B-17 Wheels

Eduard BRASSIN, 1/32 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Eduard's 1/32 scale B-17 Wheels is available online from Squadron.com

These Brassin main wheels are designed for use with HK Models’ 1/32 B-17G kit.  The kit has been pored over by reviewers since its release in 2013 and is regarded as accurate in most areas. 

This includes the main wheels, which are moulded in two halves with separate inner and outer hubs.  The hubs are well detailed and the tyres moulded with a diamond tread, although this was one of only several tread types used on B-17 tyres.  The main drawback to the kit wheels will be cleaning up the tread around the join line, which will be tedious and likely result in some lost detail.

Eduard’s Brassin set removes this problem because its main wheels are cast as single items.  These are impressively large pieces of resin – over 4 cm (1 ½ inches) in diameter – and carry a Good Year logo on each sidewall.  As with the kit wheels, the tread is diamond pattern so check your references to make sure this is accurate for the machine you are modelling. 

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Each wheel is subtly bulged, and Eduard has considerately placed the pour gate for each wheel underneath the bulge, which means you can tidy up this area without having to worry too much about scarring the surface.

Eduard’s hubs are beautifully detailed; I haven’t got the HK Models kit to hand, but photos of the kit parts suggest they are not quite as refined as their Brassin equivalents.  Eduard has designed the hubs to be inserted into the wheels after painting (eliminating the need for painting masks), and each hub is made up of two parts.  The first is a full-depth recess that slots into the main wheel and locks into place with a key; the second piece fits on top of this and is also keyed.  The outboard hubs include appropriate hydraulic line and brake detail, while the inboard hubs have a hole for inserting the gear leg attachment point.

The parts are generally very well cast although I found several tiny air bubbles on the hubs.  If you wanted to you could fill these with super glue, but they are so small you could probably ignore them and no one would notice.

Assembly is called out on a small, clearly illustrated instruction sheet.

Eduard’s Brassin B-17 main wheels are drop-fit replacements for HK Models kit parts.  Their combination of improved detail and easier preparation – there is no messy join line to clean up – should make these wheels a straightforward choice for modellers working on this enormous and impressive B-17 kit.

Thanks to Eduard for the samples and images.

Review Text Copyright © 2015 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 27 March, 2015
Last updated 27 March, 2015

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