Mosquito B Mk.VI Wheels and Exhaust Stacks
for the Tamiya kit

Eduard BRASSIN, 1/32 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Eduard's 1/48 BRASSIN Spitfire Vb Gun Bays are available online from Squadron.com

These two sets for Tamiya’s 1/32 Mosquito FB Mk.VI fall at the opposite end of the Brassin spectrum to the double engine set I recently reviewed.  The latter is brilliantly detailed, but more challenging to construct than the kit parts it replaces.  In contrast, these wheel and exhaust replacements promise straightforward assembly without compromising on detail.

1/32 Mosquito Mk VI Wheels

Tamiya’s engineers broke with the usual practice of moulding the kit wheels in two halves, which could have resulted in the Mosquito tyres’ distinctive tread pattern being damaged during assembly and cleanup.  Instead, they designed each wheel around a core to which sidewall, tread and hub details are added.  This avoids the dreaded central seam and gives a good result, but there’s no denying that the process is a little bit fiddly.

Eduard’s wheels are simpler to put together, with the added bonus of the finer detail that resin provides.  Each mainwheel consists of just three parts – a wheel and two hubs – compared to about 16 for the Tamiya equivalent.  The wheels are big pieces of resin, but like the hubs are attached to their casting blocks by only a thin strip of waste resin.  This, and the fact that the attachment point is underneath the subtle bulge at the bottom of the tyre, should make cleanup easy.

The tread and sidewall detail on the mainwheels matches closely with my references.  The manufacturer’s name, ‘Dunlop’ is spelled correctly (in comparison with some earlier Brassin Spitfire wheels, on which it was printed as ‘Dunlap’).  The bolt pattern on the Brassin hubs is slightly different to that on my reference images, but Eduard may have modelled their hubs off a variation I haven’t seen.

The one-piece tailwheel is similarly well detailed, and slots directly into the kit’s plastic tailwheel yoke.

Kabuki tape masks are included to assist with painting – although they’re not strictly necessary for the mainwheels, because the hubs can be painted before being attached to the tyres.

A small double-sided instruction sheet shows how everything goes together and is attached to your model.  The instructions also include painting instructions, with colours called out in Gunze Sangyo colours as per Eduard’s usual practice.

1/32 Mosquito Mk VI Exhaust Stacks

The unshrouded exhaust stacks in Tamiya’s Mosquito kit are beautifully moulded, with delicate weld seams and hollowed ends.  As Tamiya did with the wheels, however, to achieve such detail it has had to mould the stacks as individual parts.  This makes the build process slightly more complex, and risks misaligned stacks.

There is no such worry with Eduard’s one-piece stacks.  These have been engineered to directly replace the plastic stacks, with no modification of kit parts required.  This is their main advantage over Tamiya’s stacks; in terms of detail the resin and plastic items are comparable. 

I have a minor question about the angle and shape of Eduard’s exhausts, which are different from Tamiya’s (and the stacks in Eduard’s Brassin FB Mk.VI engine set).  I have looked through my Mosquito references and can’t find any exhaust stacks that precisely match Eduard’s, but there may have been some variations in production.

As with the wheels, a small double-sided instruction sheet is included.

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Quibbles aside, both of these sets are recommended if you are planning to build Tamiya’s 1/32 Mosquito.  I’d classify them as luxuries rather than necessities, given the quality of Tamiya’s plastic parts, but I will find the wheels in particular hard to pass by when I start building my kit.

Thanks to Eduard for the samples and images.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2018 by Brad Fallen
Except Blue Background CAD Images by Eduard
Page Created 22 February, 2018
Last updated 22 February, 2018

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