Barracuda
Studios from the USA have released some new resin replacement
parts for the 1/32 Mercedes D.III/D.IIIa engine specifically designed for the
Wingnut Wings kits of quite a few aircraft that use the Mercedes engine. Let’s
see how they measure up against the real thing.
Scale: 1/32nd
Material: 2
parts in cream resin
Price: US$7.95
Seeing a niece for an excellent bit of "upgrading to the Mercedes D.III engine in 1/32 Barracuda studios have offered this simple, easy to install and not to mention cheap alternative intake for the engine.
Now you don't hear much bad press about the Wingnut wings kits – and to be honest that’s because they are a company who releases great, accurate kits to a very appreciative audience! That’s why I thought the decision to make any aftermarket parts for their kits to be a head turner, what could be amiss on the kit? I had a look at the Mercedes D.III engine to find out.
Now you don't hear much bad press about the Wingnut wings kits – and to be honest that’s because they are a company who releases great, accurate kits to a very appreciative audience! That’s why I thought the decision to make any aftermarket parts for their kits to be a head turner, what could be amiss on the kit? I had a look at the Mercedes D.III engine to find out.
( thanks to Wingnut wings for the great pic)
This intake manifold has been specifically designed
for these Wingnut Wings kits:
Roland D.IVa
Pfalz D.III
Pfalz D.IIIa
Albatros D.V and D.Va
Pfalz D.XII
Fokker D.VII
The instructions say that they will fit the Roden
kits with the same engine as well with just some minor plastic surgery – so
that is great news for all owners of the earlier kits you may have in the stash. You can see here the way that the part will fit in when you look at the Wingnuts instruction sheet. Just drop it in here as you would the WW part.
Well thought out and helpful instructions are always a plus.
Here are both of the Wingnut Wings and Roden sprues - click on the to enlarge the pic...
The part simply drops into the slot of the kit with
no problems, all you need to do is include a little wire (shown in the
instructions) for later engines, and for earlier engines there are two holes
provided for the water cooling system.
Mike Braun – the gentleman who mastered this should
be very pleased with the result. The resin has been cast very delicately and
looks just as it does on the “Hero” picture. The resin has no bubbles or
surface imperfections; actually the surface detail leaves nothing wanting, as
the fine detail of the wrapping of the cloth asbestos around the intake pipes
especially will detail up spectacularly. This in itself is worth the admission
price alone, as to replicate it would be a royal pain in the behind!
The main body of the manifold looks like it could
replicate sheet metal with some good metal paint and the clamps tat secure the
pipes have been reproduced finely.
To remove this from the casting block BarracudaCals
have given you some excellent instructions on just how to do it safely and easily
– this part drops straight into the kit so the ease of use, the quality of the piece
itself and not to mention the cheap price at US$7.95 (on a kit worth a lot more
than most) - make this a really easy purchase for modellers with any kite that uses a
Mercedes D.III engine.
Adam
Norenberg
