PMMS
Calibre35
HUMVEE
Weighted wheels
& Suspension

1/35 Kit #35027
Review by Terry Ashley


TamiyaTamiya
The list of resin wheels available for the Tamiya HMMWV kits (#35263, #35267) just keeps growing with the latest entry from Calibre35 in the form of these weighted wheels with the added bonus of replacement suspension units.

The set consists of 9 parts in cream resin and a length of copper wire for the suspension springs with the four resin wheels based on the Tamiya kit wheels with the inclusion of the weighted and bulged effect and are cleanly cast with good tread definition without any blemishes and just the large casting blocks to be removed from the bottom of the bulged section.

The small centre wheel hubs from the Tamiya kits (parts A42, A43) are used with the new resin wheels which sees all four wheels the same with the “Good Year” embossing on the side wall in the same place on each wheel.

The weighted effect is quite pronounced but looking at many photos of HMMWVs both in Iraq and on exercise there doesn’t seem to be much bulging even when loaded and unfortunately it makes the wheels look more under inflated.

Calibre35A couple of things to watch out for is the small resin flange bracing the centre axle pin makes it is easy to break off the axle pin if you are too heavy on the cutting so take care when removing this.
And the depth of the rear hub is about 1mm shallower than on the Tamiya hubs which means the wheels when fitted sit 1mm further out on the axle compared to the Tamiya wheels but this is probably not noticeable on the finished kit?

The new suspension units are also cleanly cast with again just the casting block to be removed from each unit and consists of resin suspension pistons which include the four securing bolts on top of the unit (something Tamiya missed), these are rather fragile and a couple were broken in my set but easy to fix by replacing the thin resin rod with short length of wire. The new suspension units simply replace the Tamiya parts A25, A26 without the need for any modifications to the kit.

The large springs are made from the copper wire included and you are provided a resin tool of the right diameter to bend the wire around to form the springs (a nice inclusion), just make sure you have the correct number of twists and they are evenly spaced for a set of well defined springs.

Calibre35
Calibre35

Conclusion:
A simple update set that provides an improvement on the kit suspension springs and the parts simple replace the kit parts without any alterations needed but as mentioned the wheel bulging effect looks a little overdone.

Thanks to Andrew of SouthEast Hobbies for the review sample.



Page Created 20 April 2004

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