Not particularly much dust on my tires. I treat them like any other part. Here, sprayed with RLM66, then clear coated with micro satin. You can see the dust and fluff stuck inside, where it is still "raw" rubber, but not outside of the tires:


For reference, the look of the tires OOB:


Gabriel

Gabriel,
your tires look so much better with your fix. I think it all depends on the who and how the tires are molded. For the Nunu tires they came in a Mattish finish to start with. I've found that the tires in my AMT kits are super shiny and need to have it removed.

Joel

Cheers Gabriel

Painting the tyres makes an instant difference - both in terms of suppressing the dust and getting a more realistic scale colour.

I'd been planning a matt coat to knock off the toy-like shine on some kit tyres, but hadn't really thought about painting too.

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,
Often a Matt clear coat will have a grayish toning to it, which is exactly what you'd want with tires. Rubber tires aren't black, but a darkish Gray.

Joel

Absolutely agreed. In normal using conditions, the tires are definitely grey. The racing tires, running over the vibrators might show black on running surfaces as they are literally ground down.
Here's a picture of a "normal" tire, 7000Km (3450Mi) old, ran daily on asphalt / tarmac and not washed since two weeks. Note the brownish grey sidewalls, due brake dust (in my island there is either hill, either valley ). The "absolute" black dot it's for reference:


Indeed, some vinyl tires can be sprayed directly with satin or matte clear, depending on the original color. Newer AMT tires are quite good OOB, and same goes for Tamiya, while older Revell and MPC are disgusting.

Gabriel

Hi again

I totally agree about the colour full-sized tyres - I wouldn't dream of painting them black on an aircraft kit. In fact, where I build mostly WW2 subjects, it's even been noted that the colour differed in some countries - German tyres apparently being noticeably browner than Allied ones.

I didn't explain myself very clearly. While I'd carry the same thinking across to any car kits that have styrene or resin tyres, the reason I hadn't really considered painting soft vinyl and "rubber" tyres was because I was concerned the finish would flake off easily. I imagine enamel/lacquer paint is more durable than acrylics?

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,
I've never painted any brand of tires. I've never actually had to deal with the tires in an AMT kit, but that will be happening soon.

I guess it all depends on what we're modeling. I build show prepared race cars as a general rule, so I don't need to show ground dust, dirt, and grime. Real brand new race tires do indeed look clean and some are coated with a preservative that does make the tires shine especially in F1:



Most new racing tires look more like these. You can tell that they're new because they still have their stickers on them. And also notice that all the new tires have that dreaded middle seam that we remove. If the tire hasn't been used, then the surface is exactly the color and shine as the sidewalls.



this works for cars, trucks, etc., but aircraft models is a whole different ballgame. The tires are often just injected molded plastic. I went from flat Black to Nato Black, to Tamiya Rubber. the last two are basically a very dark Grayish Black.

Joel

For what it's worth. I stumbled across some internet logic that enamel paints reacted with the vinyl and never fully cured. They recommended acrylics, especially for white walls.

I was going to post the same thing - I'm glad you find an illustrative picture.
New breed of resin reinforced acrylics are flexible enough to hold into the vinyl.

Gabriel

Gabriel & Mark,
I would have thought that the acrylics would have zero stretch, and therefore be the worst choice. But once again, yours truly is completely wrong.

Joel

Hi again everyone

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely do tests on some vinyl runner before risking enamels on an actual tyre - it sounds like it could be a messy (and maybe expensive) mistake!

All the best

Rowan

Finally after more then a week, I finished the basically stock interior. The only AM parts are is the 6 way harness assembly. I used the hardware from the Nunu Detail up set, but just didn't like the black fabric belt material for a few reasons. 1st was that it's thickness made threading it through the openings in the PE parts more then a fair challenge for a half blind old man, and 2nd was that the material is a Matt black, which became almost invisible once it was attached to the Matt Black seat. In all fairness to Nunu, the actual Porsche does come with a Black Harness assembly, but I decided to just use a little dose of Modeler's License with modified Red ones from extras I had.

The top of the dash and the seat are a Mat finish, while th rest of the interior has a slight sheen to it.



the dash is comprised of 3 parts which fit together perfectly. For the instruments 2 large decals are provided. I opted to cut out each instrument and apply them separately as to min any chances of silvering next to the bezels. Took a few hours to get them all in their proper place. Once dry, a few drops per per instrument with Pledge produced the glass cover plate quite nicely. I thought about painting the bezels silver, but some photos seem to show them as just a darkish color, so I left them as is.



the compartment cage goes together perfectly, as well as a drop in fit for the 6 locating pins. The cage for the car I'm replicating had a metal finish to it for the Riverside race rather then being painted, so I used Mr. Color's Metalizer II steel. Looks close enough to the few pictures I have of it.

The fire extinguisher after a few coats of Tamiya Gloss X-7 Red had the metal bands made out of masking tape that I painted Steel before applying, then added the included decals to it.

Once the body covers the interior, much of it just won't be seen, so the kit supplied details are more then good enough.











And thanks to all for taking the time to stop by and checkout my progress to date. It's always greatly appreciated.

Joel

Hi Joel,

Man - that interior looks great! I think you made the right choice with the seatbelts - nice idea! The shifter looks good too. It’s nice to see a kit of a race car that goes beyond decals and tires!

Stay well! and keep building

Nick

Nick,
Thanks so much for your big thumbs up. It really means a lot to me.

The Trio of Nunu, Beemax, & Platz have kicked up the yardstick for new releases by leaps & bounds. Gone are full engines, transmissions, or Transaxles, as the hoods/bonnets are molded closed. But the wrap around details are amazing for what they give you, and as you said, the interiors are miles ahead of the old Hasegawa kits that just seem to gather dust in my modest stash.

Joel

Great job on the decaling. Makes that thing really look alive.

David,
Your thumbs up is much appreciated.

Joel

Nice one Joel

That interior is looking really tasty!

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,
Thanks my friend for your approval. These days I'll take anything that's positive.

I actually masked and air brushed all the rubber window gaskets. Long story for another update.

Joel

Beautiful work in the office there Joel, your decision on adding a splash of colour with the belts paid off handsomely. The metal finish on the roll cage looks spot on, and the dashboard and instruments came up very nicely with the flat paint and decals.

Your efforts and time spent really show in the results here.

Cheers, D

the interior's looking great. Especially the instrument panel!

Very nice work on the interior, Joel! Looks great. I especially like that little fire extinguisher in the front.
Oh, and as for the discussion about the colour of tyres. On my aircraft and wheeled AFV I use Anthrazite, which is neither black nor Grey.

Stay healthy, Joel!
Torsten

D & Russell,
Thanks guys for checking out my interior update, and your collective thumbs up. Coming from the core guys here, it means a lot to me.

Just knew that the Red Harness assembly would make a huge difference, and the instrument glass is how I'm using up my HUGE bottle of Pledge. I can't die from the Virus yet because I still have a good 25 years worth of the stuff to use up 1st

Joel

Torsten my Friend,
Boy did you make my day. It's always a special day when you take the time to post on one of my builds. I know that you follow them, as I always follow your assembly line posts (both lines), which by the way get better and better. My mini background and history of a particular car I learned from you, as your mini history segments I still enjoy as they set the tone for your build.

So for tires/wheels you use Anthrazite. Exactly what is it, and can you post a link to the paint/color for me?

Joel

Nice.

Marc,
As always, much appreciated.

Joel