Introduction:
The Coyote 6x6 Tactical Support Vehicle (TSV) and the Jackal 4x4 high mobility carrier are in service with the British Army. The vehicles are part of a family of vehicles designed and developed by SC Group for the British armed forces.
Interestingly, at the time of writing this review, the Coyote is not available as a 1/35 scale plastic model kit. Hobby Boss produced their Jackal kit in 2020, and the company announced the Coyote 6x6 TSV as a future release. Since the kit will probably share much of its parts with Jackal, DEF Model decided to jump the gun and release an additional set of resin wheels to complement their Jackal MWMIK 4x4 Sagged Wheel Set (review link), expecting the extra set will be useful for upgrading a Coyote from Hobby Boss. So here it is… British MWMIK Extra Sagged Wheel Set for 6x6 Coyote (DW35131).
Review:
The set is packed in a small cardboard box. The box art displays the contents of the set and states the wheels are designed to fit Hobby Boss kit.
Opening the box reveals a zip-lock bag with resin pieces, masking sheet and masking instruction leaflet.
The resin pieces look very impressive. There are no casting imperfections, no air-bubbles or seam lines to clean. The level of details is astounding… the tire tread is superbly delivered, the sidewall embossing sharp and clearly visible under magnification.
The casting blocks are positioned on the bottom part of the road wheels, so it is very easy to remove them without damaging the detail. Also the “scar” resulting from the cleaning process is located on the tire ground contact, making it invisible after installing the wheels.
The tire depicted in the set is Michelin XZL 335/80R20. The all-terrain, all-position radial tire for special service vehicles, with dimensions of 1037 x 345 mm, features a non-directional tread with open shoulder design.
DEF Model version of the tire looks very realistic and delivers all the tire details really well. The high magnification unveils the embossing details with several inscriptions clearly identifiable. The rim and hub are nicely defined. DEF Model tire is sized to 31,60 x 9,75 mm, which makes them 2 mm larger in diameter than the real tire in 1/35 scale. However, the vinyl tire supplied with the Hobby Boss kit is even larger compared to the DEF offering… I remember the conversation on DEF Model Facebook page which indicated DEF was aware of this issue, but that the company ultimately decided to offer a wheel which will fit the kit instead of doing a correctly sized 1/35 scale tire and producing a wheel which looks off on a Hobby Boss model.
The wheels in this set are depicted with a slight tire sag. The compression on the tire is not overdone and I feel it conveys the weight of the loaded vehicle really well.
The set is an addition to British Jackal MWMIK 4x4 Sagged Wheel Set (DW35125). The road wheels in this set are labeled as C, which suggests they are slightly different to A and B versions from the previous set. Indeed, these wheels are oriented differently to A and B, with regards to the sidewall embossing as well as the compression where the tire contacts the ground. This slight variance ensures the wheels A, B and C don’t look identical when fixed to the same side of the vehicle.
The set also includes a canvas covered spare wheel.
A pre-cut masking sheet is also included in this set. The masks are of help when painting the wheels, allowing airbrushing without overspray. Also included is the instruction leaflet which shows two different ways of applying the masks and painting the wheels.
Conclusion:
British MWMIK Extra Sagged Wheel Set for 6x6 Coyote (DW35131) from DEF Model offers two additional resin replacement wheels and a canvas covered spare tire to be used with British Jackal MWMIK 4x4 Sagged Wheel Set (DW35125) and upgrade 1/35 scale Coyote 6x6 TSV from Hobby Boss.
Cast to perfection and with the details faithfully reproduced, this set delivers wheels in a slightly different orientation to those supplied with the previous DEF Model set. Highly recommended.
A big thanks to DEF Model for this review sample.