I have read that one of the big problems with the AFV Club Achilles is the road wheels in the kit are too big.
I had been rather counting on an AFV Club suspension set for the ARV Mk1 I am building. Are the road wheels junk?

Thanks

Gord

http://www.track-link.com/articles/1130

I would try to get Asuka/Tasca ones instead. Or even better, use the Asuka/Tasca Firefly VC or Sherman V as your donor kit. Solves all problems.

Big, chunky and hollow. Not a big improvement over the Tamiya roadwheels.

Don't waste your time or money on the AFV CLUB M4/M10 Road Wheels. TOO BIG, and Hollow in the back- Steve is right, unless you want to buy one of the ASUKA/TASCA British Shermans to use as your donor kit, as Roy suggested... They don't come cheap, though. If you want to build an Achilles, then the TAMIYA 1/35 M10 is also a fine starting point...

Check TANK WORKSHOP, The NEW TMD, or FORMATIONS- These are Very Good aftermarket wheels, if you can't find an ACADEMY M10, or M4-series kit cheap enough to suit your needs.

A set of ASUKA/TASCA M4/M10 Road Wheels with Bogey Assemblies generally runs about $34.00USD on ebay. Conversely, a set of aftermarket resin Stamped Roadwheels and Rear Idlers, by TANK WORKSHOP are available on ebay for $14.00USD + $4.50USD for Shipping, from Dragon-Hobby, which is a hobby shop. (not to be confused by DRAGON Models)

You may also be able to buy the Road Wheels and Rear Ilers direct from ASUKA- I THINK Hobby Link Japan carries spare parts for the ASUKA Shermans...

Good Luck!

Thanks Roy et al,
The truth is I am returning to armour modelling after a 20 plus year hiatus happily spent building monsters and wargaming; a lot of my questions have more to do with stash organisation rather than shopping for new stuff. My wife would gleefully kill me if I added more large boxes to the stash, but I figure I can sneak in a few little things to hide in larger boxes. The Tasca kits are not in the cards. I can't afford them.
My ARV Mk I was started many years ago from the Dragon and Resicst kits. Looking at it now I see that the wheels etc are crap. The suspension (all suspensions I have looked at) lack key details and I am worried about what else is wrong with the base kit.
I have all this older stuff like the AFV suspension sets and older Dragon M4A4's. I have three Academy suspension trees (from an M12 and a couple of Achilles that I cannibalised long ago) and an Academy Grant I will never build (I bought at a recent show for the Limited edition figs and general parts bin). I have read the the wheels and suspension sets from the Academy kits are quite good and I can use them on my 7 old Dragon M4A4's and AFV club M10 kits. But I still come up 4 idler sets and 1 sprocket set short. So I need your best advice for cheap cheap solutions.
I am too much the perfectionist to build for pleasure and be damned to the details, all my devils are in the details.
BTW is there anything else I should know about the older Dragon M4A4's?
Between the Academy, AFV or Dragon suspensions sets what is my best choice ( I am happy to add the small details like rivets)?
Should I dig out my ancient MP M4A4 hull conersion kits from the "to the dump" pile?
Do I go back to my beloved monsters?
Enquiring minds need to know!
And many thanks for all the help so far and for reading my long winded enquiries.

Gord

For specific idler wheels and drivers I'd go with the new TMD or Formations parts. Or see if anyone has spares. So many of the Sherman kits practically come with two full suspensions there have to be plenty of wheels cluttering up spares boxes.

Accurate Armour is a great choice if you want both road and idler wheels in a set,

The Academy & DML suspensions are good, so if you can find these cheap (I see them occasionally on ebay) then grab 'em! (The AFV Club set was FUBAR because they didn't seem to look at a real road wheel when they tooled it...)

As for the old MP M4A4 hulls, they may be a bit of hard work to assemble, but they are more accurate than the older DML M4A4, so I'd rescue them! To bring them up to date you can harvest the details (lift rings, lights, hatches, tranny cover etc) off the DML kit to graft onto the MP hull. The new Tasca/Asuka M4A4sare superb, but kitbashing the MP and DML kits together can get you there too.

Thanks Guys!
This really is a lot of help and it turns out one of my DML M4a4's is a later one with 2 sided roadwheels etc so I think I am set.
The MP hull conversions do look pretty good and I think I can make it fit quite nicely.
So I am feeling pretty good about my Sherman collection.
Now about those M10's ...

Gord