This is the first of the eight-wheeled armored personnel vehicles produced by the Soviet Union. The open-topped model was soon replaced in the production line by a closed-top vehicle, and then by a turreted model.
Trumpeter’s rendition of the BTR-60P has a detailed fighting compartment with poseable hatches, bench seats, and driver and commander stations.
Markings are included for three different vehicles — parade, regular army, and a naval version.
There were no fit issues through the eight steps of building the lower hull. The suspension is made of many small parts. Care needs to be taken in adding the driveshafts to the hull. They were brittle and easily fractured. Make sure you do not mix up the front and back axles; they have different angles.
No intake trunk is provided, but, for the most part, it is not seen.
I was impressed with the detail of the interior: radio sets, instrument panel, and driver’s controls are all there. Also included is a decal for the instrument panel, which decal solvent helped settle into the uneven surface. I painted the interior benches separately, along with the hull interior.
When I test-fitted the upper and lower hulls without the interior, I found no fit issues. But with the interior in place, I had to clamp the top hull to the bottom. The vertical supports, parts V10, V13, and V11, do not reach the top of the hull.
The hull-top hardware went on without a hitch — and there is a lot of it. The gun ports can be posed open or closed. I left the prop covers open to show the inner detail. The headlight lenses were molded well, but their thickness reduces light transmission; you may want to use aftermarket headlights on yours. Also, the footholds, parts A12, were brittle.
I painted the 12.7mm DShK machine gun with Testors titanium before installing it. There were no 7.62mm SGMB machine guns provided.
The tires have a nicely molded chevron pattern. I sprayed them with Gunze clear flat before weathering them.
I did most of the painting with Tamiya olive drab (XF-62) and buff (XF-57), and I weathered with Tamiya pastels. In Steve Zaloga’s book Soviet Wheeled Armored Vehicles (Concord, ISBN 978-962-361-013-1), I saw a photo of a naval infantry vehicle with very sloppy sand and spinach camouflage. After applying a similar scheme, I chose the markings for a naval infantry BTR and put the decals down over a gloss coat.
The model has a let’s-get-loaded-up-and-go look, and I hope Trumpeter will bring out the more widely produced
BTR-60PB. A lot of armies have used that vehicle, so there are a lot of interesting schemes out there.
I took me 22 hours to build this kit, but the tough fits make it one for experienced builders.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the January 2011 issue of FineScale Modeler magazine.