introduction

Tamiya kit wheels represent the early style of rims and tires. While such older wheels are still used, majority of Humvees now have newer type wheels on them. Wheels in Blast set are those newer "aggressive" pattern wheels. Just as most of Blast Models sets, those wheels also come in a small clear plastic container and resealable zip-bag inside. There are only four complete wheels inside, molded in cream resin. Wheels are marked with small numbers on the inner side of rims and on a small paper insert is a drawing with instructions showing proper location of each wheel.

Wheels are cleanly molded with just a hint of flash. Molding quality is flawless. No air bubbles are present at all. Resin pouring gates are very small, so the area of tread pattern affected by their presence is minimal.

Blast wheels are designed with Tamiya kit in mind, so they attach to the axles the same way as original kit wheels did. No modifications to Tamiya parts are necessary.

First problem with Blast product is not immediately noticeable, but if you try too read manufacturer's logo on tires you realize that it was misspelled on one side of tire. It says "Goo Year" instead of "Good Year". Unfortunately the error was made on the outer side of tires, while logos on the inner, not visible side, are correct. In reality however manufacturer's logo on tires is rarely visible at all, so the easiest fix is to simply sand the logos off Blast tires completely. This way they will actually look more accurate, even if a little less "cool".

Rims in Blast wheels look like they were based on kit parts, but the outer ring of bolts was modified with 12 bolts instead of original eight. This is correct for new style rims, but those new bolts protrude significantly further from the rim in reality, while Blast made them the same size as in Tamiya kit.

Aggressive tread pattern is quite well reproduced, although not fully accurate. It is a bit simplified, but looks acceptably. The problem however is that Blast tires are a bit too narrow. They are significantly narrower than Tamiya kit wheels, but this actually is correct as in reality new tires are also narrower than older ones. But Blast unfortunately went a little bit too far in reducing the width of their tires and appearance of their wheels is not quite right. This is not a glaring error, but still noticeable.

in conclusion

Despite some flaws, Blast Models Humvee wheels are still a very product, worth recommendation. They were designed for Tamiya kit, so it is extremely easy to use them with this model. Blast Models mentioned some time ago that they will correct Good Year logo error in later production batches of wheel sets, but they need to sell the initial batch first. Anyway - do not reject this product only because of this small spelling error, as it is really not that significant. More important is the slightly incorrect width of tires, but this problem is also not big enough to change overall good value this set presents.


Review sample was purchased directly from Blast Models.

Reviews of other Blast Models detail sets for Tamiya Humvee:
- Late type weapons ring with OIF modifications and smoke dischargers - BL35050K
- OIF Hummer Accessories - BL35051K
- Armored doors for OIF Hummer - BL35052K