Hi all,

I just bought the BTR-80 from Zvezda, but the kit comes with the "skinny" tires while I want to build a model with the "fat" tires, just as the box art shows. Does anybody know if someone makes these wheels in resin?

Cheers,

Matthijs

Hello!
I posted a message before the summer in which I asked how this kit was. Olivier Carneau/Bison126 answered and told the tyres of the kit are awful, and there is a replacement kit for the wheels made by a producer called AM.
Click here for the post.
Good luck!

Gotta love it when the box art is totally different from the kit

Hi guys,

thanks for the info. The kit itself looks pretty nice, nice crisp moulding and nice details. Only thing is that you need to fill op some locator holes on the sloping side of the vehicle where you put all the handlebars and other stuff on. Because of the moulding process these holes are too big. The tires are indeed very bad, just like the Dragon ones by the way.

Cheers,

Matthijs

SAAM models sells some good BTR-70/ 80 tires, made by SP Designs:
http://members.tripod.com/saammodels/index.htm

Sorry for that! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

The SP Designs' and Tiger Model Designs' wheels are the open and closed hub original thinner tires and wheels. The TMD sets look very nice.

As far as I know there are no wider aftermarket tires as shown on the box art.

Sorry for the delay in getting to this thread...busy, busy, busy. :-)

Noone produces a BTR-70/80 wheel that is not just a modification of the DML offering in some fashion.

SP Designs offered the "spider hub" verison years ago, long OOP now.

Otherwise it is just the 'armored" and "open" hubs as mentioned.

I have spoken with Sergej at length over this and not only does he hesitate to basically have to master the two wheelsets from scratch to get the proper look, but he also says that the "bulging" fat look is only present when the tire pressure is low. He says that by his measurements from military expo shows, when the wheels are at higher pressure, they measure out close to what DML offers. Go figure... My guess is that unless someone makes a new tool BTR-70/80 kit, no new wheelsets will ever emerge.

Oh, and by the way, the Zvezda wheels are BETTER than the DML rubber ones in that they are made of some harder plastic rather than the problematic rubber. So you may prefer the Zvezda offerings. At least from my look at the BTR-80A kit I have.

Jacques,

Sergej is correct that the tires bulge when the tire pressure is lower.

But, there are two styles of tires in use:

1. The original type with the dual chevron pattern down the centre like produced in the kits and the aftermarket sets.

2. A later style that is on the box art and has a diamond shaped pattern down the centre....they sure look wider and more bulged than the original tires to me.

A quick Google image search for BTR-80 and you can instantly find dozens of images of the BTR-80 with the late version tires.

Here's a link to start with that shows in excellent details the wider style tire. Just click on the BTR-80 and BTR-80A walk arounds.

Hopefully someone will produce the later version tires in the future.

http://www.makettinfo.hu/index.php?jobb=anyagok/referencia.htm

Here you can see both styles of tires.
http://naoruzanje.paracin.co.yu/btr80.html

Hey Jason,

Thanks for the great info. Yes, I know there are at least 2 tire patterns in use for the BTR series vehicles (there may actually be up to 4 or more...!), I hope I did not confuse anyone about it as I was only discussing what was available for the kits.

As for the real deal, most BTR's on display at the various Expo's have the newer diamond tread tires. Again, Sergej says that they only have the bulged look when the tire pressure is dropped for cross-country/soft ground travel. On pavement they are much more rigid. As for measurements, I have asked Sergej to clarify if there are any differences he has noticed in the older tires to the newer ones for measurements. My guess is that measurements are similar, but it is only a guess at this point.

I too wish that better wheels were available...heck, I wish there was a better BTR-80 model out there. I will just have to keep pushing where I can and wishing when I can't!