1:35 VW Kubelwagen road wheels flat tires with caps type 1

Deflated tires for the Kübelwagen, type 1 pattern

Wheels for models of the German light vehicle VW Kübelwagen, in the flat tires rendition, where the rubber is without pressure and settles onto the ground across its whole width, complemented by hubcaps. The difference from an ordinary wheel is clear: the sidewall of the rubber bulges outwards, the contact patch widens and the whole vehicle drops on that side.

Why a flat wheel in particular

In a battlefield scene a flat tire carries more information than the whole rest of the vehicle. It says that fighting passed this way and that the machine stayed put. In the hedgerows of Normandy, at the edges of country tracks and in the rubble of city districts, light vehicles were left standing because nobody had the time or a spare tire. With it the modeler explains at once why the vehicle is going nowhere, without having to build a whole wreck. One wheel without pressure is enough and the whole scene gains a plot.

Where to put the set to use

• On a vehicle abandoned by the road or pushed into a ditch.
• In a workshop scene where the crew is lifting the vehicle and preparing to handle the wheel.
• As a counterpart to a neighboring vehicle on fully inflated tires.
• The body and the chassis come from an ordinary kit, and the set does not contain them.

How to see it through

What matters is the connection with the ground. Sink the widened contact patch into dust or mud, so that no gap is left between the wheel and the ground. Leave the sidewall of the tire matte and keep a slight gloss on the hubcap instead, as the contrast of the two surfaces does the scene a great service.