R Palimaka Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 (edited) 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: to this: Thanks for any ideas or help! Richard Edited May 26, 2017 by R Palimaka sandokan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 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 R Palimaka and Jack 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 does that make sense, I can see how the image in my head doesn't translate well into words lol R Palimaka 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 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 More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 lol definitely a test piece, hopefully resin is more temp tolerant then plastic is R Palimaka 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 Lol...yeah, slightly bulged and flattened is one thing, but don't want them to look like they had a blowout. Shawn M 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 everytime I try to turn a plastic piece on my dremel the speed is just too high and I melt it. You may want to use a power drill instead due to the slower RPM R Palimaka 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 Good idea. I'll experiment a lot before I pop the wheels on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 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. Kev R Palimaka and williamj 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Palimaka Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 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 More sharing options...
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