1:35 Road Wheels for Crusader Cruiser Tank

Road wheels for the Crusader in 1:35 scale

This is an accessory set, not a vehicle model. On a tank, the road wheel is a part that repeats many times over and is always on view, because it sits at the viewer's eye level. Against a plastic part, a resin casting has a sharper rendering of the pressed edges, more pronounced riveting and a clearly drawn rubber tire band, and above all it has no mold parting seam that would have to be laboriously removed from a circular part. Taking the seams off dozens of wheels is among the most tiresome jobs in building a tank.

The real subject

The Crusader was a British cruiser tank, that is, a machine built for speed and for driving deep, not for infantry support. It had a suspension with large road wheels that gave it excellent speed across country, and it was committed above all in North Africa. Its weakness was the reliability of the drivetrain in desert conditions.

Usage tips

• First wash the parts in lukewarm water with detergent; that removes the mold release residue.
• Cut off the casting blocks with a saw and true the mating surfaces with a file.
• Bond with super glue; plastic cement does not work on resin.
• Apply a primer before painting, because paint does not hold on smooth resin.
• Do not paint the rubber tire bands pure black; a dark gray with dust looks truer.

Who it is for

The set is for modelers of British Second World War vehicles who are finishing off the running gear. Working with resin is not difficult, but it differs from plastic and calls for a different glue and a different preparation.

It is not a vehicle model. The base kit, paints and glue are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.