1/35 Centurion Tyres - Firestorm

[Peter Browne]

I have the Firestorm tyres for the AFV Club 1/35 Centurion. 

 

They don't seem to fit no matter how hard I push...and yes have tried fitting from both sides.

 

 

 

The tyres should be flush with the wheel face.

 

 

 

[Jasper dog]

Those look fine to me, never seen Firestorm tyres before but it looks as if they include the wheel rim along with the missing inner rings that the AFV Club and Amusing Hobby parts are missing.

Here's a pic of the panzer art Cent wheels to compare.

 

Hope this helps

Darryl 

[spruecutter96]

It would be a very big pain-in-the-derriere, but I would suggest sanding the two internal ribs off, from the inside of the wheel. Obviously, this is an operation you simply shouldn't have to perform...

 

Chris. 

[Peter Browne]

@Jasper dog  Thanks for the eureka moment!  The Firestorm 'tyres' include the wheel rim and extended inside of the wheel, including grooves.

 

On second look at the AFV Club wheel/tyre assembly, the 'tyre' is correct, just that because it's rubber I was pushing the wheel all the way into the tyre, instead of partially, to show the grooves.  

 

 

The Firestorm tyres would be a more solid solution in terms of fit and painting.

 

Peter

[Jasper dog]

I've built the AH Cent that had the wheel and tyre as one piece, the problem with those is the missing internal ribs, I haven't seen the AFV Club separate wheel and "tyre" with the moulded on ribs.

I'm always hesitant about using rubber parts on models due to the long term problems with the rubber and plastic reacting or the rubber breaking up. Dragon DS tracks are a testament to that issue.

 

Which Centurion kit are you building?

 

Good luck

Darryl 

[Peter Browne]

@Jasper dog  RAAC Viet then have the AFV 73 Sho't to follow later, though I will branch off into Market Garden stuff after this build.

[Kingsman]

It looks to me as if Firestorm have perhaps got the gaps between the reinforcing ribs too wide, making the rim and tyre offset too far towards the outside.  Removing them to make a fit would destroy one of the advantages of buying them in the first place.  It also looks from the photos as if AFV Club might have included part of the rim bead weld on their wheel face, which will push the Firestorm offerings out further.  The outer edge of the AFV Club wheels should not have any rim or lip in order to fit the Firestorm parts.

 

Everyone who has moulded one-piece Centurion wheels in hard plastic has omitted the ribs as they are impossible to mould.  But they can be done in vinyl, as AFV Club did but are now going away from, and can be done in resin in soft moulds.  Except that Legend still goofed it by not having the rings, so don't buy theirs.  The Amusing Hobby Centurions have nasty wheels which not only miss the rings but also have square instead of tapered tyres.  So you still need new wheels here too.

 

For my money a full replacement wheel set from Sovereign 2000, Brach, Panzer Art or MR Modellbau would be a better bet than the Firestorm offering, noting different availability and prices in different parts of the world.

 

Rim cross-section with final reinforcing ring arrangement.

 

Earlier wheel with less pronounced reinforcing rings.

 

Wheel design evolution.

[Peter Browne]

@Das Abteilung  Thanks.  I will look into the other offerings, but I may just go with the Firestorm solution for this build, as I have already done the wheels and they look OK to me.  At the risk of flogging the proverbial, here is an outer wheel.  The AFV wheels sit flush on their face on the inside of the Firestorm bits.

 

 

The Sovereign 2000 site only has a small image of the wheels, and it's not clear what they look like. 

 

 

The Panzer Art looks OK to me and BNA in Oz have them in stock.  The inside threads do look less far apart (which aren't noticeable at all in @Jasper dog's photo...) and the wheels nuts more defined.  It would be a nice comparison to use these on my Sho't 73 for a coming build.

 

 

Peter

[Bozothenutter]

Are Comet wheels the same?

They look really similar....

[Kingsman]

Not identical but very similar.  The A41 originally ran on standard Comet wheel rims and these were carried on into the early Marks of Cent - certainly up to Mk3 - but with Cent just shy of 50 tons they needed reinforcing.  Hence the growth in the number and size of the reinforcing rings over time.

 

If using the Firestorm tyres you need to ensure that the front face of the AFV Club wheel discs is completely flat.  They have a slight lip around the outer edge which must be removed or the Firestorm tyres will be pushed out too far as discovered above.  The inner ring on the tyres must be completely flush against the face of the wheel disc.

 

Scorpion Models also do replacement tyres for the AFV Club kits but I have not seen them.  They also so a whole range of Centurion update parts, especially for later Marks not yet kitted.

https://www.scorpion-miniature-models.co.uk/