B-29 Wheels

Eduard BRASSIN, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Eduard's 1/48 B-29 Wheels is available online from Squadron.com

Eduard has now released nearly 40 Brassin wheel sets in 1/48 scale.  While many are intended for new release kits, others are aimed at older kits for which there can sometimes be a shortage of modern aftermarket accessories.  This B-29 wheel set is a good example of Eduard’s approach here:  intended for the aging but sound Revell Monogram kit, it’s part of a comprehensive suite of details that Eduard has recently produced for this kit.

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The set contains the following parts:

• Four mainwheels.  These have noticeably better detail than their kit equivalents, and aren’t split down the middle so there is no join seam to remove.  The wheels are subtly weighted with delicate rim detail and manufacturer’s logos cast on to the sidewalls.  The tread pattern is oval, of which I haven’t seen an example in reference photos but – given the range of other treads found on B-29 tyres – was presumably present on some wheels.  I recommend checking your references for the specific B-29 you are modelling; if you need a different tread option then True Details makes a set of 1/48 wheels with a diamond tread (which incidentally is also what the kit wheels have).  I’d be interested to see photos of oval tread tyres if anyone has them.

• Eight mainwheel hubs, which appear to be a good match to references.  These can be painted separately and then inserted into the mainwheels.  The hubs are attached to small casting plugs that should be easily removed with a razor saw.

• Two nose wheels, also with oval tread as well as deep structural detail cast into the outboard centre of each wheel.  Separate hubs are provided to fit into the outboard rims, as are the hub cover plates that were fitted to some B-29s; the latter are supplied on a small photo-etched fret. 

• A sheet of pre-cut painting masks made from Eduard’s usual yellow tape.

• A small fold out instruction sheet that shows how to assemble and mask the wheels before fitting them to the kit gear struts.  The instructions are clear except in relation to fitting the nose wheel hubs, where they are confusing as to where the hubs should be placed.  However if you study the parts carefully before committing to glue, and check your references, you shouldn’t experience any problems.

The resin parts are all well cast with no apparent imperfections.  The wheels are attached to their casting blocks via rebates, and there is little flash, so clean up should be straightforward.

This set will noticeably improve the appearance of your 1/48 Revell Monogram B-29 model.  It probably won’t take much longer to assemble than the equivalent kit parts, either, when you trade off cleaning up the resin and inserting the hubs against gluing together the kit wheel halves and then tidying up the seams.  For these reasons the set can be highly recommended, including to modellers with limited previous experience in working with resin.

Recommended.

Thanks to Eduard for the samples and images.

Review Text Copyright © 2014 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 22 May, 2014
Last updated 22 May, 2014

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