Lots of people weather the airframe, some paint mud on the tyres (or tires, as you prefer) but, how many people think about tyre wear?
I’ve just finished a D H Mosquito in 418 sqn colours. For a time they operated from makeshift fields in Europe. The fields were carpeted in PSP, which, I’ve read, ripped tyres to shreds after a time. So I’ve lost most of the tread and have random cuts across the surfaces as well as mud splashes. they look pretty good too. The Lightning ( E E ) for instance, could only do three landings on it’s mains before getting them changed. Anyone else got any comments on the subject[?]
Pete
You know, i think i saw a thread somewhere in the forum about this, but i can’t remember if it was in the armor or the auto forum. someone had made a mistake in painting and sprayed over the tyre. it came out looking rather old and worn. I wish i could be more descriptive, but for the life of me, i can’t figure out where i saw it!!! [:)]
The point I was trying to make was; Everyone now knows about bulged tyres, and not too many people now paint them straight black. But when you see a nicely weathered P-51 model, for instance, the tyres may be bulged, but they have perfect, unworn treads.
It’s not unusaul for an aircraft to have one new & two worn tyres in peacetime, never mind the middle of a war. We’re all trying for realism, no one seems to have thought of this before though.
Pete
I must admit I just do a black wash and and then dry brush in a slightly lighter shade of grey.
All the aircraft where I have actually got around to painting the tyres use concrete runways, so mud would probably look out of place.
I’m not sure I have the heart to scrub up the tread on my 262’s resin wheels, as the detail is just too good!
Karl
If you see a real tire, it is not uniform. Jet tires really get chewed up from the porouse concrete. Carrier aircraft will have flat spots on the tires from locking up the brakes when trapping. Matson mat really tore up tires during WW2. Solevents, lubricants, and fuel causes the tire to have a brownish, faded look to it. I use and emery board to wear and put rub marks on tires. I sometimes will sprinkle dust from my sanding onto the tire and then spray it with black primer with a little yellow and silver in it to give the tire a gritty look.
Well you can just add pieces of putty to similate the tire wear.
Pete,
That was a good observation about tread wear on the tires. Maybe an new line of resin tires will become available. I’ll have to pay a little closer attention to the tires during my reseaching for future projects. That would be a good diorama, tire change on the flight line.