Introduction:
The M939 Truck is a 5-ton 6×6 US military heavy truck, which soon evolved into its own family of cargo trucks, dump trucks, semi-tractors, vans, wreckers, and bare chassis/cabs for specialty bodies. The M923 was the standard cargo version of the series.
I Love Kit company from China released their 1/35 scale M923 kit in 2021. At that time DEF Model already had two different types of M923 “Big Foot” resin replacement wheel sets in their catalogue, however those were specifically designed to fit the old Italeri kit. After reworking their “Big Foot” Michelin XL wheels, the company recently did the same with their “Big Foot” Goodyear wheel set, which is now suitable for both Italeri and I Love Kit models.
Review:
M923A2 'BIG FOOT' Truck Goodyear AT-2A Sagged Wheel Set (DW35132) comes in a nicely designed hard cardboard box. The box art image displays the resin wheels on the built M923 model and specifies the set is designed to fit both I Love Kit and Italeri models.
The box contains a large zip-lock bag with resin pieces, wheel masking sheets and masking instruction leaflet.
The zip-lock bag is jam packed with resin… there are 15 resin pieces in total: 6 running wheels, spare tire and 8 adapters. As with all the DEF Model wheel sets I reviewed so far, I was impressed with the quality of resin cast. There are no air-bubbles or seam lines on the pieces, and no sign of any other casting imperfections whatsoever. The details on the wheels are sharp, superbly defined in scale.
Casting blocks are large but easy to remove using standard cleanup procedure. I would suggest sharp side cutters, X-acto blade and some sandpaper. The important thing is that the casting blocks are attached to the bottom part of the road wheels, at the ground contact, so removing them doesn’t result in damaging the detail or leaving a visible scar once the wheels are installed. The casting block on the spare tire is intelligently designed with several smaller attachment points following the tire tread pattern. Removing this block carefully should preserve the tread on the spare tire.
The tire represented in this set is Goodyear AT-2A 14.00R20, an off-road tire optimized for military and all wheel drive vehicles. The dimensions of the tire are 1250 x 386 mm (49.2 x 15.2 in) with the approved rim width of 254 mm (10 in).
Comparing the 1/35 scale tires to the images of the real Goodyear AT-2A, I found a really good match. The tire tread is authentically reproduced, together with all of the sidewall embossed detail. Under high magnification I can clearly read the inscriptions GOODYEAR, UNISTEEL, AT-2A…very nice! The complex bolt pattern on the rims and the hub is faithfully reproduced, as well as the central tire inflation system (CTIS) lines and caps. The CTIS is one of the key features of the M923A2 variant, so these wheels are not suitable for earlier vehicle versions.
Front wheels:
Rear wheels:
The wheels are sized to 35,60 x 10,90 mm, just a fraction of millimeter smaller in diameter and width than the real tire. The road wheels feature a slight compression on the ground contact, depicting the weight of the vehicle well.
This set includes 2 slightly different rear road wheels, labeled B and C. These rear wheel variants are differently oriented regarding the compression where the tire contacts the ground, as well as the sidewall embossing, which ensures the wheels fitted to the same side of the vehicle do not look identical and repetitive, adding to the realism of the model.
Rear wheels (B and C):
Spare tire (front and back):
Fitting the wheels:
This wheel set is designed to fit both Italeri and I Love Kit models. Therefore, the wheels are not a direct replacement, but need to be used with a specific adapter supplied in the set. If the wheels are used with Italeri model, two round hollow adaptors should be added to front road wheels. If the wheels are used with I Love Kit model, each rear road wheel gets a smaller round adaptor.
Image on DEF website could provide some help: link.
Wheel masks:
Four pre-cut masking sheets are included in this kit. 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:
M923A2 'BIG FOOT' Truck Goodyear AT-2A Sagged Wheel Set (DW35132) from DEF Model delivers a set of resin replacement wheels for 1/35 scale M923A2 kits from Italeri and I Love Kit. The set includes 6 road wheels and a spare tire, superbly cast in resin and with impressively defined tire and rim details. Accurately sized, the DEF Model resin wheels present a huge improvement over vinyl tires/plastic rims supplied with both Italeri and I Love Kit offerings.
Highly recommended.
A big thanks to DEF Model for this review sample.