Introduction

When HobbyBoss released their Land Rover Wolf WMIK back in 2010 it was a popular kit that needed some work to correct some glaring errors and a few omissions. The after-market then started on this kit with the latest offering for it being the Snatch Land Rover Defender conversion from Blackdog. It is perhaps provenance that the subject for this review is the Blackdog Defender Wolf Accessories Set for the original Land Rover Wolf WMIK.

Contents

Inside what the typical end opening box from Blackdog you will find 2 clear zip lock bags which contain;

• 6 replacement wheels
• 3 seats
• 2 canvas door panels
• 1 full length rear canvas panel
• 1 short length rear canvas panel
• A rear mounted stores bin with load
• Bonnet mounted basket with stores
• A 2 piece snorkel for the engine
• 2 aerials and their mounting brackets

That I think you will agree is a good stepping stone towards making the Land Rover Wolf WMIK from Hobby Boss stand out, however there is a lot more included to help you make your model stand out with a host stores and equipment which are;

• PLCE (Personal Load Carrying Equipment) style rucksack x 2
• 3 other pieces of personal webbing I have not identified as yet
• A sand channel
• 3 x 5 gallon water containers strapped together
• 2 x single 5 gallon water containers in racks.
• 3 clear water bottles
• 1 rolled ground mat
• Unidentifiable object wrapped in a canvas
• Length of tied rope
• A rolled up canvas

Review

Starting with an overview of the resin castings; as is usual now from Blackdog the resin castings are very good. The resin is free from defects such as air bubbles, and as far as I can tell free from shrinkage. The gates from the pour plugs are by and large very well placed, and should not cause any issues during clean up with the exception of the wheels and the bonnet mounted basket. The wheels are one of those issues which I do not believe will be cured any time soon, which is where to place the gate for the pour plug? Black Dog has placed the gate dead centre of the contact surface of the tyre, and to make clean up and retain as much of the detail as possible they have kept the gate very small. The problem with the basket for the bonnet is that regardless of where the gate is placed, it will be difficult to remove cleanly without damaging the basket detail. I don’t blame Blackdog for this as it is a limitation of the material and current casting methods.

The vehicle replacement and addition parts; the best place to start is from I suppose from the ground up, and so the wheels. Despite the difficulty of cleaning up the tyre treads where the gate for the resin connects, these are a vast improvement over the kit supplied wheels and tyres. The wheel pattern is a twelve spoke design which has not only better detail, but they look better as well. There are also 2 spare wheels in the set and these can be mounted on the sides of the vehicle rather than incorrectly on the bonnet as directed in the kit instructions.

The canvas doors and side panels in the set are very well detailed on both sides, however I cannot comment until I start construction how easy or difficult it will be to mimic their connection to the vehicle. These panels will however greatly improve the finished look of the model.

The baskets for the rear and bonnet of the vehicle with their moulded stores are another great addition to the model. The mesh of the bottom of the rear basket and the whole of the bonnet mounted basket is excellent and very finely rendered. The stores while generic in content will look very good when painted and given a wash to show the detail, the bonnet mounted basket contains; as fair as I can tell a selection of canvas sheets both open and rolled. The rear basket contains again rolled canvas’s but also has kit bags, rolled ground mats, and a Bergen. I accept that with some work the kit offered rear basket could be made to look similar, but the front basket has been completely omitted and a wheel is supplied for that location, which all of my reference tells me is wrong.

The seats supplied by Blackdog are very similar to the kit offered seats, but they have much better definition. When these seats are used in conjunction with Eduard’s photo etched set 36191 for the Defender XD Wolf W.M.I. K. they should look very good as the seat belts are included in the Eduard set, and it also means the moulded on seatbelt for the kit rear seat is no longer an issue. When placing the seat in the rear of the model remember that the instructions tell you to place it on the wrong side of the vehicle, to correct this remove the mounting bar moulded to the floor on the right side and move it to the left side. The mount in the centre of the floor is correctly placed for the seat to be mounted on the correct side.

The aerial mounts and aerials included in the Blackdog offering, that go over the roll bar between the driver and front passenger is very finely moulded, and some of the thinnest resin castings I have seen. If the mounting plates were any thinner you could be forgiven for mistaking them for flash! Also included for the vehicle is a snorkel which is again very well moulded and provides you with the option of using the snorkel from Blackdog or the blanking vent cover included in the kit.

Moving onto the resin stores supplied in this product; there is a stores package consisting of 3 ammunition boxes in 2 different sizes along with 2 rolled canvas’s to sit on the rear bed of the vehicle. However no strapping has been rendered and I do not believe that it would be stored that way due to risk of injury if it moved; I cannot say this never happened but some form of strapping would seem to be in order. The five backpack/webbing in four styles are excellent and will help draw the eye to wherever you decided to hang or locate them.

The sand channel included in the set will again take some clever thought to show hung naturally, but it does have very nice detail including strapping. On my example some of the holes will need to be drilled but I can’t call that a problem. The rope coil included is very well moulded but could be replaced with suitable string which allows more scope in placement. The loose rolled ground mat is what it is and suitable for storage just about anywhere on the vehicle, when removed from its pour plug you will need to drill a hole in that end unless hidden.

The large canvas wrapped bundle could be just about anything, however it has nice crease detail and should make a pleasing if non-descript piece of stowage. The next piece is also non-descript to me but I am sure one of you will be able to identify this long ribbed role. Now we have 5 x 5 gallon plastic water containers; there are two single containers with moulded on bracket detail and you also get 3 containers strapped together. The detail is very good with the word ’WATER’ clearly visible. The last inclusion is 3 x 2 litre clear water bottles which look very well done in a clear resin instead of injection moulded.

Conclusion

This set from Blackdog is a great addition for the HobbyBoss Land Rover Wolf WMIK, and goes some way to improve the accuracy and general appearance of the model. The parts are very well cast with no obvious issues in this example. The price of this product is also very appealing as I was looking for a set of wheels for the vehicle to begin with, and with this set only costing £5 more than one of their competitors who were just providing 5 wheels and nothing else; I think you can see why I made the decision to buy this product. I very highly recommend this product to you.

One question I see often asked is where to go for Blackdog products, this set came from Halifax Modellers World who have told me that it is their intention to stock as many of Blackdog’s products as possible. My experience of Halifax Modellers World is excellent with orders landing at my day 1 to 2 days after ordering. I highly recommend if you are in the UK or for that matter Europe that you give this retail outlet a look see.

Defender XD ‘Wolf’ W.M.I.K Live links

British WMIK crew in Afghanistan Live links

PE set for the ‘Wolf’ W.M.I.K Live links