1:48 Typhoon Mk. IB - Weighted Wheels (for Hasegawa and Hobby 2000 Kits / 3D-Printed)

Hobby 2000 1:48 Typhoon Mk. IB - Weighted Wheels (3D Print)

This item is not an aircraft kit but a detail add-on set. These are 3D-printed wheels with a flat spot, so-called weighted wheels, for the Hawker Typhoon Mk. IB model in 1:48 scale. The set is intended for Typhoon kits from Hasegawa and from Hobby 2000. The base model is not included in the package.

Why weighted wheels look more realistic

A real aircraft stands on its tires with its whole mass. The rubber flattens where it meets the ground and the sidewall bulges out slightly - the wheel simply is not perfectly round. The wheels from an ordinary kit, by contrast, are usually geometrically round, as though the aircraft weighed nothing, and the model then looks as if it were touching the ground rather than standing on it. Flattened wheels remove that difference: the model immediately gains a sense of mass, settles onto its base and looks more convincing - especially with a machine as heavy as the Typhoon.

Use

• Cut the wheels off the kit parts and replace them with the 3D-printed parts from the set.
• Separate the 3D-printed parts carefully from the supports and sand the stubs away with fine sandpaper.
• Wash and degrease the parts before painting, then use a primer.
• Bond with super glue (cyanoacrylate) - cement for plastic does not work on 3D prints.
• When fitting them, watch the orientation of the flat spot - the flat face has to point down, toward the ground.
• Sand with respiratory protection; the dust from 3D prints is not to be inhaled.

Who the set is for

For modelers building the Hawker Typhoon Mk. IB in 1:48 scale from Hasegawa or Hobby 2000 who want to raise the realism of the finished model markedly with one quick, simple change. Working with 3D-printed parts is undemanding but calls for care when removing the supports.

This is an add-on set, not a model. The kit, glue, paints and tools are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.