? on longevity of "rubber" tires, esp. Tamiyas...

I have car s I built 12 years ago, no adverse effects, however, I know that if you have the tires up against other parts in the box, they can leave imprints in the plastic, and also, they sometimes leave imprints in the showcases I keep them in. I bag the tires in the kits I am not yet building.
Lee

Wow, the tires really do that? I fairly recently came to love Tamiya kits. By "imprints" the tires will actually add unwanted details in the parts? Jeez. What would cause that? And should I but barriers between the rims and tires? I don't want to loose the wheels.

I have some very old Tamiya kits built, been on the shelf for at least 10 years, and have had no problems. Some of the really old Revell kits did give me problems after a few years. Must have been a chemical reaction between the vinyl & the plastic rim.

My oldest built Tamiya model is the Lotus 72 1/12th built around 1975 there is absolutely NO deterioration in the tyres or the rims or anything else on the model. I also have completed ESCI kits from the early 1980's and again NO deterioration anywhere. Interesting in those days I used any old genral purpose glue and didn't use any decal softener but the decals are still all fixed to the body and none of the parts have come adrift.

I still have some Tamiya kits purchased in the late 80's and early 90's that are still as packed and there is no problems with them. I have never come across the problem midnightprowler is describing, although I have found that the "rubber" used on many 1/43rd kits does stick to shelf surfaces whether its wood, paint or glass. However just in case I would suggest following midnightprowler's advice and bag the tyres.

The only thing thats happend to me is that some of the tires have started to crack up. Take a look at my Volvo BTCC and you will understand what I mean.
http://niclasproos.fotopic.net/p3013647.html

Niclas

Yes tyre cracking can be a real problem. I have yet to understand why it occurs, anyone have an idea? I now generally heat the tyre in hot water so its more pliable before fitting to the rim.

I've had completed models in full sun, big temperature ranges and no problems. Perhaps the atmosphere here in NZ is not as dry as other places? The only time I've had the problem is within a couple of days of fitting the tyre to the rim. This occurred with an ESCI VW Golf and a couple of SRC 1/43rd F1 cars but never with Tamiya or Haseqawa. I have had no tyre cracking with age and I have models going back over 25 years.

I have never had any problems with the tyres in Tamiya kits. i would suggest that perhaps you got the one in a million kit with faulty tyres!!!. i have had problems with iteleri tyres(espically the "rubber" truck tyres), they sometimes seem to have a film (bit lik mould release) that makes them very sticky and horribile, which i have not been able to remove, this was on a brand new kit as well!!! overall though i have not heard of very many problems at all!!!

Well, it seems that I got another one of the "faulty" Tamiya kits. Just the other day I was going to take some new pictures of my Tom's Toyota Supra and discovered that it also has cracked tires...deep sigh! They only sit in my cabinet looking good, what is happening? If this is going to contiue I will have to get resin tires instead to eliminate the problem.

Niclas

Wow, that's weird. I've never heard that before. I have some car kits that I built more than 10 years ago, and they're fine, no problems whatsoever. A lot of the kits, I scrapped, but kept parts for the parts-box, and I have every single tire I've ever bought, a lot used on parts that they didn't even come with (Tamiya tires used with Revell wheels).

QUOTE: Must have been a chemical reaction between the vinyl & the plastic rim.

Probably is the case. What else could it be, y'know? :)

Yeah! This is weird enough for me, I have cars older than the ones with cracked tires and they're just fine. This two cars are from about the same era, maybe Tamiya made some changes to the formula making the tires more sensitive and drying out quicker? It doesn't seem like it's the plastic in the rims they are reakting to. In old Revell kits the tires could melt the plastic so the rims transformed to a messy goo, not the other way around....the tires where all perfect on my old Gullwing Mercedes 1/12, but the rims.....!? In this case you could protect the rims with tape och careful painting in all areas. Still remains a mystery to me why two of my cars are behaving like this!? Time will tell if more of my cars will do this as I have quite a few from the same era.

Niclas

I've never encountered something like that.

wow im going to have to open all my car kits and put the tyres in bags

I have had that problem. It occurred in a helicopter kit where the vinyl/rubber gun belts came in contact with plastic. It ruined alot of parts. Someone explained to me that it was the mould release agent that caused the damage and not necessarily the material itself.