1:32 F-15E Modern Wheels

Wheels for the heavier version of the Eagle

The two-seat combat version takes off at a considerably higher weight than the original fighter it came from. The landing gear was therefore given more durable wheels and tires of a different construction, and although the difference against the older rendition is inconspicuous at first glance, in a large scale it can be told by the shape of the hub and by the profile of the sidewall.

Wheels are precisely the parts where injection-molded plastic loses most. In a kit a tire is usually made up of two halves and the joint runs exactly around the tread, that is where it cannot be hidden. The hub tends to have only the largest ribs suggested and the inner side is usually smooth, because the mold cannot reach it. The casting deals with both at once: the circumference is in one piece, both sides of the hub carry relief of their own and the valve and the bolts are apparent.

A model stands on its wheels and the viewer has them at eye level when looking over the landing gear. It therefore pays to paint them separately, mask the hub and reach for a dark gray on the tire rather than black. A dusty cast from the edges of the tread toward the center gives the whole thing scale.

The parts are bonded into the landing gear forks with cyanoacrylate. If you want to fit a wheel so that it looks weighted, sand the flat spot carefully and equally on both sides of the aircraft.

The castings come embedded in a block of material from which they are freed with a cut from a fine-tooth saw. Cut at a distance from the part and rather sand the rest of the sprue gate down than get the saw too close to the outline of the hub.