M2/M3 NDMSCR Halftrack Wheels
1:35th #TX 0129
Review by Terry Ashley
This third set of replacement front wheels from Trakz designed for the recent Dragon M2/M2A1 Half Track (kit #6329) gives you the standard NDMS tread pattern on Combat Rim wheels.
This combination of Tread pattern and Combat Rim wheels is the most common style seen on operational vehicles with almost all photos of Half Tracks after D-Day having this wheel combination.
The set again gives you the two front wheels and one spare with just the casting blocks and some thin resin film in the rim lightening holes to be removed. There were a few large air holes exposed when the casting blocks were broken off and you can either fill these or position them out of the way at ground contact.
The casting quality is very good without any additional air holes resulting in cleanly defined rim, hub and tread details but the contours of the Combat Rims was not quite right with the outer rim curve being too square and the lightening holes a bit too big and there is little that can be done about this. The tyre valve recess is included and you can add the valve stem from thin sprue or wire.
The wheels are also cast completely round thankfully which matches the vast majority of half-track pictures but we have been over this before so I won’t labour the point.
Adding the resin wheels to the Dragon kit is very straightforward as they are designed to fit straight onto the kit wheel hubs (parts D11, D20) which they do perfectly making any alterations unnecessary.
The spare can be used anywhere you want really and add a nice bonus to the set.
Conclusion:
This is the most common wheel type seen on operational vehicles and will probably
be the most sought after set to correct the flat kit wheels but the rim contour
issues lets the set down a little.
Recommended 7/10
See the M2/M2 Halftrack subjects page for reviews of other sets available.
for
the review kit.
Page Created March 24, 2007