I came across. There’s just not a lot of info on this particular vehicle, so I plan to just build as is with some artistic license on my part.




Here is a test shot of the SP hull mating with the Zvezda BTR-80 lower hull. There seems to be no fit issues or warping in the resin hull, but there are some minor gaps in the front hull. Easy fit with some putty and sanding. Also I started to work on the rear hull by replacing the side plates as I didn’t like the way the water intake looked on the kit. I plan to box this area in and make my own vanes. I need to order a set of replacements wheels later this week since the kit parts are not the correct type needed. This should be a fun and simple build for me and most defiantly something different from the normal models out there.
Chris

Ohh, looks like the BTR-80 with the Kliver-turret!

thanks for sharing and good luck...
Soeren

Thanks Soeren!! I'm very pleased with this kit, clean up is simple and the parts just fall into place. By the way it's actuall not a BTR-80, it's an all new design with a Shkval turret, just happens to look like a btr-80. The running gar is probably the only thing it has in common between the two.
Chris

Great to see you start this one Chris. I've got a BTR-70 on the shelf that I need to start sometime so I'll be interested to see this one.

What wheels will you be using?

I plan to use the wheels from SP as their the only one on the market I can find that are correct. I'm going to be making an order with Jacques tonight for a few things which includes the wheels. Suprisingly this is a really nice kit to build, I have most of the parts cleaned up today and fit just fine so far. I gooffed up on sanding a couple of parts but no big deal, the only thing I hate about resin is the sanding. This is my very first BTR series I have ever built, should be fun.
Chris

Well I’ve started to work on the turret over the last two days now. I have made some minor changes to the main gun, coaxial gun, and the targeting optics. I plan to upgrade the BTR-3U to more current BTR-3E1 which is all just minor changes throughout the model. I didn’t have any epoxy putty on hand so I got a little bit inventive and used some mounting putty from loctite to make a mantle cover. I shaped the putty over the lower portions of the mantle and used ample amount of super glue the keep the details rigid. From there I made an all new optics housing using the supplied part and scabbing on bits of plastic and sand to shape. Scratch built hinges, handles, optic windows and covers were fashioned from plastic. So far I’m very pleased with this model and how everything is turning out.
Chris

Nice bit of scratch building there Chris. I thought you said you "wouldn't" go so super detail crazy on this project?

Hey Jon, I'm not going too out of this world with details, just enhancing some areas. I was going to change the hull round to make the newer E1 variant, but I decided just to go with the supplied hull and just up grade the turret instead. The hull wouldn't been too hard to make, but I just wanted to stick to my plan for a fun and relaxing build before I dive back into my T-62. Wait to you see what I have instore for my rendition of a T-80 which will be a later blog in the coming weeks ahead. Oh by the way if you decide to build this which I highly recomend to everyone, the 30mm main gun is the most troublesome are of the build. The tubing support is alot of trail and error to make either out of plastic or brass wire and the length listed in the direction are not exact.
Chros

Today I did some basic enhancements to the turret in the form of oblique armor panels. Thin plastic sheet cut to shape and placed on the front of the turret to model panels very similar to the armor package used on strykers and ASV. Punch plastic disk was used to finish out the panels retaining clips. All the periscopes had thin plastic strips added to them to represent class windows and a new glare shield was added to the panoramic sight on the side of the turret. This basic little details help to enhance the kit more, all I have left to do now is the grenade launcher, missile rails, and the smoke launcher.
Chris

Well today, I just put the final touches on the turret for the BTR and primed it. So far, this had to be one of the quickest builds yet even after a few enhancements of my own added to it. I moved the smoke grenade launcher from the rear of the turret to the front with all new mounting bases. The launcher’s themselves were replaced with turned metal ones from voyager. The kit search light was replaced with a spare from my miniarm T-72 kit and brass wire added to it. The 30mm grenade launcher was built as it except a new plastic base was added between the gun and turret. A control arm was for the launcher, search light, and panoramic sight was made from plastic rod. The ATGM launcher assembly as detailed with plastic, strips, channel, and rod as the kit part was under detailed. The missiles were replaced with ones from a BMD kit since the shape of the SP’s missile was correct. Finally, to round out the launcher a new sight was added from the spare parts bin since I like the details on the new sight better. Now I can move onto working on the hull and hopefully later this week my replacement wheels will arrive in the mail.
Chris

Superbly done, really. What tires are you going to use?

Thanks for the kind words George. I plan to use the SP wheels, most of the pictures I could find show the armored hubs and right now SP make the only correct wheels. I'm just waiting for a package to come from Jacques, but that's not going to stop me from building the rest of the kit.
Chris

Hey Chris,

Just so you know, the package will go out first thing Monday morning...my wife just never got to mailing it last week after I had hernia surgery on Wednesday. Sorry I did not e-mail you, but now that I have seen this thread...I can't wait to see the next step. And yes, the surgery went well but I am sore and not very mobile.

Excellent work on the turret. I keep telling Sergej to replace the kit 130 missiles with the ones he has done for the seperate detailing kit of the AT-4/5, especially the end caps, but nothing so far...well, he is reworking the BTR-3U again soon, so maybe this time he will add the detail.

My only thought on the add-on armor...I thought the "circles" were flush or only slightly raised? Or are they different from what is seen on T-series tanks add-on armor.

I don;t know how I missed this one. Very interesting conversion and you work really fast when you aren't building half the vehicle from scratch haha.

Can't wait to see whats next.

Hey Jacques, no worries about the package. I am in no hurry as I have plenty to keep me busy for now. Glad to hear the surgery went well, I have to take my dad in Tuesday for the very same thing.

The missiles I didn’t like too much, lack detail and were over scaled. I just thought they were too thick in diameter and replaced them with spare parts from my zvezda BMD-2 kit along with the sight.

My only real complaints about the kit from SP are some areas that are not correctly shaped. First area is behind the turret; the black box access area should extend further over the turret ring and have a big sideways opening door. Second area is just behind the driver and co-diver’s hatch. This area is shown as a 90-degree angle but should slant more towards the front, I do not know if you can talk to Sergej about this or nothing more I can send you pictures of what I am talking about. However, other than this, it is still a great kit to have and very easy to build. I just cannot wait to see what heis going to do as far as a rebuild goes.

The oblique armor I have found two different sources on it. One shows the retaining clip somewhat recessed. You can see it further up the blog on the picture of the real turret. The second source shows the armor package almost similar to what was used on the French AMX-10RC with raised bolt heads. I could not figure out the best way to recess the retaining clip and just went with a happy medium instead. Frankly it is hard to tell the disk are raised too much unless the light hit’s it just right.

Chris

Funny Sean!!!! I ment for this build to be a fun and relaxing build. More or less to recharge my batteries before I jump back into my T-62. Right now I'm just working on the new armor package for the hull. I just hate punching out all these stupid plastic disk. Oh well I just having fun with this build, glad you found this blog. At the rate i'm going on this I'll might be finished and ready to paint next weekend.
Chris

Chris, I will take all the info that you want to provide. Sergej has done major rebuilds on the BTR-3U kit three times, so he seems interested in making it correct. Maybe I can talk himj into making it a BTR-3E1 since that is actually being used by a army and is not just a demonstrator...

Also, Sergej is pissed by the crude level of the DML kit. Hopefully, if Trumpeter end up doing a BTR-80 as promised, he will change his conversions over to that (assuming they are more accurate than the DML kit).

However, this looks great...keep at it.

Great result so far and nice details!
The barrel looks very fragile.

greetings...
Soeren

Great job on the turret. The barrel assembly looks incredibly fragile !

Keep on the good job.
Olivier

Thanks Soeren. The barrel is not fragil, it just flex alot and effects the barrel supports since their made out of plastic rod. I could of used brass rod, but cutting plastic for finer fit is much easier.

Jacques, if Sergej does decide to make the E1 variant, he is going to have to build a all new turret. One of the main reasons why I decided not to make the E1 was the turret is different from the standard U. The hull for the E1 would of been easy to make since most of the major changes are in the engine deck which has flat access doors and a larger intake screen for the engine. I'm glad to hear he has interest in making this kit better each time. I do hope that trumpeter does release a BTR-80 of their own, not that DML was too bad. It's still a good kit to work with, but like all kits from the 90's, it wouldn't hurt to bring them up to newer standards.
Chris

Well I started to work on the upper portions of the hull last night and boy I must say I’m was just about to pull my hair out. This happens to be the only area I had any problems with during the building process. The rear plate does not mate too well with the upper hull, as there are some nasty gaps in the resin. On top of that, the rear lower hull does not even begin to match up the lower hull of the zvezda kit at all. I had to use plastic shims and lots of trimming and dry fitting just too even get the parts to work right. Also from the pictures, you can see that the exhaust does not fit the hull as if it is suppose too. This was also fixed with lot of sanding and dry fitting. For the rear plate matching up with the hull, well that was an easy fix, the oblique armor I am using will cover the gaps very nicely, no sanding or filling for this area. On top of the engine deck, I have revised the air intakes with a new larger single opening. This was made with strip plastic and a left over photo etch screen from my T-80 kit.

Just a bit of information on this vehicle, I am modeling. This is a proposal BTR-3E for Kazakhstan and not the BTR-3E1 as if I originally wanted to do. The E1 would have been too much work for me to do since it uses the Shturm turret, which is very different from the Shkval used on the standard U and E variants. So instead, I just went with an article I read on a defense industry website about a proposed variant with oblique armor, slightly re-arranged turret and new engine deck. I have only been able to find one photo of this propose vehicle and it is not a very good picture since it is from the front at a slight angle. The oblique armor is some guesswork toward the rear of the hull, but I just loved how it looked since it is not or normal ex-Russian block design.
Chris

Oh by the way the very first picture I have posted is the BTR-3E1 and you can see the big difference in the turret design.

Fantastic work Chris, this is really shaping up well.

The turret is great and the rear grille is very nicely done!

Thanks Jon This thing is like a gaint jigsaw puzzle with all the different panel I have installed on the hull. But it's still fun and relaxing project before I jump back into my other build.
Chris

Well today, I just received my order from Jacques full of goodies needed for both my BTR and T-80. One of the items I ordered was a set of replacements wheels from SP Design, unfortunate I have mixed opinions about them. It is nothing on Jacques part as these wheels are a real gem to have and beautifully cast. The wheels however are just a bit strange to me, their not the same diameter of the original wheels in the zvezda kit and they seem to be about 1mm too thin. I do not know if they are a direct copy of the older DML BTR-70 or what, but you can see the pictures I have taken the difference in size. Jacques maybe you can help explain the difference or maybe I’m just looking at them the wrong way or is the SP wheels the correct ones to go with. Right now, I have three options I can go with. First, use the zvezda wheels, as they are taller and wider, but lack treads definition. Second used the SP wheels as they are better detailed and cast nicely, but are undersized. Or the third option, try to scratch build my own wheels. The third option I do not really want to go with as it will take too much time and never mind the fact I have never built my own wheels before. I have found only one place that even carries miniarm replacement wheels for the btr. The nice thing about the miniarm wheels is they have the correct tread pattern for the series I am building. But on the other hand, I have no idea how correct they are in height and width. Does anyone have any ideas or opinions?

Chris