JK Resin

German WWII Ladewagen LWC500/IX with SC250 bomb

I previously reviewed the bomb trolley that came with the Academy Ground Vehicle set #3, and regretted its lack of detail. Enter the JK resin set of that same bomb trolley, but this time in a league of its own. Furthermore, it also includes an SC250 bomb, with its own crate. An extra small crate is provided, which I assume holds the EL.A.Z 55 fuses. If so, then these boxes are slightly oversized (by about 5%), but I guess that won't detract anyone looking at a diorama that contains them.
The SC250 bomb is equally oversized by 5-10%, but I didn't find any info about shape or size of the box for the bombs, but they comes close to the box for a KC250.
The boxtop is confusing, as it shows two SC250 bombs, while the set only contains one. (I first thought that I had lost a bomb, but the instructions only show a one as well.)

The resin parts are cast in the (by now well-known) black resin which JK Resin manages to cast so thinly that some parts are actually translucent, while very delicately detailed and free of any blemishes. To enhance the detail further, two small PE frets are included, as well as a strand of copper wire. As the latter bends easily but is supposed to represent a rigid rod, the choice is surprising, even more so as JK Resin is able to cast resin rods at the same thickness. To complete the set, a decal sheet is provided with tiny (though readable) stencils. This is the first time I see stencils for Luftwaffe bombs in 1/72, and I would actually be very pleased if JK Resin would release a separate set, containing just the bomb, crates and decals. (Ed. Note: these were actually released late in 2018, as set 72040.)

Bombs
A general remark about the bombs that come in the various JK Resin sets is that the fins are very close to scale, meaning that they are very thin, meaning that they are very, very fragile. As the tails of the bombs need to be removed from their casting blocks, there is a very high risk of damaging a few of them (which happened to me). The clean-up afterwards is also something to be very careful with, as you can easily end up with four slanting trailing edges of unequal length.

Another remark is that the stabilizing rods needs to be added to these fins (if one cares about this detail). I believe this is best not done with the strand of copper wire that comes with the set (although it is commendable that it is included at all); stretched sprue or very thin steel wire being a better alternative. Even then, getting four equal and matching lengths glued on, while ensuring that they are aligned along all the axes and without using a visible blob of superglue is a challenge that is not for the faint of heart. If you decide to keep the bomb in its box, then, of course you can get away with a single rod (and some damaged fins), as the others cannot be seen.

The PE lifting straps went on easily, but the lifting eyes are easily lost. Fortunately the set carries some spares.

When painting the bombs, the modeler has some freedom, but the official colors can be found here. I painted mine in a locally mixed grey-green resembling RAL 7027, which according to the aforementioned source is the correct color.

Boxes
The boxes are also a delicate affair, especially the open one. If care is not taken, tiny protuberances representing the closing mechanism will easily get damaged, for instance when turning the boxes over to add the wooden slats to the bottom.
The lid for the open box was slightly warped in my example, but nothing a bath in hot water couldn't take care of.
I wanted to give my boxes a more pronounced wood grain texture, but in doing so damaged some detail as the resin, surprisingly, reacts to acetone and as handling these boxes will invariably risk damaging the tiny latches. As a consequence, the detail that the pictures of the painted boxes show is no longer quite representative.

Trolley
The trolley is an extremely delicate, highly detailed affair, which also means it is very fragile. Having few parts, it went together well.
I added axles to the wheels, which are a bit too large to be housed properly in their cages.
The wire that is provided for the lever at the front was not used as it was difficult to keep straight. Stretched sprue was used instead.
In all, this trolley is in a class of its own, compared to its counterparts provided by Academy or Zvezda.

Decals
I'll probably repeat myself when saying that the inclusion of very finely printed decals in this set is an extremely attractive feature.
The tiny decals settled well, but the stripes for the bomb fins needed some persuasion from a setting fluid, which made them adhere snugly. The decals sheet also carries the shorter stripes (together with some stenciling) for the SC50 bombs of set 72039, which is fortunate, as that set has two bombs, but only enough stripes/steencils for one. There are also some decals for the SC500 of set 72041.

Looking at the instruction sheet and boxtop, it seems that there is no real fixed location for the stenciling of the crates.

The cart being towed by a Zvezda figure.

References

For references, I refer to the previously mentioned Academy set.

Review sample kindly provided by JK Resin.

JK Resin kits can be purchased from

Article Last Updated:
13 May 2018
28 October 2018
14 November 2019