Roy Sutherland has released a beautifully detailed BarracudaCast "tall tailwheel" upgrade for late-War Bf 109G/K kits in 1:48 and 1:32.

The sets arrive in zip-lock bags on card backers and include a detailed sheet of instructions with clear colour photos plus diagrams in each scale. On the back of each pack are useful generic instructions for working with resin and metal parts.

Designed by Gunnar Jannson, each set provides two styles of resin tailwheels and a brass strut. The difference between the two wheels is the tread - either ribbed or grooved. The finely rendered hubs are identical and, remarkably, the overall detailing is just as pin-sharp in 1:48 as 1:32 The casting is flawless on both sample sets.

producing the strut in brass scores on two counts in my opinion. Firstly, it's really robust and, secondly, it's much easier to fit the wheel in the fork. Resin wheel forks are often delicate and/or brittle, but brass is much more forgiving, allowing you to gently open the fork and then close it around the wheel.

Barracuda Studios' Tall Tailwheel upgrades are available now:

BR32393 - Price: $8.50
BR48392 - Price: $7.25

Conclusion

As always with sets from Roy Sutherland, these new BarracudaCast upgrades are simply excellent. They'll obviously appeal to seasoned '109 modellers looking for the last word in detail and accuracy, but they're also straightforward enough to be suitable for newcomers to working with resin and brass parts. Unreservedly recommended.

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