Armoryman Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 (edited) Greetings! Our small company prepare some wheels sets for serial production, but stopped on cross-road: how to produce them. We have several options to choose: - solid wheels: hard grey resin, hubs+tires together in one piece - hubs and tires separated. Hubs: hard grey resin. Tires: hard resin, blackened by pigment to deep black rubber-like color - hubs and tires separated. Hubs: hard grey resin. Tires: elastic rubber-like black resin We'll be very thankful for all Your opinions about Your favourite wheels option! BTW, we already produce hard resin blackened wheels for AFV (idea was to avoid painting them by basic paint and to save sharp edges of tires protector). They can be finished by MIG or AK-Interactive pigments/washes/filters: Edited November 10, 2012 by Armoryman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Solid one-piece resin, absolutely. Rubber tires are not black, they are dark grey. And unless the tires are completely new, they are not one uniform color. The tread is a different color from the sidewalls, so molding them in black (whether rubber or resin) is pointless IMHO. J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sabre Freak Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Hubs and tires seperate Easier to paint Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Hubs and tires seperate Easier to paint I might agree, but no reason to make the resin tires black. Just mold everything in grey. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
B_Realistic Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Hubs and tires not seperated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChernayaAkula Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 One-piece solid resin. Would also be cheaper, I guess, eliminating one step of casting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mingwin Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Hubs and tires seperate Easier to paint +1... and both in grey resin... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FAR148 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Hubs and tires seperate Easier to paint +2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geebert Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Seperate, tires seem brownish more than grey Quote Link to post Share on other sites
digit Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Solid wheels preferred. This ensures perfect fit of hubs and tires - which was a minor problem in your otherwise excellent BTR-80 wheel set. Paint masks could also be included. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattP Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 (edited) One solid piece... Any modeler worth his/her weight can paint them... And yeah, I HATED the gaps in your BTR-80 wheels... Edited November 11, 2012 by MattP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
su27rules Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Solid one-piece resin / hubs and tires not seperated!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 My two penn'orth........ - solid wheels: hard grey resin, hubs+tires together in one piece Best option - as long as there is a clear delineation between hub and tire to ease painting. A nice groove allows the paint to flow into the gap by capilliary action - and colour choice is left to the modeller. Modeller can also decide on whether to add 'flats' - and by how much. - hubs and tires separated. Hubs: hard grey resin. Tires: hard resin, blackened by pigment to deep black rubber-like color 2nd best option - but needs to have precise moulding to avoid gaps between hub and tire Separate hub is easier to paint - but problems with tire colour - modeller has no choice. - hubs and tires separated. Hubs: hard grey resin. Tires: elastic rubber-like black resin Worst choice - rubber tires are not realistic, cannot be painted and are difficult to 'flatten' Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Armoryman Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 (edited) Thanks for all Your opinions! Solid wheels won! :) Next questions: wheels for which aircraft You'd like to see in our production range? 1/72, 1/48, 1/32 are possible. I'd like to receive Your wishes to private messages or email - let's make it like sort of wish-letters to Santa :) Edited November 11, 2012 by Armoryman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phasephantomphixer Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 (edited) Another important issue not mentioned when replicating Aircraft wheels/tires is CORRECT SIZE. Yes, either find the correct measurements or go to the source with a tape measure. Ensure the rim depth, hub, etc. are captured as well. DO NOT just recast kit wheels as they are usually incorrect. Take the opportunity to not only enhance detail, but make them accurate. Edited November 11, 2012 by phasephantomphixer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Armoryman Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Another important issue not mentioned when replicating Aircraft wheels/tires is CORRECT SIZE. Yes, either find the correct measurements or go to the source with a tape measure. Ensure the rim depth, hub, etc. are captured as well. DO NOT just recast kit wheels as they are usually incorrect. Take the opportunity to not only enhance detail, but make them accurate. Thanks for warning! Regarding size: now we are developing some types of wheels for Soviet airctaft. And we use special big table with wheel sizes, published a time ago in old magazine. And we don't recast any wheels - all our future releases of wheels will be originally CAD developed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegoodsgt Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Keep it simple. One-piece casting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phasephantomphixer Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Thanks for warning! Regarding size: now we are developing some types of wheels for Soviet airctaft. And we use special big table with wheel sizes, published a time ago in old magazine. And we don't recast any wheels - all our future releases of wheels will be originally CAD developed. And Thanks for checking feedback as it is best to start out on the right path for the customer. Also a good thing to release proper Soviet series wheels. Suggest they have slight tire bulge, but please not a flat tire like True Details! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Yuri Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Ok, so I must disagree.... I love rubber tires... got a lot of Equipage ones in the past. The hub is easier to paint and (at least on 1/72 planes) they look realistic... Just a small tip.... there is a mould line all around the tire that's difficult do sand... my trick is to mount the tire on a small rod (usually the drum of a sanding tool) connected to the dremel... power on the dremel and "sand" the tire against a sanding stick... this eliminates the rubber flash and "ruins" a bit the tire, making it slightly dark gray and coarse just on the tread... looks realistic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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