Wellington Wheel
and Flaps Sets

Brengun, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

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Brengun Model Accessories continues its series of re-releases from the Griffon catalogue with these wheel and flap sets for Trumpeter’s 1/48 Wellington Mk.Ic and Mk.III kits.

Brett Green reviewed the original Griffon release of the wheel set back in 2007.  Comparing the photos in Brett’s article with the Brengun review sample confirms the two sets are identical except in the colour of resin used. 

The tail wheel and two mainwheels in the Brengun set are perfectly cast, with delicate hub detail and realistic bulging where the tyres meet the ground.  I don’t have a Trumpeter Wellington so can’t directly compare the Brengun and kit wheels, but I understand the latter are moulded in rubber so they will not be as detailed or easy to use as the Brengun items. 

The Brengun wheels are attached to stout casting blocks that will need to be carefully removed with a razor saw, but once this is done and the resin parts are painted they will be drop-fit replacements for the kit parts.

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Brett also reviewed the original Griffon flaps in 2007.  Again, the Griffon and Brengun parts appear to be identical, apart from a different layout on the photo-etched frets and the absence of copper wire in the Brengun set (originally included by Griffon for making non-workable hinges).

The flaps are a more complicated set than the wheels, involving the removal of moulded flap bay detail from Trumpeter’s upper wing parts and its replacement with photo-etched brass, including 40 delicate ribs.  The flaps themselves are provided in resin – three parts per wing – and like the wheels are impressive pieces of casting, with well-defined internal structure and subtle, matching rows of exterior rivets.  The only imperfection I found was a slight warp in one of the flaps, but this should be fairly straightforward to correct with some hot water.  The flaps are attached to their casting blocks via quite thin rebates, which should be easy to saw through and then clean up.

Assembly is called out via a clearly illustrated, black and white double-sided instruction sheet.  Built with care, the flap set will look spectacular.  However, because of its nature the set can really only be recommended to modelers with some experience in working with resin and particularly photo-etched brass.

You should investigate both of these welcome re-releases if you are contemplating building one of Trumpeter’s 1/48 Wellington kits.  The wheels will provide your model with an immediate lift for relatively little effort on your part, and can be highly recommended.  The flap set is not for novices, but can be highly recommended to experienced modelers.

Reference

Jamie Haggo, ‘Big Ed Build 1:  Vickers Wellington Mk III’, Model Airplane International (Issue 64, December 2010).

Thanks to Brengun Models for the review sample.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2013 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 8 October, 2013
Last updated 9 October, 2013

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