This set in designed as a replacement for the kit wheels and hubs of Eduard’s new 1/72 FW 190A series of kits. The set includes two resin wheels with the hubs integrally cast and a mask set for the wheels.

When the wheels are removed from the casting block, Eduard’s careful planning comes to light as it turns out the attachment point is also a flattened area of the tire, establishing a realistic sit of the aircraft on the ground. While the tires are not bulged like some other replacement sets are, they really should not be in 1/72 scale as the tires are so small.

I painted the tires Tamiya NATO black with flat black hubs to create some contrast between the two shades of black. The enclosed mask set includes masks for the tires, but instead I painted the hubs first and then used the central circle of the mask to mask the hubs, followed by airbrushing the tires. I like this method as I tend to distort or tear the tire masks as they are very narrow.

Once painted, the tires can be installed on to the gear struts. As mentioned above, since the wheels have a cast flat spot, you first need to install the wheel struts and the tail wheel on the model in order to ensure that the flat spot is squarely on the ground. Installation after the struts are installed is also important due to the fact that the Fw 190 struts are angled in and forward, so the wheels are not parallel to the struts. In order for the wheels to be vertical, they set at an angle to the rest of the strut. I strongly recommend using superglue with a bit longer set time than you may normally like as you will need some time to get the wheels aligned vertically and flat on the ground before the superglue sets. I use a piece of glass from an old picture frame in situations like this as I can easily see when the flats on the tires are flat on the ground.

This is a nice set of replacement parts for Eduard’s FW 190s, but as these are early wheels, you will need to check your references for the aircraft you are modeling to see if they are correct for your model.

Highly recommended. Thank you to Eduard for the review sample and to IPMS-USA for letting me review it.