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Hussar Productions
AB41/43 Autoblinda
Eupopean Tread Wheels

1:35 Hussar Set #35050
Review by Terry Ashley

ItaleriItaleri
Introduction:
Hussar Productions previously released a set of standard or “European” tread tyres designed for the Italeri kits of the Autoblinda AB41 (kit #6442) and Autoblinda AB43 (kit #6451) as well as the Tamiya re boxing of the AB43 kit as their own kit #89697.

The original set had some minor issues with the contours of the tyre shoulder and just like with the re-issued M2/M3 Half-track wheels (set #35054) Hussar have re-issued this set after addressing the issues raised and are again to be commended for taking such a proactive approach to constructive criticism.

The Wheel Set:
This new set again has the six wheels, four for the vehicle proper and two spares with the standard of resin casting superb as usual with each wheel having a just very small casting stub and some minor excess resin leaving the smallest of scars once cleaned up which can easily be hidden at the ground contact point.

There are no blemishes in the wheel rims or tyre tread pattern, and the detail in the hubs is very good with clean crisp details that includes the finer details such as the tyre valve stem and clean indentations around the outer rim plus fine manufacturers embossing on the sidewalls. There is one small nit pick in that the outer retaining bolts at the end of the six hub ribs should be indented and not sit flush as represented with the Italeri hubs depicting these slightly better.

Hussar

The diameter of the tyres and wheel rims equals that shown in the 1:35 plans found in the Auriga Photo File book but the central hubs like the first set are about 1.0mm larger but as I don’t have a second set of plans to corroborate the sizes and they don’t look oversized comparing to photos of the real rims we can only accept them on face value.

The two spares also have the valve stems included but are without the six small wing nuts included on the original set as these are usually only attached when removing the wheels and these without the nuts better represent the wheels in situ.

The detail on the tread pattern is nicely represented and matches photos well with nice depth between the pattern segments and the rounded shoulder profile has been modified to better represent the rounded look of the actual wheels, this being the major update from the original set.

The tread pattern is also correctly "handed" for left and right sides of the vehicle so make sure you fit these the correct way around when attaching to the model.

To fit these wheels to the Italeri kits you need only cut about 2mm off the axle stubs which are designed to go through the Italeri kit wheels and they then fit neatly into the locating hole included on the inside of the resin wheels, all very easy.

Hussar

A quick comparison with the other resin standard tyre set available from R&J Products (set #35277) sees these slightly smaller in overall diameter compared to the Auriga Photo File book 1:35 plans and have the rounded shoulder profile of the actual wheels but don’t have the valve stem included or the wing nuts on the two spares.

Conclusion:
These are another superbly cast set of wheels from Hussar with very little cleanup and very clean crisp details on the rim hubs and wheels with the reworked tyre shoulder tread pattern better matching photos of the real wheel for a superb set of replacement AB 41/43 European pattern wheels.

Recommended. 8/10

Comparison of available resin sand wheels for the AB 41/43
with image of real wheel showing the round profile tread pattern.
Also note the recessed outer hub bolts of the real wheels

Hussar
R&J Products
Image showing the original and reworked wheels to illustrate the improvements in the shoulder contours
Hussar
R&J ProductsHussar
Real wheel image from Auriga Publishing AB41/43 book

See the Autoblindo AB41/43 subjects page for reviews of other sets available.

References:
Autoblindo AB41 & AB43
PzSpWg AB41 201(i)
& AB 43 203(i)

Armor PhotoGallery #8
ISBN 83-916483-6-2
Book
Autoblindo AB41 & AB43
Photo File No 1

Published by Auriga Publishing
ISBN 88-88711-16-3
A5 landscape approx 100 pages
Book
Hussar Productions are available from and distributed by AirConnection Canada.
Airconnection Thanks to Michael of AirConnection Canada for the review set



Page created June 11, 2007
Page updated March 18, 2008