I’ve searched on all kinds of forums for techniques on how to add a flat spot to the bottom of tires to create the impression of weight. All too often all I can find are comments like “just sand or file a flat spot” or “put the tire on a heated iron”. To me thats like saying if you get a dent in your car all you have to do is hammer it out and paint it , not quite as easy as it sounds. I’m looking more for tips on how to keep the contact spot totally flat , keeping the flattened spot to actually sit correctly on the ground and how to keep both tires flattened the same. IMO this is hard enough to do with tires that sit perpendicular to the ground , let alone wheels that are at an angle to the ground like a 109 or Spitfire. There are quite a few things going on at the same time that are hard to achieve and I find this evidenced by models I se where the builder took the time to flatten the tire , but then it doesn’t sit flat on the ground. Thanks in advance for any comments.
I found (with a lot of help from others on the forums) that there are quite a few companies that make tires that are already wieghted (ie. flattened). Here’s a link to one that i’ve ordered from and they’re an awsome company with great customer service.
http://www.royaleresin.net/index.html
Hope that helps.
Medicman71
Thank you for the link , but the wheels still have to be removed from the pour stubs and the pour stubs are always on the flat part on the bottom of the wheel which means you will still have to do some sanding or filing after the wheel is removed from the pour stub. I guess I’m just too fussy , I’m the type who is always looking for a better way to do things.
The pour stubs are put on the flat spots to when you cut them off, you don’t cut part of the round side off, as well. Weighted tires are tricky. If you want to do them yourself, there’s a lot of sanding and comparing and fitting involved.
And don’t forget, in addition to the flat spot, a weighted tire needs to have slightly bulging side walls at the bottom to be realistic. Sanding a flat spot on a round wheel is only half the job. I don’t know of any way to add the “bulge” except to buy aftermarket resin wheels where that feature is included in the casting.
True Details makes a rather extensive line of “weighted” tires for model aircraft. In my opinion, most of them are extreme in the flattening and bulging. If a real aircraft tire bulged that much, it would be grossly under inflated and would need to be fixed. The argument for modelers is that over flattening the tire is more noticeable and theirfore acceptable. In most cases, just filing a flat spot on the bottom of the tire is almost undetectable, espec ially in 1/72 scale.
Darwin, O.F. [aln]
I learned from the Master… lol…
Shep Paine describes how he weighted and bulged the kit tires on the aircraft diormas he did in his book, “How to Build Dioramas”… It involves sanding or filing the flat area, then building up the sides of the tire at the bottom with epoxy putty and sanding it to shape…
As for sanding the tires to equal sizes, it’s simple enough to make a sanding jig for them. That way you just put the tire in the jig, sand until it’s flush with the top of the jig, then grab another wheel and go…
What would your suggestions be for making a jig for wheels that sit at an angle in relation to the ground other than 90 degrees?
What Hans said is exactly what I was going to add. The putty actually looks very convincing, and you save your five or ten bucks from the AM companies, not that they are a bad thing. Try it, it actually is fun to do because you choose exactly how much weight you add!
Are you a modeler or a “Shake and Baker”? Take a school protractor and get the angle of the landing gear to the ground on each side. Take a piece of cardboard and tape it down. Draw a horizontal line representing the ground on the cardboard. Now draw the two lines representating the landing gear angles connecting them to the ground line. Take your wheels and attach them temporarily to the landing gear. Tape this down to the cardboard. Now gently file the tire keeping it lined up with the ground line. You could use tape some kind of a straight edge as a fence to run the file along to keep it straight. Just like sharpening a knife to keep it at the proper angle.
You’ve got a lot of good advice on getting the flat spot on the tire. A quick and easy method to get the flat spot flat on the ground is to put your dab of glue on the wheel or gear. Attach the wheel to the gear. Set the airplane on a flat surface like it will be setting when displayed. Rock each wheel until it sets down flush with the flat surface. Lift the aircraft and insure the wheels’ orientation to the gear and that the wheels are tracking correctly. Let the glue dry with the weight off the wheels. TaDaaaaaa. Rick.
you could also display it on a “soft surface”-grass,mud or snow-that way any imprecision is hidden. after all, no matter how careful you are with tyres,they don’t look at all realistic sitting on a shelf…
I’m assuming you’re talking about high-pressure tires that sit at an angle like on a Me-109? You simply make one side of the jig higher than the other in relation to the angle that tire sits on the ground…
Thanks to all who replied , the suggestions are much appreciated.
I use “The Verlinden” way.
Take a sauce pan, add about 1/4 of water to the bottom. Heat to a simmer.
Take wheel in pliers (wrap jays to not mar the surface) then dip wheel into water and press agains bottom of pan, pull it out, check it and repeat till happy. This gives the flat spot and bulges the side walls.
CAUTION: Steam is hot, if you burn your self, destroy a wheel or pan its not my fault!
At one atmosphere the temperature of steam is 212 F just the same as the temperature of boiling water. Steam can be made hotter under pressure but unless you’re getting your steam from the vent of a pressure cooker (which will be rapidly returning to a pressure of 1 atmosphere you’re going to be looking at 212F no matter how you slice it.
As to alignment, I usually jig the a/c by supporting the wings so that the wheels will be just above the surface of the bench. Then you can adjust the alignment while mounting the flattened tires and then let the adhesive dry (C/A medium for resin and MEK for styrene flattened with an old kitchen knife the way we learned in 1st grade)
Re: RE:weighted aircraft tires
| Shawn M. replied on 05-18-2010 2:31 PM | Reply More |
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I use “The Verlinden” way.
Take a sauce pan, add about 1/4 of water to the bottom. Heat to a simmer.
Take wheel in pliers (wrap jays to not mar the surface) then dip wheel into water and press agains bottom of pan, pull it out, check it and repeat till happy. This gives the flat spot and bulges the side walls.
CAUTION: Steam is hot, if you burn your self, destroy a wheel or pan its not my fault!
Shawn, I forgot about that method. I did that on some Monogram B-25 wheels years ago and it did produce very good looking bulged tires. I could not remember how I had done it. I’ve got the water boiling. Thanks. Rick
Sure thing, its a trial error and compare process for sure. I’d recommend heating it in the water for a minute or two before pushing down, makes the bulge easier…at least for 1 piece wheels. 2 piece wheels need less time as the plastic is thinner and bulges MUCH faster.
I just simply file a flat spot on the tire. I often find the bulges overdone on other modelers’ tires.
[dto:] Aircraft tires have heavy sidewalls and barely can you see a bulge at the side. Some true details tires look good I have used them before but sometimes they are overdone.