Wheel Replacement Sets

F6F, Me 262 and MiG-21

Eduard BRASSIN, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Eduard's 1/48 BRASSIN Wheel Replacements are available online from Squadron.com

These three 1/48 wheel sets are drop-fit replacements for their kit equivalents.  Two of the three – the F6F Hellcat and Messerschmitt Me 262 wheels – will also be compatible with kits from other manufacturers.  The F6F and MiG-21F sets include pre-cut tape masks to assist with painting; these aren’t required for the Me 262 set because all of the hubs are cast as separate parts.  The resin parts in each set are perfectly cast with no pinholes or other blemishes, and wheels are attached to their casting blocks by narrow connecting points for easy removal and clean up.  The hubs are attached more solidly to their blocks (a necessity to avoid rim damage during clean up), but should be straightforward enough to remove with a razor saw.  All tyres have been cast unweighted.

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F6F wheels

The Hellcat wheels are nominally intended for use with Eduard’s F6F family, and indeed have already been included in a number of the company’s kits.  The wheels were one of the few weaknesses of Eduard’s first 1/48 Hellcat releases, described by Brett Green as “the plain narrow style fitted to the prototypes and the earliest production models” and therefore not suitable for late F6F-3s or F6F-5s. 

These Brassin wheels go a long way towards addressing this shortcoming, featuring broader tyres with a cross-tread pattern and noticeably better detailed hubs and rims.  Compared with photographs in Bert Kinzey’s Detail and Scale volume on the F6F, the wheels appear to be mid- rather than late production examples.  Kinzey points out that all wheel types were fitted to each Hellcat variant (reflecting the demands of operational service where maintenance crews made best use of available parts), so check your references for the aircraft you are modelling.

The set consists of two mainwheels and two hubs.  The mainwheels have crisp rim, hub and tread detail, and raised logos and numbers on the sidewalls.  Viewed through the hub slots, the relief detail in the centre of the wheel will add a convincing impression of depth.  The hub slots themselves are covered in a film of resin that will need to be removed.  The instructions recommend gently pressing this out with a toothpick, but the film was too firm on the review samples for me to do this without fear of breaking the hubs; I’ll probably sand it off from the inside instead.

Me 262 wheels

The Me 262 wheels are marked for use with Tamiya’s 1/48 kits but would be equally applicable to HobbyBoss and Trimaster/Dragon Me 262 kits, particularly the latter with their rubber tyres.  Unlike the F6F set, this release also includes a nosewheel – although the ribbed hub, treaded example supplied was only one of several varieties fitted to Me 262s, so once again check your references. 

This minor limitation aside, the tyres and hubs are a good match with references.  They are also finely detailed, with the pressure fittings and hubs cast on to the outboard mainwheel hubs particularly well done. 

Also welcome is the tab-and-slot arrangement used to ensure that the hubs lock into position on the wheels at the correct angle relative to the ground.

MiG-21F wheels

Trumpeter’s 1/48 MiG-21F kit comes with rubber mainwheel tyres, and injection moulded mainwheel hubs and nosewheel halves.  I don’t have the kit to make a direct comparison with Eduard’s Brassin replacements, but suspect the latter are considerably better detailed.  The resin parts will also likely be easier to work with than Trumpeter’s rubber and plastic mainwheels, and multi-part nosewheel. 

Eduard has cast all three wheels with one hub in place, with the opposite hubs inserted and then locked into place with the same tab-and-slot arrangement used on the Me 262 wheels.  Additional detail is provided via a small photo-etched fret, although I’d probably use thin copper or lead wire instead of the etched brass to achieve a more three-dimensional look. 

Whatever detailing media you use, the result will nicely capture the busy appearance of the MiG-21F’s wheels, particularly the nosewheel.

All of these sets offer high-quality alternatives to plastic or rubber kit wheels, and will clearly improve the appearance of your finished model.  They are also easy to assemble and reasonably priced, and therefore very highly recommended.

References

• Richard A. Franks, Airframe and Miniature No.1: Messerschmitt Me 262 – A Guide to the Luftwaffe’s First Jet Fighter (Valiant Wings Publishing, 2010).

• Bert Kinzey, ‘F6F Hellcat in Detail and Scale’ (Squadron/Signal Publications, 1996).

Thanks to Eduard for the samples and images.

Review Text Copyright © 2014 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 13 June, 2014
Last updated 13 June, 2014

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