1/12 mfh spoked wheels

[Bounty]

Hi all,

Well i shall jump straight in as a new member.

I have been building plastic kits for about forty years and decided to take the plunge with an mfh kit.

After receiving my 1/12 ferrari 156 sharknose in the post and spending many hours checking the parts , some of which are damaged or bent which in my eyes is through bad packaging, i decided to look at the spoked wheel detail in some depth prior to starting.

My question to you guys and girls is Do the center hubs need re-drilling at a certain angle prior to installation of spokes or do the dimples in the hubs need drilling out slightly deeper?

This topic has probably been covered before but any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

[Tankerman]

It is very rare too find an MFH kit where parts are damaged but generally some of the parts are distorted due to the way that they are secured in the box. Being a very good quality of white metal it is an easy process to straighten any distortion without fear of fracturing the metal.

On the question of wheel hubs I drill the dimples to a much greater depth. The spokes are 0.4mm. diameter and by using a 0.5mm. drill bit vertical to the axis I find there is enough play to allow for the angles at which the spokes enter the hub. Low viscosity CA glue will fill any space and hold the spoke securely and avoid the frustration of a spoke popping out of its hole just as the wheel is complete and almost impossible to re-insert the spoke.

Here a a couple of photos of wheels from my MFH kits.

 

 

[Endeavor]

The following is excerpted from my 159M build thread.

 

Photos on the MFH website were useful…

 

After placing the hub and rim on the MFH fixture…

 

“To drill each hole in the hub at the angle at which its spoke enters the hub, I inserted a 0.4mm drill bit through each hole in the rim and drilled its corresponding hole in the hub.”

 

“To assemble the wheel, I inserted each spoke through the rim, and then applied a drop of CA to the end of the spoke before inserting each into the hub.”

 

“The final step was to slip each "nipple"- which are just 0.7mm X 4mm tubes - over the end of each spoke and through the rim to the correct position and then to apply CA.”

 

Tamiya reverse action angled tweezers proved to be a very valuable tool.

 

Hope this is helpful.

[Bounty]

Thank you for the advise, i will be attempting these over the christmas break.

[Bounty]

On 19/12/2020 at 18:32, Endeavor said:

The following is excerpted from my 159M build thread.

 

Photos on the MFH website were useful…

 

After placing the hub and rim on the MFH fixture…

 

“To drill each hole in the hub at the angle at which its spoke enters the hub, I inserted a 0.4mm drill bit through each hole in the rim and drilled its corresponding hole in the hub.”

 

“To assemble the wheel, I inserted each spoke through the rim, and then applied a drop of CA to the end of the spoke before inserting each into the hub.”

 

“The final step was to slip each "nipple"- which are just 0.7mm X 4mm tubes - over the end of each spoke and through the rim to the correct position and then to apply CA.”

 

Tamiya reverse action angled tweezers proved to be a very valuable tool.

 

Hope this is helpful.

wheels look fantastic,did you spray the rims a different colour prior to spoke placement or have you left them aluminium......i did read a post somewhere saying the rims need to clear coated to stop them tarnishing over time.

[Endeavor]

My model is intended to represent a museum quality prototype

 

I am a bit reluctant to paint polished aluminum and stainless parts, so, for now,  I sprayed the wheels with Tamiya clear.

 

Tankerman’s painted Maserati wheels are a more accurate representation of the prototypes

 

I think it will take considerable time before unpainted polished aluminum and stainless MFH parts will tarnish.

 

You can polish the MFH white metal parts (for example, see the air intake to the carburetor on my 159M), but they will tarnish fairly quickly if not protected with a clear coat

 

[Tankerman]

My MFH Alfa Romeo has painted wheels too. 

I generally use the AK Extreme Metal range over Mr Metal Primer and AK Extreme Black Base using a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity airbrush.

 

 

I hope this helps you.

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

[Bounty]

Hi, thanks for your help

i was going to spray the wheels with a metal primer and then with a flat aluminium, wasnt sure i would get a good bond to polished aluminium as Endevour hs pointed out.

Not sure if flat aluminiun is the way to go and might experiment with a few colours.

This is my 1st mfh kit so a big learning curve ahead for me.

[Tankerman]

Bounty, be careful. Once the MFH bug bites you you're hooked.

 

Chris

[Bounty]

Hooked definitely, cant put it down....left construction of wheels till later on as i need to research these more.......started cleaning up the engine parts ready for primer.

These kits are truly a work of art, if i can get this kit finished anywhere near yours and endeavours work i will be a happy chappy