painting wire spoke rims

Fellow Modelers,

I am currently working on Sonny Crockett’s Daytona Spider, and even though I’ve been modeling for several years now, I was always faced with a difficult decision, what’s the easiest way to paint the black in between the wire spokes??? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks and continue to keep the model hobby alive :slight_smile:

I think asking this in the Autos forum would get you more response. Or, you might try the painting and airbrushing forum, though I think the auto one would be best.

Don’s point is well taken; we can ask the moderators to move the thread, rather than creating duplicates. In the meantime, to your question, I’d paint the spoke area black, then pick out the spokes with careful brush-painting.

Are the wheels shiney chrome plastic? If so you could spray everything black, no undercoat, and then remove the paint from the spokes with a cocktail stick. Try it on the sprue first to make sure it works!! Or maybe use a liquid mask?

You can always buy the aftermarket wire-spoked rims, too… No painting!

Basically use a wash. Start with thinner, then some black paint and let it settle in the black areas. I often apply the black with a toothpick. Acrylics and enamels work equally well. This techniques works for wheels, grills, dashes, emblems, etc…

Minimagneto is 100% correct. Washes are the easiest to use and settle to look the best. This is a car built a while ago that I used a wash on the wheels. They started out as all chrome.