Tires

I use a heated iron. Place a piece of parchment paper between the iron and tire and press the tire lightly onto the paper. Always use the parchment paper or the tire might stick to the iron.

Thanks, I was thinking of that but was worried about the tire sticking.

I use a heated knife (no much heated) without paper...or some times I sand the tire..the result is good too..

I use candlelight, I pass the tire ( just the part I want to Flatten) very slowly about 3 times on the heat, then the plastic begins to soften, then I use a flat cemaric base to press the tire against it, and I shaped the quantity of "wheight" for the tire.

Regards

I suggest studying photos of tires first....the bulging tires I have seen, look almost flat. I don't think that any preflight of an airplane would allow a pilot to take off with tires in poor condition. I live fairly close to an airport, and when I have looked at the tires I have noticed that there is a very small 'contact patch' touching the runway.

Often times tires have no bulge whatsoever. I usually just sand a flat spot on most tires, or use resin stuff. In the case of resin wheels, I'll knock down the bulges a bit 'cuz they're usually over exaggerated.

Although, depending on personal tastes, this hobby sometimes demands a bit of exaggeration. Sometimes what looks "realistic" on a scale model simply isn't very interesting to look at.

As always, I suggest trying a few different things out, whatever you're trying to achieve, and see what looks best to you. What satisfies one may not satisfy the next guy.

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I think Blackwolf has the right idea. Even when a tire is fairly seriously pumped up, there's usually just a bit of a flat spot on the bottom - and no bulge. Bulged tires are tires that are in serious need of pumping up. Have a look at the Avenger torpedo bomber tires. Just a flat spot with no bulge, either for the shipboard planes or the ones operating from dirt strips in the Pacific. You'd expect the shipboard a/c to have tires with a significantly higher psi than the land based a/c, but neither ever showed "bulges". I've heard many stories from "erks" who said a bulging tire was a damaged tyre, in desparate need of replacement. Also, the lower the tire pressure, the easier it is for the tire to slip on the rim or to completely separate the bead on the tire from the rim lip. They say the most dangerous part of flying is the evolution from ground to air and vice versa, and worrying about partially deflated tires would be something I wouldn't need.......

In the truth this depends on the state of the aircraft that you intends to show.

Indeed, it does depend on what you're modeling and what state the subject is in. But I think that, for the most part, we're talking about code 1 aircraft that are in good condition.

One notable exception to the "no bulge" theory is the Spitfire. Many, if not most, Spits that I've seen have some sort of a bulge on each tire, with the RAAF examples seeming to be the most extreme. I offer no explanation as to why, simply an observation.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty, it's a case of reference. Research your subject and know it. (If that's what you choose to do and if it's that important to you. If not, Ignore us! hehe)

Just thought of this; the original question was that of showing the effects of weight on an aircraft's tires. More noticeable an effect would be perceived in the state of the oleos than of the tires. More weight would result in less of the oleos being visible. Unlike the issue of the tires, this has few to no variables.

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One possibility about bulged tires on Spitfires is that they mostly flew from
grass strips. Lower tire pressure is good on unprepared surfaces.

Ray,

Yeah, you're exactly right. I simply wouldn't have put it so briefly, therefore I didn't put it at all! Otherwise I'd still be typing that post! lol

I was also mainly referring to why Aussie Spits had more of a pronounced bulge as opposed to others. Anyone know why?

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Thanks for the pointers guys. I did some looking around and none of the Typhoon pics showed a bulge and the flat contact area was also quite small so I just sanded a flat spot on the tires.

Yahoo now allows search for images only.

As to the Aussie spits-did they operate off of stone strips? They might have used lower pressure to reduce the chance of punctures from sharp rocks(or coral).

That very well could be; they did operate from prepared, although somewhat rough, strips.

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