God Damn it!
Why do German tanks have so many wheels!
How do you guys go about painting them? my hands are a little shakie these days and i cant get clean edges.[:(!]
Dave,
i will pass along a tip Frosty gave me:
paint the entire wheel flat black first.
then use a plastic circle template (from stationary or art store) to mask the tires while you spray the centers grey, dark yellow or whatever.
i just did this the other night on my PzKpfw IV Ausf. D and it worked pretty well.
but if you have to buy a template, i would recommend getting both English and metric circles. the one i had was English (fractions of inch) and the wheel was right between 2 sizes of hole, if you know what i mean.
i put cheap masking tape and paper over the unused part of the template so it would not end up w/ paint all over it or spraying thru the extra holes.
never the less, i ended up w/ minimal overspray, which i decided the wash would hide. i could have touched up w/ brush, but i am lazy, and i don’t know if i would have fixed the problem or made a new one!
i will add that i did both sides in succession, painting the backs w/ the face against the table and then putting a piece of sprue in the hole as a holder and pushing it into a foam block. doing the fronts is not fun, as you have to hold the template in place firmly without driving the wet back into the foam! i tried it w/ the wheel in both orientations (face horizontal & vertical), neither was very ‘easy’ to keep template in place.
all in all i was quite pleased, tho a better fitting template would have made it easier. in reflection, if i had a cheap, spare template, i might have used a bit of sandpaper to make the ‘small’ hole fit better.
you’ll want to put a rubber glove (i use disposable latex gloves) on the hand you use to hold down the template. i had almost as much paint on those fingers as the wheels. 
sorry so long.
when i get my pictures hosted, i have some photos that shows what i am talking abt.
[:D] cool.
The answer is simple when some one points it out to you [:I]
I have a compas that can take blades, so maybe its best to make your own temples and get a perfect fit.
Thanx WW
Dave,
You can try painting the wheel almost to the line where the tire meets the rim. There is an edge there in most tank wheels moldings. When dry, hit it with a heavy wash. The capillary action of the wash along the very edge will “tighten” up the line and make it look neat and trim. The weathering will hide any oops.
In Kalmbach publishings book on Modleing realistic tanks, the author uses a sharpee marker to “paint” the tire. The collet around the felt marker will act almost like a template guide. Any gloss is knocked down by the weathering and road dust.
Frosty’s technique of the template is also good, but take into consideration the thickness of the mask. If its higher than the rim and the rim is proud of the tire you will have to do some touch up along the side edge of the rim.
Mike
box1,
I just wanted to chime in and say that I found your opening 3 words extremely offensive. As forum members, we need to act responsibly in what we write, and that includes watching our language.
Gip Winecoff
Box1. Unless you are real careful the compass can often move out of alignment on small circles. If you use one without bendable legs you can also get a bevelled edge that lets in paint bleed.
An option is to buy an adjustable circle cutter from any good stationary store. We get a low tack film over here that is great for masking and the circle cutter gives a perfect circle each time. Because the film is thin, you don’t grt the worries as renarts highlighted with the template.
Frosty, nice to see a gal over in the darkside, and one with good ideas to boot.
Happy Modelling
Peter
styrene
Sorry if your offended!
Being english im affraid im not that up tight and dont find ‘God’ ’ Dam’s’ or ‘It’s’ very offensive[}:)]. i also think you can take being PC too far! i can laugh at anything including myself.[:D]
Thanx to all for the tips.
Dave,
here are some fuzzy pics of me in ‘action’ on the roadwheels.
first the backs:
then the top.
this was the tricky bit. note the glove.
it’s still clean because this was the first wheel!!
i did a few w/ the wheel in this orientation and tried some w/ the foam block ‘on its side’
then presto!
good luck!
ed.
Box 1 you might want to read this post from a moderator http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1794
because I also found it offensive to read and if I had kids I wouldn’t want them to read it on here either. I’m not trying to preach to you but just because you don’t find it offensive doesn’t mean others don’t. There’s no need for it. Expand your language skills a find a word that is not profain to express your feelings because like you, I get frustrated with road wheels too!! [:D] There are some good tips up here already and the main thing to remember is if you are going to weather and dirty it up some then they don’t have to be that precise to start with. I’ve seen articles where people don’t even paint the rubber at all until the very end then they drybrush some color where “the rubber meets the road” or the track [:D] I’m trying that out on my Marder as my weathering pretty much wiped out my scale black on the rubber portions so in a few days I should have some more pics up if you want to check them out and see how it turns out.
I hope you don’t take offense to what I said above either, I just think we should all consider each other and the youngsters that are on this forum since it’s geared toward young and old alike. Build on and let us know what technique you decide on. [:D]
Eric
In terms of the so called language, I have to say this…
Here we are modelling military equipment designed to inflict maximum harm on our fellow humans but the words “God”, “Damn”, and “It” together cause offensive.
If you could see me now, I’m rolling my eyes…
Well what a fine mess I have got myself into![B)]
I sorry again to all I offended and sorry for the sarcasm in my reply.
I’m still little unsure how this language can offend, It’s a very common expression in the UK and used on TV, in books and so on all the time. In fact to me its very tame language and I have never experienced anyone I know finding my language ‘extremely offensive’.
Please let’s all be tolerant and by that I mean understand that not all people have the same feelings about subjects.
As Jmorgan says: We are making models of equipment designed to kill and maim, does that not put the words someone uses into prospective?
Finally: thanx again for all the tips and in future I will keep my posts strictly to the point as my sense of humour is bound to offend. [:o)]
Those german tanks have a lot to answer for![xx(]
Simple solution: buy steel-wheeled tanks only! [:D] I hope that brought a little laugh to this thread, it needed it. Box1, I feel the same way about German armor, especially Panzer III and IV’s. You got some good advice and I might try it someday. I airbrush the rims the main color, then I brush the rubber on with a fine paintbrush. You won’t see the brushmarks, because you’ll go back and drybrush the tires anyway. Good luck.
“It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”-R.E.Lee
The reason german tanks were built with so many wheels was to “get the goat” of the English.The germans knew long ago that their armor was going to be the most popular modelling subject in the world!
Seriuosly now…Here’s how I do it:
Early in the morning on a day off.Very early,before cat and common wife are awake,and before the boss shows for work.This insures lack of interruptions.
Just enough coffee,on a full stomach,to wake up.This keeps the hands steady.
Paint only two to four at a time.This save you from temporay blindness and burn out.
Use a brush!#'s 0,000,and 1.
Wheels are the MOST tedious task in armor modeling.
Relax,paint,take a break to watch the sunrise,and do a few more tomorrow.
c.m.s.
Actually c.m.s. you’re onto something.
I do alot if illustration work. Alot of it very fine and detailed technical illustration. Over the years I and others in this field (t.i.) have found that if you do detail work a little at a time and take breaks in between it goes easier, your hand stays steadier and you don’t burn out on the project as quick. Your eyes get exercised by focusing on things across the room rather than developing eye strain from doing up close work. Most people I have talked to or worked with in the past also tend to grip things tighter when they are doing fine work. This leads to hand strain and some discomfort causing the hand to fatigue and not be as steady. Sure it takes a little longer but it goes easier.
Mike
good points there Mike!I meant to say “common law wife” in my original post.Lack of interruption is the key for me.Also,if I don’t feel like working on a project that day,I don’t.When you force yourself,you end up making mistakes.
Chris