PE Wire Wheels

Those are a pain. Well worth the effort but plan on setbacks. You either have to carve out the center of your kit wheel or find a source for O rings. An a appropriate sized O ring makes a great tire in this application. Depending on how yours are constructed you'll want to set up a jig of some sort to "dish" the wheels; like on a bicycle. Stick the wheel over a suitably sized ring like a Scotch tape core and press on the center gently until you've got it bent out a bit. Make sure both halves match. You then glue a suitable axle to the center, apply your o ring and you're done. hth

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

Don-

You should be able to find a selection of O-rings at your local auto parts store. Most of the chain stores (NAPA, Pep Boys etc., etc.) carry a box with dozens of different sized of rings. Bring your wheel to match.

You can also use shrink wrap tubing. Cut a piece to the correct circumference, cut a slit and then slip it over your PE wheel. Do NOT heat it though, as it will wrap tightly around the wheel rim.

FWIW, several mail order car model companies offer 1/43 scale aftermarket wire wheels and tires. Most come pre-assembled. Try RSC Motorsport Models at:

-Rick

There was an article in FSM a few years ago that covered one way to do it. IIRC, the author used clear styrene disks the size of the wheel, tube for the axles and stripped wire insulation for the tires. To get the conical effect, drill a hole for the axle in the disk, and let it protrude out on either side a couple of mm, then trim out alternating sections of the rim of the photoetch wheel and carefully superglue (non-fogging glue!) the wheel to the axle and the outside edge of the disk. Cover the edge with the wire insulation and you're done.

How do you use the O-rings? Seems like you'd have to slice them in half to get half of O-ring on each side of PE rim. Or, do you stick the outside completely outside/around the PE rim so that the PE rim is inside the o-ring?

I've never used this "o-ring" method myself since the neoprene o-rings are a bit too dark for my taste when depicting WW-I era aircraft tires (many were medium-light gray and some even had a slight pinkish cast to them).

However, the outer edge (rim) of the PE spoked wheel is supposed to represent the rim of the wheel. The rim had width to it so I would glue the PE rim slightly inward on the inside curve of the o-ring but I would not have both sides of the spoke discs so close together that they touch each other.

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Pretty much like Bill said. Bend the "rims" outward a bit and glue them to the inside edge of the o-ring.

If you really want to put some work into them you can take a strip of sheet plastic and form it into a rim. Then glue the "wire" to that and the o-ring last. You can use Pactra RC paints on the rubber o-rings; they stick well in my experience; acrylics may work as well. Love that pinkish cast before carbonblack became widespread! hth

The Keeper (of too much crap!)