MiG-21 Wheels

With the release of Eduard's highly anticipated MiG-21MF, Eduard have also released a number of resin aftermarket sets to enhance the kit, one of these releases is a set of resin and steel Photo Etch wheel and tyre replacements.

The review

Packed in a sealed blister pack, the 13 light grey resin and the small P.E sheet are well packaged and secure.
One omission from my sample is the wheel mask set which is missing, but having got the Profi Pack version of the MiG, the wheel masks are in the kit, so that works out quite well really.
The resin parts replace the tyres, wheel hubs, and in the case of the front landing gear, the wheel attachment fork.
The parts are all cast very well with no signs of bubbles or other indiscrepancies, but they are all connected to fairly large casting blocks. Careful sawing and cutting of the parts will be needed to remove the excess.
Comparing the resin parts to the equivalent plastic ones, all the tyres are one piece instead of the two halves that are found in the kit, which saves any seam work. The resin parts have a very fine tread pattern on them which are not found on the plastic parts.
The wheel hubs for the main landing gear are basically the same but are a lot crisper detail-wise. A choice of spoked or solid hubs are given.
The front landing gear wheel hubs are a lot better with bolts on the resin parts which are not present on the corresponding plastic parts. Detail is also a lot crisper.
The P.E sheet has hydraulic lines and "O" rings for the struts. Some bending is required for these very small parts, so extra care will be needed when handling them, as the dreaded carpet monster will never release these from his grip.
The mask set is for all and both sides of the tyres, and is the standard Kabuki tape. Having used Eduard masks before, I can recommend the ease of use and time saving they employ.