Introduction

The AN/MPQ-53 is the "Patriot" in the air defence system MIM-104 produced by Raytheon. The "Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept On Target" was a tremendous upgrade to the US Army air defence system and the MIM-104 Patriot replaced both the MIM-14 Nike Hercules and MIM-23 Hawk systems for medium and long range air defence. The patriot system gained notoriety during Operation Desert Storm when it was used as an ad-hoc anti-ballistic missile system with debated success. Subsequent development of the system has greatly improved its versatility.

What this means for the model builder is that this system was designed to be mobile on a wheeled chassis. Compared to the systems it replaced, it is highly mobile and quick to deploy. However, the long range of the missile system means that it is a rear echelon asset that can be picky about where it deploys.

Review

DEF.Model has produced 2 wheel sets for the Trumpeter kit - DW35091 (sagged) and DW35094 (no sag). These sets are meant to replicate a Michelin XZY 445/65 R22.5 wheel. The set comes with 5 wheels (4 in use and a spare), wheel masks, and instructions on how to use the wheel masks.

The resin wheels, aside from the spare, have an excellent depiction of compression in the wheel that conveys the weight of the trailer load without looking overdone or that the tires lack air pressure. The casting gates are large solid rectangles directly in the middle of the compressed area, making clean-up simpler and hiding lack of tire pattern when done. The spare wheel has a different pour plug that minimizes effect on the tread pattern. There is NO mold seam on the tire, making use a simple task of cleaning up the pour plug and painting.

The wheels are handed, 2 left and 2 right, so make sure you consult references for putting them on correctly.

The wheels are a direct replacement for the Trumpeter wheels, butthey will only work IF you modify the Trumpeter kit to show the trailers UNDEPLOYED. The Trumpeter kit, as presented in the instructions, only builds with the outriggers down and weight taken off the tires.

The wheels measure at 33.0mm in diameter, exactly the same as the trumpeter kit wheels. The Michelin XZY 445/65 R22.5 wheel is stated, by Micheline, to have a diameter of 46", scaling down to 33.3mm and since I cannot measure true fractions of a mm with my calipers, I am calling them accurate.

The masks provided are very nice to have and allow the modeller to either paint the wheel, mask, and paint the hub, or paint the hub, mask, and paint the wheel.