Universal Navy Wheel Chocks
Here’s a review coming to you from all around the United States! It turns out that this set toured the US for a year before actually arriving at my doorstep. Seems our Postal Service just couldn’t chock the wheels of that truck…So I was extremely happy and surprised to receive this Wheelliant product.
On initial inspection the detail looks like it will show well in close-up photography. In addition to the diamond pattern on the chocks the lateral lines are very finally crafted and show no signs of residual material in the grooves so they look very crisp.
Turning over the info card you’ll get a surprise, a large set of instructions that’s easy to follow and red as it’s not printed in size 2 font like many are prone to. I thought this was a definite benefit, no matter how simple it seems as so many other manufacturer’s are including no instructions these days.
On to the assembly and painting now. My set came with one malformed chock. I took this as an opportunity for us as reviewers to do more than just look at the pieces. I went ahead and started a pot of boiling water in order to try and reform it. This worked out pretty well and under paint you can’t hardly tell any issue was there to start with. They’re using good material for these obviously. When it came to the rope, I tried two things, the first was just to melt the ends near the flame from a lighter. That was not very successful, however a little bit of white glue on the end, and a twisting motion between my fingers, tightened the included piece of half millimeter rope up nicely and it drops right into the holes formed in the wheel chocks. I think the size is perfect; knowing how to install it so that you don’t end up with any glue at the interface between the rope and the chock. So I’ve shown them in a gray primer in order to bring out the details. Now I’m going to have to decide what aircraft to use these on.
I’d like to thank Aries for this sample and IPMS reviewer core for the opportunity to bring this review to you. I really hope you enjoyed the review of not only the parts but the assembly process for them.
Many thanks to IPMS and Aries for this review sample!
Reviewer Bio
Chris Vandegrift
When Chris isn't modeling he's restoring old cars or doing home remodeling in his spare time. Both have helped improve his modeling. "Having learned to paint cars, quite a few of those techniques apply to priming and painting my models," he says. Chris used to build aircraft exclusively, but has expanded into ships, science fiction, armor and cars. A member of multiple IPMS clubs in Ohio including Akron's Ed Kinney Chapter, Wright Field and Cincinnati Scale Modelers, Chris started building models when he was about 7. Chris lives in Cincinnati Ohio; a Mechanical Engineer by trade, he's the head of Operations and Engineering for a company that makes pumps. He's been married to his wife Jane for 30 years; they have four kids ranging from 20 to 34.
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