Recently Brengun has released a series of interesting accessories in 1/72 scale, most aimed at those looking to add a little something different and to spruce up the display of our recent builds.

This set fits squarely in that category and provides a set of wheel chocks currently used by the US Navy on its carriers and other aviation ships. The chocks are used to supplement the tie down chains used to firmly attach aircraft and helicopters to the flight deck when they stationary. The chocks are usually the last things removed before an aircraft starts taxing across the deck.

The set consists of twelve resin pieces which allows you to construct a set of chocks. Each chock consists of two large blocks that fit in front of or behind an aircraft’s main wheels and a metal bar between them that is used to adjust the width between the blocks to accommodate different size tires. The set includes four blocks, four end plates, two adjustment bars and two teeny tiny blanking plates for the ends of two of the blocks. The parts are easily removed from the casting block, but there is a lip on the back of each end cap, so you will need to carefully sand this flush in order to get the end cap to fit flush on the block. I ended up not using the tiny blanking plates as they disappeared as soon as I removed them from the casting block and I’m not sure I would have been able to fit them into the small holes in the end caps anyway.

The adjustment bars are separate and are also easily removed from the casting block with a razor saw but be careful not to inadvertently bend them as they are pretty skinny. The cast detail on both the adjustment bars and the blocks is very nice and looks just like I remember them looking when I was deployed aboard the Enterprise in the early 80’s.

Once you have attached the end caps, painting is the next step. As I recall the blocks being yellow and the adjustment bars being aluminum color, I painted the blocks and the bars separately. In order to keep the yellow from being two bright, I first primed the blocks with gloss black and then painted them Insignia Yellow. This gives them the dark yellow color that I saw. I then painted the adjustment bars Taimya aluminum. Once the paint had dried, I slide the adjustment bar through the back of one of the blocks and superglued it to the back of the block. I then slid the opposing block onto the end of the adjustment bar. The chocks are well designed so the chocks actually do slide back and forth on the adjustment bar, allowing you to custom fit them to the aircraft you are displaying them with.

I still need to beat the chocks up a bit and weather them as the chock crewmen are not exactly delicate with the chocks when they are set down and fitted to the aircraft tires.

This is a great set for anyone who models modern US Navy aircraft and wants to display them in a flight deck setting. I really enjoyed the set and I can see I will need several more sets for my Naval Air collection.

Thank you to Brengun for the review sample and thanks to IPMS-USA for letting me review it.