Making Thin Whitewall Tires

[sigfan]

Hi, Guys.

I finally found a set of tires without lettering on one side so I could put thin whitewalls on them. I'm using the white gel pen/circle template method, and I can't seem to get the whitewall to come out centered. Either that or the pen slips, etc. It's easy enough to remove with a little rubbing alcohol, but I can't seem to get it right.

Bob D., did you give a demo on this once? Is there a secret to getting good results every time, or do you just need a good eye and lots of practice?

I believe Wes said he just paints his whitewalls on freehand. That too seems nearly impossible for me.

Let's say I wanted to go the decal route. Can you recommend a company that carries them? HobbyTown has two ancient packs, and they are way too fat for what I need. Once the decals are on, do they look real?

Thanks!

sigfan

[Zoom Zoom]

You do have to do it carefully, but that is how I do them. You have to hold the pen vertical and try not to slip. I sometimes have to re-do them a few times. It does take a bit of practice. I've never been able to get the decals to work when I tried them; they would not cooperate at all.

[BRE350Z]

The reason some people make things look so easy is because of the number of times it took them to learn the proper technique. One thing this hobby will do is teach you patience and drive you crazy while it does. Now it's time to sweep up the pieces of the latest model to hit the "wall"

Wayne

[sigfan]

Thanks, Bob. I figured it was going to come down to good old experience -- or luck. I will keep trying, but I keep getting a slight overlap, and it's driving me crazy.

Let's assume the unthinkable happens and I manage to get 4 tires done to my satisfaction. :o What do you suggest I do to the tires afterward? Is there some sort of spray I'd want to put on to protect the whitewalls, or do you just draw it on and that's it? (I don't have an airbrush, so it'd have to be available in a rattlecan.) Something like Dull-Kote?

And Wayne, you are so right. I am a patient person -- with people. When it comes to things like models, I do OK, but I can see where if certain things were readily available for purchase, I would buy them in a heartbeat, rather than fooling around. I don't know if I'd necessarily learn from that. I guess I'd learn that I wanted the easy way out!

Thanks for the info!

sigfan

[Zoom Zoom]

Or you can bring the materials to the meeting and we can probably knock out the whitewalls in a couple minutes. It's a very easy demo...tires, template, gel pen, some alcohol/paper towels for cleanup.

[BRE350Z]

That would be cool to see this again.

[sigfan]

Well, Wayne, you'll be seeing it again -- if Bob is willing. I bet I attempted to do the wheels at least 20 times, and I'm still not happy with my final results. To make matters worse, the gel pen (or the alcohol) started to cause a haze on the tires -- almost etching into them a little. Not the end of the world, but again, not the result I was looking for.

The only saving grace: I have a picture of the 1:1 car showing the tires close up, and the whitewalls have some gouges taken out of them in spots. I can just say I was trying to be as realistic as possible.:biglaugh:

I'll bring the stuff, Bob. If you have time to give it a shot, that would be great.

sigfan