M4 Pressed Steel Wheel Set
Adalbertus Set No. 48-504
1:48th Scale
Review by Terry Ashley
The set has twelve resin wheels and two resin idler wheels cast in a light cream/grey resin with just a large casting block to be removed which with care results in no casting scar remaining on the wheels after cleanup.
The detail on the solid spoke wheels is very good with correct sized ribs and includes the grease plug and relief valve on one side and the small rivets around the rim, hard to see but they are there.
The idlers again have good details with the hub cap included but there was a little excess resin on the outer rim of one wheel which was easy enough to remove with a sharp blade.
The resin wheels are a huge improvement over the Tamiya kit wheels which have open backs and no valve detail included although the ribs are the correct size while those on the new Hobby Boss kits have back inserts and the valve detail but the ribs are way undersized.
To fit the wheels to either the Hobby Boss or Tamiya kits is the same where you drill out the centre axle hole with a 2mm drill and then simply replace the kit wheel while assembling the bogies with no other work required.
For the idler wheels you again have to drill out the axle hole taking care not to drill all the way through the wheel and the axle hole size required is different for the Hobby Boss and Tamiya kits so just select the appropriate sized drill for each.
Conclusion:
A simple update with nicely detailed solid spoke steel wheels with minimal
cleanup and assembly required and provide a marked improvement over both
the Hobby Boss and Tamiya kit Sherman kit wheels.
Thanks to Adalbertus for
the review set.
See the Adalbertus website
in both English and Polish for full details of this and other sets available.
Page created August 15, 2006