From Part to Art: Wheels and Tires
by Dave Hansen
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Introduction Painting wheels isn't black and white. This close up of a real Grumman Hellcat main wheel reveals the subtle shades necessary to make a model wheel look realistic. Welcome to the incredibly interesting and exciting topic of painting wheels and tires! Actually, wheels are boring. But, when executed badly, they can seriously detract from a good model. Kit manufacturers don't make the task easy. Injection molded kit wheels often lack crisp hub detail and proper tread patterns. However, through the miracle of the new-fangled "inner-nets" (which I am told, are a series of tubes) I've discovered the frontier of after-market resin parts. Cast resin is an ideal medium for aircraft wheels and tires since it permits undercuts and finer detail. I'd like to demonstrate some finishing techniques using the Ultracast Resins wheel set for the 1/48th Tamiya F4U-1 Corsair. |
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For those of you not familiar with UltraCast, it's a company in Canada run by Kevin McLaughlin. UltraCast offers a broad range of resin accessories for 1/35 scale armor, figures and 1/48 scale WWII aircraft, specializing in wheels, seats, and exhaust stacks. His stuff can be found at www.ultracast.ca. His prices are reasonable and his quality is outstanding. You will not be disappointed. | |
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Preparation The first step with any molded part is removing it from the sprue. In the case of resin parts, the casting gate and block are quite large. I prefer to use a Tech-Star photo etched saw. These saws are available from Squadron and VLS and come in .010" and .005" thicknesses. They have very fine teeth that allow you to make accurate cuts which remove a minimal amount of material. Start by slicing into each corner, working around the block from corner to corner until the resin casting block comes free. The remaining rough area can then be cleaned up with a sanding stick. Next, scrub the resin wheels down with warm water and dishwashing soap, using a toothbrush to get into all the nooks and crannies. Finish by dunking them in cool clean water, and allow them to dry on a paper towel. This is important, not only to remove the dust from sawing and sanding, but also to remove any surface residue from the molding process that may interfere with the adhesion of the paint. |
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Initial Painting To facilitate the painting, attach the wheel to a handle. I keep a supply of plastic and metal rods and tubes in small diameters which can be plugged into the axle holes. In smaller scales, round toothpicks and bamboo skewers - both found at the grocery store - are very handy for this. Usually you can get a snug friction fit, but a drop of white glue helps if things get loose. Tires should never be painted a stark, absolute flat black. Rather, use a very dark gray, perhaps with a touch of red or brown. My favorite tire color is Model Master Cockpit Interior Black. It's more like a very dark gray, but it's sufficiently different from gloss black and Engine Gray, which I use for washes in the treads. While many modelers tout the advantages of acrylics, I still prefer to work with enamels, which is what I am using here. Start by hosing the "black" on, making sure to cover the circumference of the tread and the sidewalls. The wheel hubs will be painted later, so any black overspray is no big deal. |
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| Once the black has dried (at least overnight) I break out a plastic circle template and cut out a round hole, slightly larger than the hub diameter, from a piece of wide masking tape. I prefer to use the Tamiya tape, but just about any tape it's not TOO sticky (such as blue painter's tape) will do. I lay these masks over the front and back wheel hubs and trim away excess tape with scissors. |  |
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Now I paint the wheel hubs themselves.
I usually spray them with Flat Insignia White, FS37875 for the US Navy late war 3-tone scheme, or Light Gray, FS 36495 for the earlier USN Blue Gray scheme.
(FS 36440 is actually a closer color match for this early scheme, but allowing for the elusive "Scale Effect" and the subsequent washes and clear coats, the final result would be too dark.) White doesn't cover black terribly well, so two or three coats, with good drying time in between, may be necessary. Once the final coat is dried, the masking can be removed. Don't worry about the excess overspray onto the tire. That is fixed in the next step. |
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| It may seem backwards, to paint the light color over the dark, but there is a reason. Since wheel hubs are small and seldom flat, it is more difficult to get a small disk of masking tape to stick securely to the hub, than it is to get a large doughnut shaped mask to stick to the relatively flat sidewalls of the tire. |  |
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Pin Wash The next step requires patience and may run the course of a few evenings. In a disposable plastic artist's mixing palette, I make up a thin wash of the cockpit interior black with artist's quality turpentine. I use a disposable Testors paint brush for mixing the wash and for cleanup afterwards. Mixing palettes with six or eight little shallow cups are cheap and readily available at any art supply store. (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Aaron Brothers) |
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Next, dip a 0-size brush into the wash and carefully touch it to the outside edge of the wheel hub where the tire and hub intersect. If you do this right, the capillary action will cause the wash to race around the wheel hub, resulting in a sharp, crisp demarcation between the wheel hub and the tire. Repeat this process as necessary until the circumference of the hub is completely and evenly filled. | |
| Now, mix a thicker wash. Adding more paint to the pervious wash, or make a new one with less turpentine. Carefully dab the thicker wash onto the tire, covering the white overspray that exists between the black painted tire and where the first wash was just applied. This black is a lot thinner than how it comes straight from the bottle, so the first application will not cover terribly well. Let this dry overnight and repeat this process, until the tire is covered and little, if any, white overspray is visible. The finished surface will not be quite as smooth as the surfaces that were airbrushed, but we'll fix that, too. |  |
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Seal with Future By this point, the wheel should have a good separation of white and black, but perhaps a rough and uneven surface. Put the wheels back onto the mounting sticks and spray them overall with Future Floor finish, directly from the bottle. Spray light coats initially to verify coverage, and then build up more coats until a uniform gloss finish is achieved. Pay attention to getting complete coverage in all areas, as the Future acts as a chemical barrier for the washes to follow. Allow the wheels to dry 48 hours. |
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Washes Now I apply a wash to the hub. Using the artist's palette again, I mix up a wash of turpentine and Model Master Gloss Engine Gray, FS 16081. You could use another shade of gray if you wanted, depending on the amount of contrast you want to achieve. Avoid using black however, it's way too stark. The wash should be roughly the same consistency as the wash for the tire bead. Apply this wash liberally to the wheel hub - on the spokes, between the spokes, over the hub cap, and around the tire bead as well. Allow this to dry for maybe 15-20 minutes. Next, dip a Q-tip in Turpenoid, and squeeze out the excess thinner onto an old t-shirt or a paper towel. Swab away the excess wash using a radial motion starting at the hub and working outward. Repeat this step as much as you want, depending on the degree of dirtiness you want to attain and the depth of the surface detail you are covering. Notice the differences between the two wheels in the photo above. Allow to dry overnight. Also note that I have switched thinners here. Turpenoid is a low odor turpentine substitute that is less aggressive than turpentine and is less likely to take off the Future. You might want to make the washes that are applied on top of the Future with Turpenoid as well, but I don't. I just use it for wiping up the excess. Next, I put on a wash of Gloss Black in the wheel treads. The stuff will quickly wick away into the treads. Apply as much as you think you will need, then let dry maybe 10 minutes and swab away the excess with a Q-tip and Turpenoid. Allow to dry overnight. |
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Dry Brush The final weathering step is to drybrush the treads. I use a dark gray, like Flat Engine Gray or Gunship Gray, for carrier based aircraft. If the plane is land based, you could use a khaki, mud or sand color to duplicate the crushed coral fields these planes were deployed from. Weathering of treads varies. Sometimes dirt or dust accumulates in the tire tread, and sometimes the treads are clean but the outer surface gets dirty. The sidewalls of a new tire may appear darker than a worn tread. The sidewalls of an old tire may be chalky from exposure to sunlight and appear lighter than the tread. It depends on - well - the weather! So, study photos from the actual environment you are trying to represent. |
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Flat Coat Last comes a flat coat. I used to use Testors Dullcoat, but it had an amber shade, it required its own thinner, and it could be difficult to use when humid or cold. I now use a 50-50 mix of Future Floor shine and Polly Scale clear flat, mixed together without thinner. It looks like skim milk in the airbrush but it comes out clear. Before you spray, closely examine the wheels for any loose cotton fibers from the Q-tip and remove them with a sharp pair of tweezers. Then put the wheels back onto the sticks and spray until you have the degree of "flatness" desired. After using Future, I always clean my airbrush with Windex. |
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Happy Modeling!
Dave
Review and photographs copyright 2008 by Dave Hansen. All rights reserved. Review and photographs used with permission.
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