jetdx Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 This may have been discussed before but I need to get it off my back. What bothers me the most is that the model might be made without any wow (weight on wheels). I look to see what others have submitted EVERYday. The model usually looks GREAT except that there is no wow! I very rarely see that someone has modeled the a/c (helis..anything) with weight on wheels. It has become the first thing I look at. Maybe I am missing something. If there is ANY wieght to an a/c that wieght is transffered to the tires. It is VERY easy to do...if I can do it it must be easy. For EVERY model I do I "squish" the tires a little. I run it back and forth over a candle for a bit and then press it onto a flat surface "squishing" the tire a bit. For some a/c the tire would be "squished" more than others. Unless, of course, there are after-market tires that one can buy. It has been so long ago that I heard this that I can't remember when or where I heard this. P.S. I enjoy seeing what others have done! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Huey Gunner Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Don't let the little things bother you. It's a hobby. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eric Larson Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I hear ya! I wouldn't say it bothers me but I do think it odd when I see a nicely built airplane model sitting up on perfectly round wheels. It's one of those things that screams "I'm a toy!". Flattening wheels is one of the very first modifications I learned when I started getting serious about modeling. I used to press the wheels against the upper part of the bare light bulb next to the steps in my mom's basement. I now use a thin putty knife, heated over a candle, to form the "wow" effect if needed. When True Details first came out with "pre flattened" resin wheels, I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. I still use them once in a while but I will sand or grind down the exaggerated bulges. The important thing is to find a photo of the actual aircraft, sitting on a hard surface, to see how much of a flat spot is needed. The two important things when flattening the wheels yourself is to not flatten them too much and to do all tires evenly. What is really tricky is when you have multiple wheels on a single strut, like the nose wheels of an F-4 Phantom. I've found it best to use heat to get the initial flat spot and then use a file or sandpaper on a flat surface to "fine tune" the wheel. If you heat-squish or sand off too much, it is really hard to get it back! Cheers, Eric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Perhaps the ground crew took the plane to the gas bar and just filled the tires? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gotarheelz14 Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Speaking of pictures, do you guys have any pictures of finished models with this so called "wow" effect on? You are right in that I have never heard of it. People go through EXTREME lengths to make sure their models are realistic but this one definitely does not get talked about enough. If you have any good examples though I would love to see them. Carlos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom ordie Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 On most modern military A/C there is only a slight deflection of the tires due to the very high nitrogen pressures that are put in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lock n' Load Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 On most modern military A/C there is only a slight deflection of the tires due to the very high nitrogen pressures that are put in. Quoted for truth. Aftermarket companies often overdo this effect on modern wheels. The same happens with WWII wheels... TRUE DETAILS Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Two Mikes Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Funny thing is, I get a kick out of people who make their modern jet tires look like they have a slow leak. If you look at virtually any modern US/NATO/Russian etc jet there is very little WOW showing if the tires are properly serviced. Cheers Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dragonfly Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 If you want to "squish" your tires, go ahead, but no wow from me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PlasticWeapons Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Absolutely NO ONE has made an air pump in any appropriate modeling scale to add air to the tires of model kits!!!! That is why the tires are going flat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Huey Gunner Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Absolutely NO ONE has made an air pump in any appropriate modeling scale to add air to the tires of model kits!!!! That is why the tires are going flat. Haarroolld.......listening? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
C-130CrewChief Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 F-15's have ALOT of pressure in the tires; they don't deform like a C-130. I have had a few arguements with aircrew about Herk tires being "low" that could only be won with an air pressure gauge! just make the weighted effect represent the aircraft, fuel load and load out you are building. I also find round tires a bit weird looking. That's what references are for. Curt By the way in the aircraft maintenance field "wow" is most commonly used in term for a sensor that tells the plane it's on the ground so it can't do things it should only do in the air. The wow switch is VERY important...lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1/48 scale pilot Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I agree the tires should be flattened, but HOW flattened is arguable- I for one dont like the look of FLAT over- bulged tires (a la true details, I like a lot of them , but many look like they need to call the auto club) I agree with Curt- look at references. Consider your planes fuel load, weapons loadout, and of course, whether the crewchief has a functioning pressure gauge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pigsty Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 All you need to do is file a small flat on the bottom of each wheel. This removes the problem of the wheel meeting the display surface at only one point, which is unrealistic because it makes the aircraft seem as though it's up on tiptoes. Even a highly inflated tyre will deform slightly at the bottom. At the same time, though, it avoids the equally unrealistic bulge that comes only with an under-inflated tyre - and it's a lot easier to do than applying heat and praying that your wheel bulges symmetrically and doesn't melt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom ordie Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 But what if I want to roll it around on the kitchen floor? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Miccara Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 But what if I want to roll it around on the kitchen floor? You have created a picture in my mind that will make me smile everytime I think about that comment. That... was funny. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TXCajun Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I'm all for weighted tires as they are more realistic. However, I've seen it overdone. True details has a few that one could almost call "Trueflat" tires! At the same time, I have a picture of a B-26 on my desktop that has obviously weighted mains, but nearly no weighting on the nose gear. Some aircraft that were tail heavy when not loaded might exhibit this characteristic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Huey Gunner Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 By the way in the aircraft maintenance field "wow" is most commonly used in term for a sensor that tells the plane it's on the ground so it can't do things it should only do in the air. The wow switch is VERY important...lolYeah....Like drop things that go "boooommm" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Reddog Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Or they keep things from dropping and going boom when they aren't suppose to. From my experience, modern US Navy aircraft tires don't bulge, if they did they would be considered to be needing servicing. All you need to do for modern aircraft flaten the bottom of the tire for it to be realistic. Reddog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sanmigmike Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 F-15's have ALOT of pressure in the tires; they don't deform like a C-130. I have had a few arguements with aircrew about Herk tires being "low" that could only be won with an air pressure gauge! just make the weighted effect represent the aircraft, fuel load and load out you are building. I also find round tires a bit weird looking. That's what references are for. Curt By the way in the aircraft maintenance field "wow" is most commonly used in term for a sensor that tells the plane it's on the ground so it can't do things it should only do in the air. The wow switch is VERY important...lol Yeh, the term caught my eye in that I was wondering what a weight on wheels switch (it was called a ground proximity switch in one airplane I flew...didn't like the term since it could be confused with the GPWS system). Anyhow I was wondering just how one was going to model that switch and we had them on different gear and they worked with different systems so it could get rather confusing and have nothing to do with modeling. I think it tends to be overdone in some of the smaller scales, the high pressure tires would look more like a little bit has been filed off rather than any bulge. I'm lazy so I don't always do it but I agree that it doesn't look right to have this perfectly round tire sitting on no contact patch but to have an F-4 or even a DC-10 looking like it has soft tires for heading off to a run in the sand...? I don't get that either. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Cooper Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Gary Wickham (www.scalespot.com) has a good website. He posts detailed step by step builds of his kits. WOW is something he does every time. He tends to file a flat spot to give the effect rather than using heat to distort the plastic. Seems to give the right impression though. Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dsmith Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Yea, I am pretty particular about my wheels too (go figure :) Every tire needs at least a flat spot, though not necessarily a bulge. It is all relative, and makes it a difficult thing to do. Cheers, -Doug ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dragonfly Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 How difficult can it be to sand a flat spot on a plastic wheel? Sheesh! already. If you like the way it looks...do it. If you don't like it....don't. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HWR MKII Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Another thing to consider is the strut height. Most manufacturers make the model close to unloaded no fuel status. When a aircraft is fueled it will literally shudder as the struts compress from the extra weight. Many a time i have seen crew chiefs kick the front tire on a 16 to shake it and cause the strut to adjust to the fueled weight. Add in 4000 pounds of MK-84s 2 aim 9s and 2 aim 120s and that craft will squat low. In modeling terms this is not a big difference but even the few mm removed on the struts of a kit will give it that lower stance. This can be easily done and is not a hard thing for even inexperoenced builders. So overall its not the wheel that needs to be flattened , which it should be in some way regardless, but the stance of the undercarraige. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Huey Gunner Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 How difficult can it be to sand a flat spot on a plastic wheel? Sheesh! already. If you like the way it looks...do it. If you don't like it....don't.Uuuuhhh......what he said. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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