Fat Brian

I have the Monroe Handler kit, the wheels are five lug unfortunately. I also might be getting those Aoshima wheels if the kit they're in ever gets here. I'll see how they look when they get here.

I'm building an 81 Mustang and I'm looking for period 4 lug wheels. I have the Halibrand wheels from the Pinto wagon kit but I'm looking for other options. Preferably something like solid disc Centerlines.

Here's a pic of the contents, hemi only with both intakes, three air cleaner options, and two wheel options.

Yep, like the other posters said, you kitbash what you can and scratch build the rest. I recently bought a 41 Chevy COE cab from Jimmy Flintstone, it's literally just a cab and grille. I'm going to use the frame and suspension from the Dodge L700 kit, I've got axles from Shapeways, I'm going to try cast some tires, I need to get the engine 3d printed, the rest I've got to build myself.

Trailertrash Kustoms makes a 7.3 Powerstroke, it's modded from the Monogram 1/24 460.

You can use Mr Super Clear matte spray clear on tires. This will tone down the shiny, then you can use the Vallejo paints and pastels to age them.

There's a round chrome disc that goes behind the headlights on these kits, if you don't use it and just put a bit of foil on the back of the clear lenses you could set the lights back almost a millimeter.

Thank you, I had wondered about what black resin would look like.

I agree on the Ford grilles, one for the Monogram Bronco would be nice as well. The best shape of any 80-86 Ford grille is from the 1/25 Revell snap kits. A copy of that with this center in both scales would be amazing.

I'm going to switch my starting kit, I had cut the tail light panel from the MPC kit and I can't really find a good way to put it back. I recently got a deal on a Monogram Cobra so I'll be starting on that one. I'm still building the same thing, just starting with a different kit. The MPC kit will still get built, just a different style.

The wheels and tires on Snakes car are from the Monogram 70 Chevelle kit.

I haven't built that specific kit but I've built the Hertz GT350 that shares about 90% of the same parts. It was a pretty trouble-free build. I don't remember any issues I didn't cause myself by using parts from other kits.

Unfortunately nothing common fits those wheels except the horrible tires that come with them. There are some Japanese tires that fit but they have about the same profile as the regular tires.

I think the main issues were the portholes on the hood and the bobbed rear fenders but just dropping those makes it too close to their highboy kit. The Duvall windshield makes it visually distinct while adding a custom part that will certainly drive a percentage of sales.

Some types of tire materials need plasticizers called Phthalates to be soft. Over time they leech out of the tires and can "burn" any bare plastic that they touch. These chemicals are the cause of "tire burn" in older kits, they transfer to the hard plastic and soften it. If you've ever had a cheep tool with a rubber handle that's always sticky this is why. You can also develop an allergy to these chemicals over repeated exposures.

This might be closer to 1/2" in 1/20 scale but it will look the part.

Those tires are from the AMT Viper kits. The last issue of this kit just had four of the big rear tires.

I bought this off Shapeways but this is expensive even compared to other things I've bought off there. Everything this person has is on the pricey side.

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking, for as much as the printed set would cost I can learn a new skill because I've got other tires I'd like copies of as well.

Alright, that's where I'll start. I don't have an air compressor so I'm glad I can do at least this project without a pressure pot.

Thank you both for the great information. What mold material and resin have you each had the most success with?

Believe me I would have rather just gotten them 3d printed but the set of 10 with rims was over $200, this single tire cost $25. I figure for that much I could at least learn a new skill.

I tend to use different colors depending on the final color I'm going for. Light colors get white, medium colors get gray, reds and oranges get red oxide, black gets black primer. I would hit some spare parts with white primer and see if or how bad the orange bleeds through. If you're going with a very light color some people have had success with a coat of silver under their primer.

The orientation of the tire was one thing I was thinking about. I had planned to fill the tire with clay and cover one side of it to the mid point of the tread and pour one half of the mold. Then remove the clay from the outside of the tire and add a few vents to the edge of the treads and a pour hole to that feeds to the center of the tire where it can be trimmed away and hidden by the rim. Basically, the mold would lay flat and I could inject the casting material down a tube into the center of the tire and it could vent to the edge. I would prefer to use rubber but I don't have a pressure pot so hard resin would be easier to repair any air bubbles on.

It looks like I'm going to need to cast some tires for some upcoming projects and I have some questions. 1. Do resin and the "rubber" most aftermarket companies use need different mold materials? I haven't decided which material to make the tires out of so if they need a specific mold material I need to know that first. 2. Is there any specific thing either material needs in a mold? Is one material easier to construct a mold for? 3. Do I need a pressure pot to cast the "rubber" material like I do with resin? 4. Would it be easier to split the master in half and make a single sided mold instead of a two sided mold? Naturally I would only use this type mold for resin casting. Here is one of the tires I want to cast, I need at least 14 or 16 of these.