How to paint tyre/wheel edges.

[Homerlovesbeer]

Great tip I wished I'd seen about 2 weeks ago

[GeordieMc]

Great tip. Will be trying this out asap. Thank you.

[Darwinism]

I used to do this but now use a variation: first I paint the hub, then I highlight the the tyre/hub join with a fine permanent black or dark grey pen then I use the thinned paint technique using black or tyre grey. I find this the easiest way to quickly get a nice sharp demarcation line - two minutes per wheel.

[Badder]

And for those who prefer to use an airbrush, here's another simple way.... Spray the wheel hub the colour you want and let it dry.

Make a rough circle of Plasticine about 1mm thick and squash it down over the wheel hub, making sure that it completely overlaps the rim.

Using a scalpel, scribe gently through the plasticine from the outer edge towards the hub until it comes to a rest against the rimThen using the rim as a guide, run the blade around the hub, and remove the over-lapping plasticine. You now have a mask. Repeat the process on the other side.

Spray the tyre the desired colour, allow to dry,then use a toothpick etc to prise the plasticine away from the hub. If you have problems with bits of plasticine sticking to details, place the wheels in a freezer for 10mins.

Re above... not the tidiest of wheels, but then they are going to be very muddy so I wasn't worried about the blemishes/dirt/dust.

Regards,

Badder

Edited February 22, 2016 by Badder

[vinnie the panda]

Well what a brilliant idea, I'll be trying this later in the week.

[Jack109]

Thanks! 

 

I tried all' sort of masking but this is a perfect way!

 

For the masking i found a ball of blue tac more effective than Mask liquid...

[Gary Brantley]

Yes, this is a great tip and one that I've used for many years now.  I have a couple circle templates from the arts and craft store that also come in handy for some wheel/tire combinations, especially for road wheels on AFVs.  

 

Oh, and I've found that Humbrol 32 dark gray is a good tyre color.   I've tried several other colors and tried samples against actual auto and truck tires.   I think the Humbrol 32 is hard to beat.  😀

An example:

 

[Markh-75]

This is cracking! Thanks for the tip! Normally i paint the whole wheel black and then with very little silver on a brush i just stroke the rim and spokes to highlight them; but this is a great idea!

[fishplanebeer]

Just to add that I also have issues with the demarcation of hubs and tyres, plus getting the tyre to look realistic, but recently I've discovered Xtracolor Tyre Black and liquid micromask and the combined results are pretty impressive so far. I'd tried using blu-tac to mask the hubs but it has an uncanny knack of leaving a residue which then removes the paint when scraped off and I ended up having to redo/respray the tyre all over again.

 

I know there is an elastic masking putty available from AK and others which is supposed to be good for masking generally but it ain't cheap so wondered if anyone has used it and can comment on its usefulness?

 

Regards

Colin.

[BlueNosers352nd]

Really struggling with getting it to wick around, granted it's flat paint too.    My choices of paint as of right now are either a Tamiya Nato Black (or mix my own) and Mig Tire Black.  What to thin with to get a good wicking?  Can't use a Mr Color thinner because that's too hot (when using tamiya).

[fishplanebeer]

Wow, just tried this out on the wheels of my 72nd scale Bf 109F-4 and it works a treat, quite superb!

 

Such a simple technique, easy to apply and has saved me hours of painting, re-touching, re-touching, re-touching etc....

 

Many thanks

Colin.

[Sharknose]

A couple of people have now mentioned  blutac causing them problems, if you are using the blue stuff, switch to white tac. I'm a real novice but saw this tip early in my model restart career and it is great, doesnt lift and doesnt leave a mark. Just dont leave it on forever.

[John McNamara]

Hi All,

I thought I would offer a different tip on how to paint tyres. Sorry in advance if everbody knows this already, but here goes. First I paint the hub and allow to dry. Then I fix the wheel to a cocktail stick. Often I have the cut off the very tip. Just jam it on hard and ensure that its perpendicular to the stick. Then I get a good brush, medium size, but it must have a good pointed tip. I also thin the paint somewhat so that It flow well and I never use black. Having loaded my brush with paint, I apply the tip of the brush to the tyre right up against the rim. Then I gently spin the cocktail stick with the wheel on it until the paint has gone all the way around, You can do the inside in the same way. Jab it iinto a lump of Bluetack to dry.

John

Edited December 19, 2020 by John McNamara

[Test Valley Models]

My way of painting armour wheels (not tried it on aircraft) is to use Tamiya masking sheet and one of these

 

 

It cuts a perfect circle every time, apply the mask and spray the wheel

[Gary Brantley]

@Test Valley Models, may I please ask the name of the device shown in your post above?   Do you know how small a circle it's capable of cutting?  Thanks for your help!   Cheers, Gary

[Black Knight]

@Gary Brantley, one name it goes by is 'compass cutter', or just 'circle cutter'

afair the smallest diameter it can cut is about 8mm. With some versions you can get about 6mm and with some only 10mm diameter, but all say minimum is 10mm

[Test Valley Models]

9 hours ago, Gary Brantley said:

@Test Valley Models, may I please ask the name of the device shown in your post above?   Do you know how small a circle it's capable of cutting?  Thanks for your help!   Cheers, Gary

 

I buy them into my shop from Expo Tools (They are out of stock at the moment, the smallest they will do is about 10mm diameter

[Richard297]

I use similar, it is made by Linex and is badged as Linex College Denmark 116 (www.linex.dk). It has holes from 1mm to 30mm some of which are in .5mm steps. Think I picked it up in Rymans.

[Herrick]

On 31/08/2007 at 19:53, palacefan said:

I know most of you know how to do this, or you have your own technique.

I see this was first posted in 2007! I’ve only just joined the forum and it’s little nuggets like this that really help! Wonderful advice, thanks!

[Jonners]

On 12/19/2020 at 8:28 AM, John McNamara said:

First I paint the hub and allow to dry. Then I fix the wheel to a cocktail stick. Often I have the cut off the very tip. Just jam it on hard and ensure that its perpendicular to the stick. Then I get a good brush, medium size, but it must have a good pointed tip. I also thin the paint somewhat so that It flow well and I never use black. Having loaded my brush with paint, I apply the tip of the brush to the tyre right up against the rim. Then I gently spin the cocktail stick with the wheel on it until the paint has gone all the way around, You can do the inside in the same way. Jab it iinto a lump of Bluetack to dry.

As a slight variation on John's technique, fix the cocktail stick into the chuck of a Dremel (or similar), if you have one. Secure the Dremel - I use a folded teatowel and a bench vice, but putting it in a folded teatowel under a heavy book would probably do - and put it on its slowest setting. You can then touch a loaded paintbrush against the spinning tyre and 'paint' right up to the rim.

 

It's essentially a variation on turning a wheel on a lathe as the wheel spins around a fixed axis. Turning the cocktail stick in your fingers causes it to roll along those fingers, making it difficult to achieve accuracy. 

 

I use the capillary method where there is a well-defined hub rim, but the Dremel 'lathe' technique works well where the edge is poorly defined eg most 1/72 pre-war biplane. The drawback to this method, of course, is that if the wheel isn't perfectly circular or the axle hole is even slightly off-centre then you'll end up with a neatly painted tyre that doesn't quite match the rim!

(Contrail Vickers Vildebeest - the off-centre part ended up being hidden inside the wheel spat.)

Jon

Edited September 27, 2021 by Jonners

[Mark from Leeds]

Perfect, thank you.  I'm back to the hobby after 20-odd years.  Fallen on my feet generally but wheels giving me grief with my first few kits.  My 1:72 Hetzer gets this treatment this weekend.