The set contains five wheels cast in light cream resin with just the remnants of the pour plugs to remove with the standard of casting being good overall but there were a few air holes around the extremities of the aggressive tread pattern but these could be excused as wear and tear after a harsh mission in the backblocks of Afghanistan.
The wheels are designed for the Tamiya HMMWV kits with the stub axle at the back to fit straight into the kit suspension and feature the latest style of rim with the outer ring of twelve bolts holding the rim sections together and the inner ring of eight hub bolts with the different centre fitting for the front and rear wheels.
The tread pattern is quite well represented but the central chevron tread sections are slightly undersized if you wanted to be real picky and the tread pattern doesn’t extend far enough down the sidewall compared to photos of the military Super Swampers.
There is nice sidewall embossing of the “Super Swamper” name and letters “TSL-SX” with the emblem and these will come up nicely when painted. It should be noted that the Military Super Swampers are different from the commercial off road wheels so resist the temptation to compare the two styles of wheels.
There is a minor problem with the fifth spare wheel which still has the inner ring of eight bolts included and these would just be the open rim holes on the actual wheel so you should drill these out for a more correct appearance.
It is mentioned on the box top these wheels can also be used on the up-armoured M1114 HMMWV but I have yet to see any photos of the M1114 fitted with these wheels but these are some excellent shots of Special Forces Dumvees in the Concord book #7513 US Army HMMWV’s in Iraq that can be used for reference with Pro Arts Dumvee conversion with these wheels.
Conclusion:
Despite some minor dimensional issues that may not be that noticeable unless
you carry around photos of the real wheels to compare this set of the aggressive
Super Swamper wheels are well done overall and will give a different appearance
to your Dumvee. I suspect we will see these wheels fitted to other HMMWV
types such as the M1114 as time passes due to the terrain being operated
in to give further uses for this set.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Dirk of Pro Art Models for the review set.
Page created 28 March, 2006