1:35 Sd.Kfz 222 late road wheels flat tires type 2 (4pcs + spare for Hobby Boss)

The scout who rode first

German light armored cars had the task of advancing ahead of the main forces, finding the opponent and pulling back in time. The Sd.Kfz 222 filled this role from the second half of the thirties: a fast four-wheeled machine with armor against splinters and rifle rounds, with a revolving open turret and with a mesh basket against hand grenades. It fought in Poland, in France, in North Africa and on the Eastern Front, where tracked and eight-wheeled vehicles gradually replaced it.

Pattern number two

The set brings wheels with the second of the three patterns the maker offers in this range. The difference between the designs shows in the arrangement of the grooves and in the pattern on the wall of the tire; in period photographs machines can be told apart by them, and some cars even ran with tires from different series on one axle.

An empty tire and its effect

All five wheels are cast in the deflated state. The rubber widens where it beds down, the wall bulges and the whole silhouette of the car drops. On a model this makes it possible to tell the fate of the machine without a single further accessory. Combined with an open hatch, kit strewn about or a figure at a jack, a scene arises that holds attention longer than a cleanly built kit.

Choosing the kit

The name places the goods with the Hobby Boss kit. For the matching model from Tamiya the maker offers its own numbers, so it is good to check which kit you have on the table. The difference between the two versions lies in the seating of the hub and in the diameter of the stub, so a mix-up shows at once on a dry fit. If the wheels sit loose, it is enough to wrap the stub with a thin strip of plastic and firm the joint up.