Painting wheels using stencil and an airbrush

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

I just thought I would share a technique I’ve been using to paint the wheels on my 1/48 scale aircraft and that’s been working for me quite well lately. I’m sure other people probably have been doing this themselves but it just happened to discover it myself.

It involves using circle stencils like the one in the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Staedtler-Combo-Circle-Template-977/dp/B000KIBQ46

I purchased mine from Michaels for about $5

Painting wheels:

Since the circle sinces are pretty standard, as are the wheel hub sizes. I normally start off by painting the entire wheel (hubs and tires) black or whatever color rubber you’re planning on using. After the base layer is dry I pick up the wheel on one hand and try to find the circle shape on the stencil the best matches the hub diameter of the wheel. After finding the correct size I normally hold the stencil over the wheel in one hand and quickly airbrush the hub with the other.

This technique has given me perfect results every time and looks the cleanest to me out of everything else I have done. What I like about it, is it is really quick to do and requires no prep work with tape or putty masking etc…

2

Hmm… I usually paint the hub first then paint the tires. Don’t need no stinkin’ mask since I use a magnifying lamp. LOL!

3

I have heard of this teqnique. Got to do something - especially those 1:200 airliner tires & wheels!

I did try the eduard wheel masks that came with the canopy masks for my 1/48 F-86F and had mixed results.

4

That’s the way I’ve been doing them since I started armor building. Might also want to tape over the holes on either side of the one your using to keep any overspray off the rubber.

5

I cut the end of a toothpick to act as an axle for the wheel. Now, twirling the toothpick turns the wheel rapidly. I do this after painting the hub. Now, with my tire color, I lay the tip of a small detail brush in the groove between the tire and wheel, and twirl the wheel. I keep a finger on the hand holding the brush stuck out and touching the hand holding the axle. Keeping the two hands in contact helps stabilize things.