Introduction:
The Daimler Armoured Car was a successful British armored car design of the Second World War. Designed for armed reconnaissance and liaison purposes, it continued in service into the 1950s, often as an internal security vehicle.
Gecko Models released the first 1/35 scale plastic model kit of Daimler Armoured Car Mk.I in 2021. The kit received positive reviews… the interior, the quality of details and a large PE fret, it sure looks like Gecko has all the bases covered with this offering.
However, there are always modelers who wish to add something more even to the best kits on the market. I recently received a set of resin replacement wheels from DEF Model designed to upgrade Gecko’s kit and, after a thorough examination, I feel these wheels present an essential improvement over the plastic tires and rims supplied with the kit. Read the review to find out why.
Review:
Daimler Armoured Car Mk.1 Sagged Wheel Set (DW30066) from DEF Model is packed in a hard cardboard box. The image on the front of the box shows the contents of the set.
The box includes a zip-lock bag with 5 resin pieces, 3 masking sheets and masking instructions.
I inspected the resin pieces first. The pieces are cast in a very high quality standard; the details are sharp, well defined and look impressive even under high magnification. Also, I found no casting imperfections in the resin… so, it is removing the casting supports and the wheels are ready to roll.
Casting blocks are easy to remove with the help of side cutters and a sharp X-acto blade. The road wheels casting supports are located on the tire ground contact, so the scar from the cleaning process should not be visible once the wheels are installed to the model. The spare wheel casting block features thin attachment points which follow the tire tread. Taking some time and carefully removing this one should minimize the need to recreate the tread pattern.
The tire represented in this set is Dunlop Trak Grip 10.50-20, easily recognizable due to its peculiar tire tread.
Source: https://www.recomonkey.com/
Source: https://www.recomonkey.com/
I used Daimler Armoured Car in Detail, an exceptional title from Wings & Wheels Publications as a reference, together with several high-resolution images found on-line, to evaluate 1/35 scale resin wheels from DEF Model. I checked the tread pattern and tire sidewall details, as well as rim and hub elements, and found an excellent match. The tire tread is realistically represented in scale, together with sidewall inscriptions DUNLOP, TRAK GRIP and 10.50-20 clearly recognizable under magnification. Unlike the ones on the plastic tire from Gecko’s kit, these inscriptions are true to the scale. The rims and the hub look excellent, as well. The complex shape of the rim is nicely reproduced with all the bolt heads well defined. The DEF Model hub protrudes outwards more than the one in Gecko’s kit and the references show DEF Model wheels are again closer to the real thing. Besides these improvements, DEF Model wheels also feature slight tire compression, realistically depicting the weight of the vehicle.
The road wheels are delivered in two slightly different versions, labeled on the casting blocks as A and B. These are front and back wheels, with differently oriented tire ground compression and sidewall details, as well as differently oriented rim and hub elements. If A and B are installed to the same side of the vehicle, the wheels will not look identical, adding to the realism of the model.
The spare wheel is included in DEF Model set. Again, I found some reference images:
Source: https://www.recomonkey.com/
And compared it to DEF Model 1/35 scale version. Impressive!
Fitting the wheels to Gecko kit should be easy, as these wheels are designed as a direct replacement to kit parts. The resin wheels are to be fixed to Dj23/Dj24 kit parts with no modifications needed.
Wheel masks:
Three 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:
Daimler Armoured Car Mk.1 Sagged Wheel Set (DW30066) from DEF Model delivers a set of resin replacement wheels designed to upgrade 1/35 scale Gecko’s Daimler Armoured Car Mk.I kit. The resin wheels are impressively cast and have all the details superbly reproduced. The accurate details on these wheels, as well as realistically depicted tire sag, offer a superior option to plastic tires/rims supplied in Gecko’s kit and should provide more authenticity to the model. Wheel masks are a welcomed bonus.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to DEF Model for this review sample:
