1:35 GFF Eagle IV EKT Road wheels

Tires for the protected vehicle Eagle IV in the GFF class

The Eagle IV came about in the Swiss school of design and builds on a proven off-road chassis with drive to all wheels. The German army introduced it in the class of protected command and function vehicles, where it serves to carry staffs, signalers and specialists in areas with a mine danger. The configuration carrying the abbreviation EKT belongs to the same family and differs in its internal fittings and its body.

Practical notes on building

The chassis with large off-road wheels is conspicuous on this machine, and the plastic parts from the kit tend to be its weakest point. Resin castings have a sharply rendered tread, readable side lettering and a precisely shaped disc. The need to laboriously sand the seam running across the tread is thereby avoided, which is work that usually damages exactly what is to be seen most.

The procedure is simple: separate the pour gate, level the area on abrasive paper laid on a flat board, wash the part and let it dry out completely. Only then apply the ground. Resin is glued with super glue and the joint is stronger when both surfaces have been matted.

For painting choose a dark gray tone with a hint of brown. Real tires get dusty quickly, so a light hint of a lighter pigment on the sidewalls comes across more truly than a clean, perfectly even coat of paint. It pays to set the sides of the discs apart with a shade matching the spray coat of the vehicle.

A vehicle of this type has a fairly high-set body and the ground clearance is among its recognition marks. During the build therefore check how the replacement wheels seat the model in height, and adjust the mounting of the axles if need be; a difference of a few tenths of a millimeter is clearly noticeable at this scale.