Painting Road Wheels?

I just finished re-priming. Everything turned out ok. Gonna get some circle templates at Office max tomorrow. Either that or some new sharpies or a Staedler.

the sharpie thing works, it fast quick, and easy- no messy wheels either.

I should have stripped them when I stripped the rest of the kit. The coat of Taniya O.D. on top of the O.D. II was too much for them. The capillary action wouldn't work or brush-painting. Put 'em in CSC last night and just finished scrubbing a little while ago. Will reprime tonight. -Spencer

I spray mine on the sprue , base color camo and all . then cut em' loose and clean them up , then is the time to break out your sharpie ( two sizes fine tip and medium) run the fine around the rim , then do the rest in medium . It works great ! and does a clean job

Thank You Everybody, and Congratulations Moses! I wanted to try the circle template method but I was too impatient and painted them last night. I'll try this method next time for sure. I'm going to try the sharpie or Lumocor or sharpie/wash method this time. I have to have a look at Hobby Lobby or LHS today. I'm definitely gonna pick up some circle templates also.Thanks again everyone. I'll try to post some progress pics if I can get my brother-in-law to show me how to use his camera. Cheers -Spencer

dunno if any mentioned this, but if they can rotate, i brush brush the inner then turn the wheel on it's axle and paint the tire that way

I just tried something that turned out very well. I painted the whole roadwheel black. Then I cut a circle out of a piece of index card. Then I set the index card on top of the roadwheel and used it as a mask to cover the outer sections (black sections). I gave it light spray of green, and then moved the template to the next roadwheel. It did require some minor touch ups, but only in 2 places. Not bad for 10 roadwheels. It looks good, and it wasn't tedious at all. It was pretty fun. The black behind the green gives it a greasy/grimy look.

This is what I do (especially when doing a tiger 1 early production with all those rubber-rimmed road wheels!). I first build the model except for the shovels and tow cables and all the attatched stuff. I glue on all the wheels but I don't put the treads on. I spray the camo on with the airbrush and make sure (IMPORTANT) that I spray the camo on the wheels behind the front road wheels. If it was done bad you could shift your view looking along the side of the tank and see that you missed some camo on your road wheels that are behind the front ones. It will look like two half circles on either side of the back road wheels that aren't sprayed with camo. Just a little work but it looks good. I'd rather do that than paint each wheel individually. Then you paint the rubber roadwheels tire black or faded black or a dark grey or lite black or anything that floats your boat and looks historically accurate. It's important to do all of this before treads are put on or it will be a huge pain! (as I figure out a couple tiger 1's ago). I then put the treads on and do all the dirt and mud and whatnot then. Hope it helps.

Welcome back Rob ...... was wondering how long you could stay away from us.

When I paint road wheels, I usually airbrush the entire wheel with a mixture of flat black and flat Nato Black, I then use a circle template and airbrush the basecoat on the hub. Works really well,

P.S. Hey guys, getting back in the swing of things after a long hiatis with the new baby. Have a few kits done, and hopefully will get some pics up soon.

Cheers

Mo

Break out the Sharpie .... easiest method I've ever used. Best done after the base coat has been sprayed.

I spray the wheel Dark Grey and then use a circle template to cover the tyre bit and spray the middle hub the base colour

I also use the Felt Tip marker method.

I paint the wheels with the AB. Then I glue the two halves together .

After that, I have these shishkabob sticks. They serve other purposes, like glueing, but in this case I cut a part of pointy end off of a few. As above, they hold by friction.

I wanted a "sharpy" with a sharp angled tip, but didn't find what I wanted until I went to a local art store. For a couple bucks, I bought a "Staedler permanent Lumocolor B".

Use what ever you want, but this works best for me.

Anyway, I hold the pen in one hand and spin the "kabob" in the other and "paint" the wheel. Because of the sharp angled tip, I can do the edges too.

It is quick and easy, I set the wheel/kabob in a container and let the wheel dry while I go onto the next.

I have a problem with shaky hands, and this makes a delicate job easy.

Oh, and apparently, the pen can be refilled.

QUOTE: Originally posted by riffraff247 Which article?

it's Brush Painting Basics

I do it the same way as rebelreenactor.

Riff-
I'm just about done with this SdKfz 250/1 (halftrack). I used circle templates to mask the roadwheels. Worked fine. Used templates on the DML Panther D I built a couple of months ago. Worked fine then too! I bought two of them from Office Max!

I airbrushed the rubber part of the roadwheel with a dark grey. Then using the circle template as a mask I sprayed the inner 'wheel' whatever color needed.

Glenn

i just use a Sharpie to color the majority of the rubber and go back with a black wash to fill in around the rim. Hit with a dull coat and call it done.

Hey riff,
When I either do a/c wheels or armor, I use a circle template. I would overall paint the wheel, roadwheel black/rubber colour then use the appropriate circle that covers the wheel itself(Leaving the center section open).
From there I would then paint what ever colour the inner colour would be. This works the best if you use an airbrush but I have also seen and did this a few times hand painting.
I feel this makes life a lot easier. You can find these circle templates(which come in many different sizes. Usually you get 10 different sizes per template) at local craft stores or in the area where they sell school/art supplies.
Hope this helps.
Flaps up, Mike

well i will share my way of doing road wheels, if the are one color (camo that is) i will airbrush the wheels while attached top the sprue, i will then (once the paint is dry) remove them from the sprue, and mount the wheels on by one on to a piece of sprue of tooth pick, what ever will hold the wheels on by friction. i then get my cordless drill out and mount on wheel to the chuck by using the sprue, toothpick whatever. then to make sure that they are square and not wobbling, i will give then a quick spin.

Once thy are lined up and not wobbling, i will grab a brush, start the wheel spinning (not too fast though) and apply paint to the tread area. this works very well for me and i don't have to worry aboutall that fiddly masking!!

Thanks bro' That's what I was thinking, but still not sure. I finally got my issue yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet. Which article?

Ive heard people use a liquid mask to do their raod wheels but i do mine by an "old fashioned" paint brush. I spray the road wheel the color of the tank add whatever camo colors their are and then paint arount the edges.
You might also try this monthes FSM
Hope this helps
john