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CMK
Chevrolet 15cwt Wheels
CMK-Blitz Line Armour Accessories
1:35 Scale
Review by Terry Ashley

Introduction:

CMK have released a series of resin wheels for Commonwealth transport vehicles in their BLITZ Line of armour accessories with sets designed for both the applicable Italeri and Tamiya kits.

The sets listed so far in the series are:
B35 001 Chevrolet 15cwt 4x2 "Canada" wheels 9x16 Cross Country (Dunlop) for Italeri
B35 002 Chevrolet 15cwt 4x2 "Canada" wheels 9x16 General Purpose (Dunlop) for Italeri
B35 003 Chevrolet 15cwt 4x2 "Canada" wheels 9x16 Cross Country (Firestone) for Italeri
B35 004 Quad Chevrolet 4x4 wheels 10.5x20 Cross Country (Dunlop) for Italeri
B35 005 Quad Chevrolet 4x4 wheels 10.5x20 General Purpose (Dunlop) for Italeri
B35 006 Quad Ford 4x4 wheels 10.5x20 Cross Country (Dunlop) for Tamyia
B35 007 Quad Ford 4x4 wheels 10.5x20 General Purpose (Dunlop) for Tamyia
B35 008 Quad Chevrolet 4x4 wheels 10.5x20 Cross Country (Firestone) for Italeri
B35 009 Quad Ford 4x4 wheels 10.5x20 Cross Country (Firestone) for Tamiya

We will look here at two of the first three sets B35 001, B35 002 and B35 003 all for the recently re-released Italeri kit #6233 Chevrolet 15cwt Truck.

B35 001 Chevrolet 15cwt 4x2 "Canada" wheels 9x16 Cross Country (Dunlop) for Italeri:

This set consists of just 5 wheels cast in light cream resin with just the casting blocks to be removed before use with the four main wheels and a spare and are designed to simply replace the plastic wheels in the Italeri Chev kit.

This casting block attachment extends about 1/3 the way around the tread but is thin and is on the centre of the tread pattern making it quite easy to remove without compromising the tread pattern.

Resin parts
CMK

There were a few small air holes exposed after the excess resin block was removed and a few of the tread indentations around the middle of the casting block had some excess resin that was very easy to remove with a #11 blade.

Detail on the wheels rim is very cleanly done with the central wheel hub included with the casting but note there are different pattern hubs for the front and rear wheels as indicated in the small instruction sheet included with the set.

The back of the wheels have the small locating hole to fit the wheels directly to the Italeri kit axles but some minor alterations will be needed when fitting the rear wheels.

The Dunlop Cross Country tread pattern is also cleanly done apart from the minor cleanup mentioned above but there is no sidewall embossing on the wheels presumably to avoid any of those annoying copyright issues we see all to often with kits these day. The only variation from the manual images is every second chevron extends further down the sidewall but I am not sure if this was a feature of all wheels of this type?

Wheel and tread pettern details with a reference image from the manual showing the tread pattern
CMK

Overall a nicely cast and detailed set of resin wheels which are quick and easy to fit to the Italeri Chev kit.

B35 002 Chevrolet 15cwt 4x2 "Canada" wheels 9x16 General Purpose (Dunlop) for Italeri

This set is similar to the set B35001 also being designed for the recently re-released Italeri kit #6233 Chevrolet 15cwt Truck and has the Dunlop General Purpose tread pattern which is slightly different from the Cross Country tread although it looks the same at first glance.

This set consists of 5 wheels with the four main wheels and a spare designed to simply replace the plastic wheels in the Italeri Chev kit.

Resin parts
CMK

The thin casting block attachment extends about 1/3 the way around the tread but is thin and is on the centre of the tread pattern making it quite easy to remove without compromising the tread pattern. There is also some excess resin inside some of the rims which will need care to remove but this is fairly easy to do as it sort of just "sits" there and doesn't compromise the rim detail after removal.

There were a few small air holes exposed after the excess resin block was removed and a few of the tread indentations around the middle of the casting block had some excess resin that was very easy to remove with a #11 blade.

Detail on the wheels rim is very cleanly done with the central wheel hub included with the casting but note there are different pattern hubs for the front and rear wheels as indicated in the small instruction sheet included with the set.

The back of the wheels have the small locating hole to fit the wheels directly to the Italeri kit axles but some minor alterations will be needed when fitting the rear wheels.

The General Purpose tread pattern is also cleanly done apart from the minor cleanup mentioned above but there is no sidewall embossing on the wheels presumably to avoid any of those annoying copyright issues we see all to often with kits these day.

Wheel and tread pattern details with a reference image from the manual showing the tread pattern.
CMK

Overall another nicely cast and detailed set of resin wheels which are quick and easy to fit to the Italeri Chev kit.

B35 003 Chevrolet 15cwt 4x2 "Canada" wheels 9x16 Cross Country (Firestone)

This third set is also designed for the recently re-released Italeri kit #6233 Chevrolet 15cwt Truck and has the Firestone Cross Country tread pattern which is noticeably different from the Dunlop tread with a more aggressive tread pattern.

This set consists of 5 wheels with the four main wheels and a spare designed to simply replace the plastic wheels in the Italeri Chev kit.

Resin parts
CMK

This casting block attachment extends about 1/3 the way around the tread but is thin and is on the centre of the tread pattern and is a little heavier than on the other wheels and requires some more cleanup from inside the tread groves.. There is also some excess resin inside some of the rims which will need care to remove but this is fairly easy to do as it sort of just "sits" there and doesn't compromise the rim detail after removal.

Detail on the wheels rim is very cleanly done with the central wheel hub included with the casting but note there are different pattern hubs for the front and rear wheels as indicated in the small instruction sheet included with the set.

The back of the wheels have the small locating hole to fit the wheels directly to the Italeri kit axles but some minor alterations will be needed when fitting the rear wheels.

The distinctive Firestone Cross Country tread pattern is also cleanly done apart from the minor cleanup mentioned above but there is no sidewall embossing on the wheels presumably to avoid any of those annoying copyright issues we see all to often with kits these day.

Wheel and tread pattern details with a reference image from the manual showing the tread pattern.
CMK

Overall another nicely cast and detailed set of resin wheels which are quick and easy to fit to the Italeri Chev kit.

Conclusion:

Overall these are excellent sets of resin wheels for the Italeri Chevrolet 15cwt Truck (kit #6233) offering a good choice of tread patterns in the various sets. The cleanup required is minimal and with sets are designed to simply replace the kit wheels with only minor alterations to the kit parts.

The three different tread patterns for both the Dunlop and Firestone wheels offers a good choice with the distinctive Firestone Cross Country tread giving a very different look to the CHev kit.

Highly recommended 7.5/10

Thanks to CMK for the review sets.




Page created July 30, 2008