Introduction:
MiniArt released their first 1/35 scale plastic kit of G506(G7107) truck in 2021. At the time of writing this review, the company released 5 slightly different variants of the vehicle, with more to follow. All these kits are supplied with plastic wheels featuring standard US Army 7.50-20 NDT tires. The wheels are nicely detailed and should look good when painted and weathered.
However, G506(G7107) family of vehicles used many different tires. The most interesting type by far were Goodrich Silvertown 7.50-20 with their characteristic chevron tread pattern.
DEF Model recently produced these tires and offer them as resin replacement wheels for MiniArt model.
Review:
US G506(G7107) Cargo Truck Wheel Set - Early Type (DM30058) is packed in a hard cardboard box. The box is nicely designed with the box art image showcasing the contents of the set. The image also specifies the set is designed for MiniArt kit and that it contains 7 resin parts and wheel mask seal.
The box contains a zip-lock bag with resin pieces, two large masking sheets and making instruction leaflet.
I inspected the resin pieces and was impressed by the high quality of casting. There are no imperfections in the resin whatsoever, just a very thin resin film in the wheel rim openings which needs to be carefully removed using the back of an X-acto blade. The details look really good, superbly defined and delivered in scale.
The casting blocks should prove very easy to remove. As with all DEF Model sets, the casting block on the road wheels is located at the tire ground contact, so cleaning it is usually done using sharp side cutters and some sandpaper. The resulting “scar” is not visible once the wheels are installed on the vehicle. The casting block on the spare tire is intelligently engineered with attachment points which follow the tire tread. By carefully cleaning these, there should be no need to recreate the tread pattern.
The tire represented in this set is Goodrich Silvertown 7.50-20. This is a directional tire and needs to be mounted with the tread design or “chevron” pointed in the right direction for maximum traction, efficiency, longest and most even wear. Majority of images I found show that the point of “V” meets the ground first.
There are images of this tire used on G506(G7107) family of vehicles, however not many are of high resolution to see all the tire details. I could spot the sidewall embossed detail and lettering on some, but only to a certain degree.
The tires in DEF Model set are superbly detailed. The characteristic tire tread pattern is authentically reproduced, with sidewall details and inscriptions clearly visible under magnification… Goodrich Silvertown, Super Traction, 7.50-20 HEAVY DUTY 8 PLY… magnificent detail.
This set includes 6 road wheels, 2 front and 4 rear wheels. Due to the directional pattern of the tread, care should be taken to understand which wheel goes where. In a nutshell, wheels A and B/B2 are left side wheels (A is front wheel, B and B2 make dual rear wheels) while wheels C and D/D2 are right side wheels (C is front wheel, D and D2 make dual rear wheels). An image from DEF Model website could help: link.
Front wheel:
Dual rear wheels:
Notice the stubs and holes which help in adjusting the wheels and fixing them together.
The road wheels are depicted with a slight compression of the tire on ground level. The effect realistically recreates the sag of the tire due to the weight of the vehicle.
Spare wheel:
Fitting the wheels:
The wheels are designed as a direct replacement to plastic wheels supplied with MiniArt’s kit. The front resin wheels fit to the Bc1/Bc15 kit parts, while the rear resin wheels should be fixed to the Bc16/A80/A81 kit parts. Again, the image from DEF Model website could help: link.
Wheel masks:
Two large pre-cut masking sheets are included in this kit. The masks are of help when painting the wheels, allowing airbrushing without overspray. The instruction leaflet shows two different ways of applying the masks and painting the wheels.
Conclusion:
US G506(G7107) Cargo Truck Wheel Set - Early Type (DM30058) from DEF Model is a resin replacement wheel set designed for MiniArt’s G506(G7107) 1/35 scale truck kits. The set delivers 6 road wheels and a spare tire, perfectly cast and with loads of details impressively delivered in resin. The characteristic shape and tread pattern of Goodrich Silvertown tire is authentically reproduced. The wheel masks are an added bonus.
Altogether, I can highly recommend this set for those who wish a slightly different look for their G506(G7107) models.
And pssst… the same tire set for G506(G7107) kit from ICM is to be released later this month.
A big thanks to DEF Model for this review sample.