How to piant wheels

that tears it........I am going to start buying 2 kits just for the tires and the carpet/hardwood/conc floor part monsters.

For the wheels, I'll grind out one set of hubs and the other set ground gor the tires. paint each to my hearts content and the mate them - no more painting issues.

And at the same time I will have effetively dealt with flying/dropped parts that the floor eats and spits out 7 months later when you are looking for something else.

I have tried the drafter's template also and it does work well although I have had instances where the paint oversprayed under the template and got onto the tire.

Mike

I really like the drafters template idea. Will try it.

Dean

I tried most of the above methods, and i have to agree with Multi-Media that the drafters templates works best. i have no problem painting wheels as small as 1/72 scale. Just go to your local office supply store, and get a drafter templates that has as many of circles of possible, and u are all set! I personally use the Staedtler circle template since it offers the greatest range of circles.

"wrrrr...wrrrr....wrrrrrrrrrr" Mike painting tires again.

Heres a 100% satisfaction garantee, if you do it right, don't worry though, its easy. Its pretty much the same as the above way.

Get a circle template, I got mine at Officemax. First spray the wheel black, dark gray whatever. Then find the circle in the template that fits arount the rim of your tire. Press your wheel up to the right sized hole in the template and then spray away!
Works great for doing Tank wheels.

Now that I have an airbrush, I paint the entire tire in the color the tire is going be (either flat black or very dark flat grey) and let it dry overnight. Once dry, I take one of the three drafters templates for circles that I have (One has circles that increase in diameter by 64ths, One that increases diameters by 32nds and one the increases the diameters by .5 mm) and find a circle that just fits around the rim of the wheel (the center). Using that as a mask, I paint the rim the final color. I've found that it works best if I take a 6 to 8 in piece of masking tape, sticking it to itself so you have a circle of tape with the sticky surface the outside. I then attach that to an 8" square of glass I had made and then place the wheel on it and place the whole thing in my spray booth. Now I only have to worry about keeping the template in place while I'm spraying.

One of the methods I use (besides the rotating stick), is to take thinned tire color and apply a drop just at the curvature of the tire before the rim. The paint will flow into the recess at the rim and form a border at the rim and tire. Then paint the sidewalls.

This solution only becomes a problem when the tire and rim appear to have no lip.

Another way is to cut/punch circular masks that cover the rim(s) and then spray light coats of the tire color. It's a bit of a PITA but it works great.

I find that putting a round toothpick into the wheel and then chucking it in a variable speed drill motor works great.
After airbrushing the rim white or whatever color that is.
You can spin it slowly as you hold a small paint brush against the tire to get a nice, smooth line.

Mike

What works for me is 3X magnification. Spray all flat black. Let dry 24 hours. At your LHS you should find artist paint markers. Get the extra fine tip. With magnification and a steady hand tne paint marker flows very well around the wheel or you can buy Black Magic masks for the particular kit but they aren't cheap.

I am at work so I can't remember the exact details but a few issues back FSM had an article on this exact topic. It explained how to use thined paint for the rubber part of the tire. The thined paint will just flow into the border between the rubber and the rim. Check it out.

This doesn't always work but it did for the F-15E I'm building now. If you have a large collection of unused 'ratpack' writing utencils, get them out.(old pens, colored pencils, old markers)

I used a rounded color pencil for the front tire and an old marker for the rear. They were perfectly rounded to the inside rim of their respective tires.

With steady hands, hold it over the rim and delicatley tag it with your spray from directly above. If you have an airbrush you're probably better off, but I haven't been able to afford a good one so I was using a flat-black rattle can. Seeping is very bad so you have to take your time and lightly spray the wheels from directly above. Since there is literally no seal between the pen/etc. and the wheel itself paint will seep in if you overspray.

Came out perfect for me.

Okay, foolproof method for beginners number 1;
Paint the wheelhub in whatever colour the instructions say, try not to get too much paint on the tyre.
Push a wooden cocktail stick through the hole in the centre.
Practice twirling the wheel/stick between your fingers, so that it rotates but doesn't change position. It may help to rest the other end of the stick on your desk/table.
Take a fine black marker pen, apply it to the (slowly) twirling wheel next to the hub.
When the ink is dry, you can now paint the rest of the tyre without getting black/dark grey or whatever on the hub.
Result, round looking wheels.
When painting the hub, it may help to thin the paint slightly. This will stop it hiding detail, and it will flow/conform to the outside of the hub if you go onto the tyre.
Pete

Semita,

Sounds like your problem is how to make sure the black paint stay on the tires and the white or silver paint stay on the hubs. If it is, heres what I do:

1. Spray the hubs white (or whatever color is prescribed), usually with acrylic or laquer paint;

2. I apply wash (oil paints diluted in thinner or spirits) on the hubs, and allow heavy wash mixture to seep around the rims (that'll take care of the borders); and

3. After the wash has dried, paint the tires flat black.

Hope this helps.

Do you mean how to make sure that the paint goes on nice and smooth so that it doesn't look like the inside of the tire is a square? If this is your question, i only have one answer: magnifying glasses and LOTS of patience...

Yes , All wheels must have round, but not the ones I paint!!. Thxs for any further help!!

First of All, Welcome to FSM VHH . Please elaborate what on me "that looks round", since all wheels are round.

First of All, Welcome to FSM VHH . Please elaborate what on me "that looks round", since all wheels are round.