The good folks at Brengun recently released a set of 1/72nd resin 110 gallon drop tanks with photo etched detail parts and decals. Brengun is a Czech model manufacturer known for its extensive line of photo etch and resin update sets for airplane models. Brengun also produces airplane kits in 1/144th, 1/72nd and 1/48th scales.

I was very excited to learn of Brengun’s release and purchased a set off of eBay for this review. To my knowledge, no kit or aftermarket manufacturer has produced an accurate set of 1/72nd scale 110 gallon drop tanks previously.

The drop tanks are beautifully cast with the correct details. The photo etch fret include the sway braces, the flat metal pieces that sit across the tanks and hold the sway braces in place, and the fuel filler caps. For those small pieces, extras are provided in case of loss to the carpet monster. Nice touch on Brengun’s part. The decals are accurate for the markings on the tank, and again, extras are provided.

The set comes with a small instruction sheet that shows the correct placement of the decals and photo etch parts. More importantly, the instruction sheet shows the placement of the photo etch parts to achieve a correct installation of the sway braces. Test fit everything before installing the sway braces to determine the best placement for the model you are building.

Below are two USAAF photos showing the correct placement of the sway braces and the front metal piece that holds the sway braces in place.

Brengun has some CAD drawings of the tanks with the sway braces on their website, but do not rely on these drawings as they fail to show the correct placement of the sway braces. Rely on the instruction sheet for the correct placement of the sway braces.

It did not take long to remove the casting blocks and clean up the area where the pour stubs are located. There are a few pin holes that will need to to filled around the area of the pour stubs as can be seen in the photos below, but nothing cannot be filled easily and sanded quickly.

As can be seen in the photos above, the detail that represents the rim that goes around the entire tank was missing at the front on one of the tanks where the pour stubs were located. The other tank was fine. This is a quick fix with stretched sprue, and to be truthful, it is hard not to damage that detail when removing the pour stubs and cleaning up the front end of the tank.

Below is a photo of one of the tanks with the pin holes filled and sanded, and the missing/damaged detail repaired with stretched sprue.

These tanks are accurate in shape and detail. With the addition of the photo etch sway braces, they look every bit the part. If you have an Academy, Airfix, Hasegawa, Hobby Boss, Revell, or Tamiya 1/72nd scale P-51D Mustang and want to build a Iwo Jima VLR Mustang, you no longer have to settle for a kit’s 75 gallon drop tanks which were not used by the Iwo Jima VLR Mustang Groups. Highly recommended. Kudos to Brengun!

A superb follow-up on Brengun’s part would be an accurate set of 165 gallon drop tanks with sway braces in 1/72nd scale.

Next up: Squadron markings for the 47th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group.