Introduction

The Goodyear Wrangler R/T II is the all-terrain bias ply tire that was standard issue to all US Military Humvees. The tire is 36-inch (91cm) tall, 12 1/2-inch (32cm) wide, mounts on 16 1/2-inch (42cm) rims and is in a load range C. Although the US Military switched to Goodyear radial "aggressive tread" tires for its Humvee inventory in the 1990s, pictorial evidence shows some of the Goodyear R/T II bias tires remained in service on Humvees until at least 2004.

Review

DEF Model is an aftermarket company from Korea which recently started its business by offering replacement resin wheel sets and quickly expanding their portfolio with conversions and update sets for various military vehicles.

DEF Model's M997/M1046 HMMWV R/T II Sagged Wheel set (DW35004) is designed to fit Tamiya Humvee kits. The set is safely packed in a plastic blister box with zip-lock bags containing one spare and four sagged tires with separately cast rims and hub caps... A total of 19 resin parts:

• spare tire (1X)
• sagged tire / A (2X)
• sagged tire / B (2X)
• rim (4X)
• spare tire rim (1X)
• inside rim (5X)
• front tire hub cap (2X)
• rear tire hub cap (2X)

The instruction booklet is included as well.

All the parts are molded in grey resin and the cast is excellent; there are no visible imperfections, no air-bubbles or seam lines. Some flash needs to be removed from the inner side of the tires and rims, but this should not present any problems for a sharp x-acto blade. The tires feature Goodyear logo and Wrangler R/T II lettering, both very nicely rendered (and spelled correctly as well!). Tire pattern looks good and resembles the pattern I found on the references really well. Tires in this set are sagged; the sag is not over pronounced and should depict a weight of the vehicle realistically. The rims in this kit have 8 bolts which is a characteristic of these early type Humvee rims. Also, the rims feature a "pin" on the inside hub which fits precisely into Tamiya Humvee axle opening.

The pour blocks are located on the sagged side of the tires so modelers will not have to recreate the tire pattern after removing those. Some more care will be necessary for cleaning the spare tire, but turning the "scar" to face the ground would probably do the trick. Pour blocks on the rims and hub caps are easily cleaned with minimal chance of damaging detail or influencing the fit of the pieces.

The assembly shown in the instruction booklet is pretty straightforward, although a bit complex for a wheel set for my taste. The hub caps fit well to the central opening in the rims, however be careful to position the caps correctly... check your references to see the appropriate location of the hub cap bolts with respect to the rim bolts. Front of the rim fits loosely to the tire and a small gap between those two pieces is inevitable. I filled the gap with some Magic Sculpt to fix the problem.

The tires in this set are 26mm tall and 9mm wide, with 12mm rims... which makes them a perfect 1/35 scale rendition of the real R/T II tires. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the other 1/35 scale R/T II offerings (Masters Production #35001, Verlinden Productions #0589 or Trakz #0085) so I can't compare those sets first hand, but you are welcome to take a look at "Humvee Resin Wheels Comparison Review" on PMMS and draw your own conclusions.

Conclusion

This is my first contact with DEF Model and I must say I'm impressed. The HMMWV R/T II wheels are flawlessly cast with accurate tire pattern detail and all the details recreated very nicely in scale. The tire sag looks very convincing. Also, the dimensions of the wheels are spot on. The only thing I had a problem with here is a rather complex assembly; wheel set with 19 parts is a kit on its own... I had no problems building the kit, but I would prefer the wheels as a one-part cast.

References

Humvee at War, Michael Green & Greg Stewart, Zenith Press 2005.

US Army HMMWV’s In Iraq, Carl Schulze & Ralph Zwiling, Concord Publications 2005.

HMMWV: Workhorse of the US Army, Carl Schulze, Concord Publications 2002.

HMMWV Humvee 1980-2005, Steven Zaloga & Hugh Johnson, Osprey Publications 2006.

M998 HMMWV Hummer and Derivatives (Warmachines #7), Verlinden Publications 1991.