Mid-Week Debiref

Armies Army BTR 290 Out of the Bag 

By Eli

BTR 290 advances with RUSK forces. Image from Armies Army

I've had a hold of the BTR 290 for some time, but I have to admit, I wasn't sure if it was just a sneak peak copy from a friend in the industry or if I was allowed to go ahead and review the thing. Well, a bit of a nudge from Keith over at Armies Army told me otherwise and so here I am.

With the vehicle ending its pre-order phase and about ready to come out, now seems as good a time as any.

For those of your who are not yet familiar with the vehicle, the BTR 290 represents an interpretation of a future development of the current day BTR series of wheeled vehicles used by the Russians. The lines, details, and weapons have been updated to reflect that future battlefield presence but the overall feel of the vehicle is still familiar and instantly announces its intentions as a future Russian style vehicle.

Parts

The kit itself comes in ten (10) parts. A single piece, resin-cast hull, single piece resin turret with attached gun and eight (8) identical road wheels. I have displayed half of the wheels flipped over so you can see the nice, deep, clean sockets they have for fitting onto the robust posts molded into the BTR's chassis.

Materials and Casting

The resin is a good quality. It has more of a plastic finish than some of the more ceramic feel sorts I've run into. the finish on the model is crisp in the details with a sort of an intentionally rough finish, as if the vehicle had some sort of special coating. This finish does not seem to mar any of the details which remain crisp. The pre-production version I received has a substantial piece of resin under the barrel that is not part of the gun and seems like a molding channel to make sure the resin ran the length of the barrel.

The wheels of the model are all metal, cast in a good quality pewter with sharp details including hi-tech hubs on the wheels and a deep chunky tread on the tires. As mentioned earlier, the back side of each wheel features a deep socket designed to fit snugly over posts sculpted onto the suspension. The posts and their associated holes are so robust, I feel these will offer plenty of anchorage for glue and make these wheels stay on after plenty of games.

Conclusion

Overall, I feel this is an excellent model, especially considering it was the first one designed by Keith for Armies Army. The style is obvious in its intent and there is no confusing where this vehicle belongs. It's a great supplement for any future force of Russians, regardless of which line of miniatures your infantry come from.