forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com
WW1 Aircraft Modeling => Hints and Tips/Questions about modeling => Topic started by: KirkH on January 03, 2018, 04:50:25 AM
-
On smaller scale kits the tires and wheel discs are generally one piece and try as I might I haven't come with a good way to paint them. When I paint the tires I inevitably get paint on the wheel disc and then when I repaint the wheel disc I inevitably get paint on the tires. It becomes a nightmarish "do-loop' of painting and repainting. How does everyone else do it? Do you mask the area first? Even though it would probably be labor intensive to create small circular masks, in the end it would probably save me lots of time repainting and result in nicer looking models. Thanks.
-
When I once built 1:72 scale I made the following: I drilled a hole through the middle of the wheel and put it onto my Dremel. Then I carved a deeper line between wheel cover and wheel by switching on the Dremel and holding the tip of a needle in the right place. So the line gets perfectly circular. Then spraying the wheel covers and after that painting the wheel itself with thin beige color wasn't a big problem as the carved line helped perfectly to keep the color where it should have. You can add a pin wash with dark oils to finish that and show the line even better. The last step is replacing the undercarriage axle with a injection needle cut to the fitting length and thats it. Might sound difficult, but it isn't.
Best redards
Borsos
-
With my last model I did affix the wheels to a toothpick and then slowly rotated while I painted, but that still wasn't perfect. I like the idea of using a pin to make a small groove that will act as sort of a barrier between the tire and wheel disc. I'll need to try that with my next plane. Thanks.
-
A wash in the groove between tire and wheel solves a lot of things. Also not going super hard into the edges, that way the wash hides the gap...
Just a thought
-
I put a needle in a pin vice and carefully go around the area between the tire and cloth covering. This creates a block so the tire color doesn't flow beyond the line I scribed. Then break off a wood toothpick so you can stick it in the hole where the axel goes and slowly rotate the wheel while applying paint.
Charlie
-
I spray paint the wheel, then I put masking tape over the wheel, scribe the perimeter of the wheel with a sharpened tooth picks, then carefully cut through the masking tape at the scribed perimeter with a sharp #11 blade. I then peel the tape off the tire and spray the tire color. Comes out sharp and clean every time.
Cheers,
Bud
-
That's what I usually do also,but if I'm feeling lazy I have one of those plastic drafting things with a variety of circles-I just hold the appropriate circle over the wheel and spray-the trick is to do a few light passes so the buildup accumulates towards the centre.A wash at the rim ties it together.
-
I spray paint the wheel, then I put masking tape over the wheel, scribe the perimeter of the wheel with a sharpened tooth picks, then carefully cut through the masking tape at the scribed perimeter with a sharp #11 blade. I then peel the tape off the tire and spray the tire color. Comes out sharp and clean every time.
Cheers,
Bud
That's what I normally do but I also spray clear varnish on top to really seal the masking tape.
-
Thanks for all the help guys. I used the masking tape method on my last plane and it worked like a charm.
A few years back I had given up on modeling because it was too frustrating, but now that I'm addressing the various things that frustrated me in the past I'm having a lot more fun putting kits together.
-
Hi, Kirk,
Glad to see that you've had success with your question. I've just seen your thread, hence my late reply.
I use an Olfa circle cutter to cut a thin diameter circle of masking tape (usually Tamiya). I'll then fit this thin circle of tape around the wheel (doesn't have to fit exactly as long as it goes around the perimeter completely) and then fill in the wheel surface with more tape. Once the tape is pressed into place it's a simple matter to paint the tyre, remove the tape and voila: perfect paint job!
Best of luck with your current and future builds! 8)