eduard 1/32 Meteor F.4 wheels for HK Kit

[benjaminsummerfield]

1/32 Meteor F.4 wheels for HK Kit
Eduard
Catalogue # 632041
Available from Eduard for 11,25€
Bunny Fighter Club price: 9,56 €

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're big Eduard fans here at SP&R, they always seem to know exactly what the particular short comings of a kit are and are usually first across the line in correcting them. The HK kit has been largely well received since its release, we reviewed it earlier this year. We noted several short comings that could be improved (although the undercarriage and wheels weren't one of them!). Fisher and Profimodeller have dealt with most of these and we recently reviewed Eduard's excellent cockpit upgrade. Hot on the heels of this release comes another comprehensive upgrade dealing with the Undercarriage and wheels. Let's get down on the deck and see what's included.

 

 

 

This set deals with the nose and main wheels and their related mudguards. The upgrade comes packaged in a plastic blister pack with plenty of foam to protect the parts, this is successful and upon opening it you find the more delicate parts sandwiched between yet more foam. Included are 17 extremely fine flash free Pale grey resin parts and a small set of masks for the wheels, Eduard's clear and concise instruction form the header. I wouldn't describe the wheels and undercarriage of the HK kit as a particular weak point or fault and I struggled to think how they could be improved, upon opening this upgrade set all became clear!

 

 

One thing I did notice in my original review of the HK kit was that the nose wheel was of the plain hub type seen more on later Meteor variants, period photos clearly show early Meteors had what I would describe as a Spitfire type nose wheel which was spoked and dished. I attempted to correct this on my HK kit using spare parts from the Tamiya Spitfire. You can view the build thread here. Eduard have done a far better job than I possibly could have and I'll be replacing the nose wheel on my kit. The nose wheel is cast in two halves and incorporates some very fine detail on both halves including the wheel nuts and tyre valve, one side is very deeply dished and once removed from the casting block will give a perfect representation of the early type wheel I described earlier; Small locating tabs are incorporated on each halve to perfectly align them when fitting to the tyre.

 

 

The tyre has perfectly cast tread all the way round with no seam and should need very minimal cleaning up, the side wall has ribbed detail and very clear lettering for the Dunlop branding and even the tyre pressures are readable! To round it off the tyre has a subtle flat spot for extra realism.

 

 

 

The main wheels are equally catered for, the HK kit wheels were a good representation to begin with but these take it to another level, the real wheel is a multi-part split rim type and all the nuts that hold it together are crisply cast and they have real depth; again locating tabs are provided to align them with the tyre.

 

 

 

 

The tyres have tread detail to match the nose wheel which again has no seam to clean up, this time they are branded as Goodyear tyres, I'm not sure how accurate this is but it will certainly add plenty of interest and look great with some subtle dry brushing to make it stand out. These again have flat spots although the side wall isn't noticeably bulged.

 

 

 

Moving onto the mud guards, admittedly the kit parts could be improved as removing the seam on them does destroy some detail and their thickness isn't quite to scale. The Eduard parts are lovely and thin and naturally seamless, the raised lip along the edges is ridiculously thin as is the raised detail for the rivets. Care will be needed to accurately remove the kit mudguards to allow these to be seamlessly blended with them, while you're at it the front undercarriage leg could use some more compression as the kit part causes the finished kit to sit a little high and gently heating and bending it is one solution to this.

 

 

 

The supports for the mudguards are given as separate items and are extremely thin, again a big improvement over the kits. The last piece is a very small block of resin which I believe represents the towing hitch on the main gear.

 

 

Instructions

This is a simple set and construction is therefore straight forward, Eduard's instructions are their usual clearly illustrated type with various colours showing what is to be cut, glued or removed. That said it doesn't explicitly show where the kits mudguards are to be cut for removal but this should be fairly obvious after comparison with the new parts.

 

 

Conclusion
Another winner from Eduard, a simple and Straight forward set that has a big impact on the final sit and appearance of your "Meatbox" As I said at the start, the undercarriage and wheels aren't a particular weakness of this kit but the detail HK are able to offer is restricted by the limitations of injection moulding, Eduard can offer even more detail using 3D printing technology that reaches the parts injection moulding cant. A worthwhile upgrade to an already excellent kit.

 

Highly recommended

 

Our sincere thanks to Eduard for the review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

 

Ben Summerfield

 

 

[James H]

Nice review Ben, cheers. I have a set here, and know how good these are.

[RalphSarc]

My next Ju88 build I'm ordering aftermarket landing gear and wheels!! Thanks for the review Ben!

[JeroenPeters]

I'm getting these!

[Paulster]

Have been eyeing the Meteor since it came out. So far have been real successful in not getting it. Am surprised how long it took for these to be released.