Marc Mercier Armory Wheels for BTR-60/70/80

This review takes a look at four sets of wheels designed for members of the Soviet/Russian wheeled 8x8 BTR family. These are : BTR-60 wheels with weighted tires K-58 BTR-70 wheels with weighted tires KI-80N BTR-80 wheels with weighted tires KI-80N BTR-80 wheels with weighted tires KI-80N & armoured hub caps Each set contains 8 wheels, 8 front hubs and 8 back hubs. All parts are beautifully cast and no air bubbles to be seen. Everything is packed in a sturdy blister, so less change of a breakage during transport.


What made me wonder is the fact that the communality between these sets is high. In fact the only parts that are different are the front hubs, wheels and back hubs are all identical. This seem partly logical, since both the BTR-70 and 80 at one time used the KI-80N, but what with the BTR-60, who is equipped with the K-58? The scarce bit of understandable information I could find on this subject (unfortunately, my Cyrillic is not up to date) revealed that they are the same size (340-457) and, after looking at several images of the three vehicles, I didn’t find any differences in appearances either. Maybe the difference is only internal? Anyway, I conclude that from a modeling point of view, this communality is justified. However, I did find out that the newer KI-126 tire (with smaller rims) is currently standard among all BTR-80s, the KI-80N being used before the 2000's.
This image shows the only parts specific to each set, the front hubs. As you can see, detail is sharp and correct..
Having the older ICM BTR-60P and the more recent S-Model BTR-60PB kits in my stash, I was able to compare the wheels of these kits with the Amory offering. One immediately sees that ICM is not up to current standards, while S-Model has good detail, but the rims definitely lack depth.
The S-model tire is a bit smaller than the other two, so who's correct? I found the diameter of a wheel on a website selling second hand tires : 1128 mm in 1/1 gives 15.67mm in scale. Guess what? Armory tires measure 15.69mm, which is perfect! The S-Model one has a diameter of 15.04mm which means 45mm smaller in real life. Additionally, both ICM and S-Model have the thread pattern all wrong.
This image shows the hubs offered in the three kits. The ICM one, designed to be mounted on an older vehicle ( the open topped BTR-60P) is an earlier version and cannot be used in this comparison . On the other hand, Armory and S-Model give you the later type. Both are sharp in detail, but Armory is more accurate and even has a representation of the valve stem.
A big plus is the fact that Armory has opted to provide sagging wheels. But a word of caution is in place : the BTR family can adapt its tire pressure to get the best grip according to the surface. The sagging represented here is accurate for soft going like sand or snow, where good traction and a lower soil pressure is needed. On hard surfaces however, the driver will augment the tire pressure to avoid wear and tear, making this level of sagging a bit overdone. Additionally, when looking at images of real vehicles, I noticed that a weighted BTR wheel has some bulging, which can be very prominent on the BTR-60. This bulging however is absent on the tires in these sets.
Tread pattern looks decent and are, as far as I can tell, accurate. The tire size and manufacturer is delicately moulded to the sidewall. Since there are left and right tires, these are marked with an arrow pointing to the front of the vehicle and even this marking is nicely reproduced.
Conclusion : these sets really improve your BTR vehicles! Preview sample provided by Armory This model can be purchased from

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Article Last Updated: 20 August 2017