The Tamiya Heinkel He 219 1/48th scale kit has been around for a long time, and in my opinion remains a great kit. I built one several years and was quite pleased with the fit, detail and ease of assembly. I was fortunate enough to obtain a second kit in our local club raffle and began the search for all the "necessary" aftermarket accessories to meet my personal taste. Up to this time the only resin wheels available were the True Details wheel which I used on my first build. I found that CzechMaster offers a set of wheels, cockpit interior and canopy, which may be more than some modelers may need.
When the opportunity arose to review the Eduard version I quickly volunteered and was rewarded with an email indicating the set was mine.

Contents Description

The Eduard Brassin parts are furnished in a sturdy clam shell protective enclosure. There are four main wheels and a separate nose wheel. Eduard must be commended on their design for minimizing the casting plugs, which allows for easy removal of the parts from the plugs.

The kit's main wheels are two part: the wheels with the front hubs molded integrally, and a separate wheel and hub with the opening for the landing gear attachment. The kit's hubs lack the fine detail exhibited on the Eduard resin part. While the kit's wheels are perfectly round the resin parts have a slight flat spot on the bottom to represent the weight of the aircraft. The tire portions of the resin parts include raised manufacturer's letters,tread pattern and molding ribs while the kit parts are smooth. After painting a light drybrushing of a medium grey will bring out the detail.

The instructions are included on a small sheet, and when opened reveal the paint colors, masking and mounting on the kit's landing gear. The masking sheet included with the package was a very nice touch that I was not expecting.

Construction

The parts were first removed from the casting blocks. I used a fine razor saw and a sharp hobby knife to remove the block and resin webbing. I ran a medium grit sanding stick over the attachment points to remove any resin spurs. Next, the openings in the wheel hubs were checked against the mounting axels on the kit's landing gear: the wheel openings matched the kit parts almost perfectly. This was a pleaseant surprise. Note: with the tight tollerance between the resin wheel openings and the kit's axels, I recommend the the axels be masked to avoid any paint build up that would affect the fit of the resin to plastic parts. In preparation for painting I drilled small holes in the flat surfaces on the bottom of the wheels for the insertion of round tooth picks to hold the parts during the painting process. This resin in soft and the drilling process for all five wheels took less than a minute.The final step as with any resin aftermarket accessory is to wash the parts. I soaked them in warm water with a touch of Dawn detergent, using an old tooth brush to remove any sanding residue and mold release. After a rinse in warm water the parts were set aside to dry for a day.

Once the parts were dry I inserted the tooth picks in the openings on the bottom side of the tires and mounted them in a styrofoam block. I primed the parts using Tamiya flat white acrylic lacquer paint thinned with Mr Color self-leveling lacquer thinner. I allowed a 24 hour drying time to allow the primer to properly cure.

I painted the tire portions with MIG-O33 Rubber and Tires. After the rubber color dried for 24 hours I lightly drybrushed the tread and raised side surfaces with Model Master dark grey, and allowed that to cure for 24 hours. The rubber surfaces were masked with the included mask rings and small bits of Tamiya tape to cover the tires. The hubs were the airbrushed with Tamiya semi-gloss black. The detail on the hubs may also be drybrushed before the rubber portion masking is removed.

Once all the masking has been removed from the wheels a wash of burnt umber oil paint was applied to the parts. After 24 hour cure time a clear flat coat was airbrushed onto the parts. To say the finished parts look spiffy would be an understatement. They are spectacular!!

Building tip or hint: thanks to a member of our local club I was reminded to save the masking rings for possible buture use. With some care the die-cut mask can be removed from the painted parts and reapplied to the mask backing and stored for future use.

Conclusion

The resin replacement parts are extremely well detailed and will not disappoint the most discerning builder. Although this set may be considered a bit pricey the fine detail of the castings and the inclusion of the masks will make this accessory very desireable for the detail-oriented modeler. These parts will be a great compliment to the finished model. I highly recommend this set for anyone wanting the build the already fine Tamiya Heinkel He-219.

My thanks and appreciation go out to Eduard and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this product. Eduard continues to provide fine accesories for this hobby. Thank you Eduard. Thank you IPMS/USA.