Jump to content

Modifying aftermarket resin wheels/tires


Recommended Posts

As I work on the landing gear for my 1/24 Airfix Mustang, I've come to the wheels. I needed to replace the wonky Airfix vinyl tires, so I bought the beautiful Grey Matter wheels (patterned by Jerry Rutman), both tread patterns; cross-hatched and oval tread. The problem is that post-war RCAF Mustangs were fitted with circumferential treads. I could just hang the aftermarket wheels on her, but it would bug me that they weren't right (not that many would notice them really).

 

What I would like to do is fill the tread with Miliput and/or putty and rescribe the tread. How would you get a regular neat pattern? I had thought of buying a mini-lathe, but not sure how often I would use it after this. Can any of you suggest a way to do it with say a Dremel or scribing tools?

 

I want to go from this:

 

205ed556-c627-4c08-832d-62204595f9d4_zps

 

to this:

 

Practicebombrackandtire_zps26adfc62.jpg

 

Thanks for any ideas or help!

 

Richard

Edited by R Palimaka
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd go about it tis way:

 

fill in tread with milliput or something similar and smooth it down so that you can juuuuust see the tops of the existing tread.

let it dry

chuck it in a drill or dremel and clamp it to a solid surface

then figure out a stable "base" for each circumferential groove you want to carve

clamp tool to it

spin wheel at slow speed

slowly carve groove

reset tool height

repeat process

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Shawn, that would work with the tools I've got handy. You're right, the key I think would be low speeds...and practice on something else first! The wheels aren't expensive, I bought a couple of each, but I don't want to waste them, or have to keep ordering from the UK. Although I suppose Tim would be happy at Grey Matter. :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it were me, I'd use the method Eric describes in his Sabre build:

 

 

I am going to use Harold from AMS new Sabre main wheels, so in the meantime, I put some tread on the kit nose wheel. I was unable to get the wheel into the chuck of the lathe, so I reverted to my old technique to scribe grooves. with an assortment of different thickness plastic card I was able to vary the height of the wheel against the fixed position of the needle whilst rotating it to give me each groove.

 

9BCEFBFA-8D4E-4F4E-9532-2824E830B314_zps

 

Kev

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like that method too, simple and no special tools, and by inserting the same thickness of plastic card you get a regular distance between the grooves. I'll give it a try...

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...