IS-1/IS-2 Kits - Road Wheel Comparison

There has been a lot of discussion about the correct diameter of the IS-1/IS-2/IS-3 road wheels, and their representation in various plastic kits and aftermarket sets.  This page compares a number of the 1/35 scale road wheels available from different manufacturers.

Factory drawings show the diameter of the road wheels to be 550mm, which translates to 15.71mm in 1/35 scale.  The diameters of the wheels available from plastic kit manufacturers and aftermarket vendors are shown in the table below.

These measurements reveal that the MiniArm resin aftermarket wheels are the most accurate, my sample being spot-on in diameter.  Friul's white metal aftermarket wheels and Tamiya's wheels in both their IS-2 and ISU-152 kits are slightly small but within 0.3mm.  The wheels in the Zvezda kit (also marketed by Italeri) are smaller still, with incorrectly shaped hubs that lack the grease fitting in the center.  DML's wheels in both their original kits and the Cyber-Hobby 'Orange Box' offerings are approximately 0.85mm too small, which is noticeable in 1/35 scale.

The Armo and Trumpeter kits utilize the T-10 wheels with their revised bearings and hubs, but factory drawings show the diameter of these wheels to be identical to the earlier wheels.

Bear in mind that there is likely to be some variation in the diameter of resin and white metal wheels, due to different shrinkage rates with different batches of resin or metal.  Your aftermarket sets might be slightly different in diameter than those I examined.

Thanks to Alan Crawford for supplying the dimensions of the Trumpeter and Armo kits.