Sanding?Tamiya Rubber Tyres

[Belugawrx]

1:12 Tamiya ,...Rubber tires,.... very thin

Bueller?

How do I get rid of that pesky seam?

Any and all comments and ideas welcome

[Miatatom]

I use an emery board on them. Roughs them up a little to make them look used a little.

[Belugawrx]

But that separation line stays ?

[ferrarijoe]

Chuck it in a drill. You should be able to get the seam to push out a little, so you can concentrate your sanding on it. Had to do same thing on my 1/12 312t.

[10thumbs]

Hi Bruce, I'm real interested in info that may come up here. I was able to get a halfway decent look with these Revell 2 piece slicks, but only partially, not around the whole tire. The shiny glued area (CA) still pops up in the areas where the seam was a little bit lower, meaning more toward the tire center, than the footprint area.

I'd like a better result, but i have no experience with these funky two piece slicks. The "good"areas I'd just turned by hand on 220 grit paper.

Michael

[Longbox55]

Chuck it in a drill. You should be able to get the seam to push out a little, so you can concentrate your sanding on it. Had to do same thing on my 1/12 312t.

That's how I would do it, too, except I prefer using a drill press instead of a hand drill. More controllable speed, and I have both hands to hold the sandpaper.

It's pretty easy to make a tool to mount the tires to for doing this procedure, all you need is a 3/8" bolt or rod about 2 inches long, a couple of 3/8 nuts, and a few 3/ ID washers with a OD large enough to support the sidewall without going past the tread.

To make the tool using a bolt, you'll want to cut the head off the bolt first. Make sure you get one that the threads do not go all the way up to the head, as the shank area is where it's going to chuck up to the drill. If using rod, use the appropriate size die for the thread pitch nuts you're going to use, and cut some threads about an inch on one end of the rod, leaving the rest smooth. The install 1 nut on the bolt/rod bottoming it out on the threads. It does not need to be tight, just bottomed out. The put on a washer of the proper size, sandwich the tire between that and a second washer and nut, lightly tightened. Chuck it up in the drill or drill press, then run it at a slow to medium speed while holding a piece of sandpaper or emery board against the tread. Run it until the tread is smoothed to what you want.

[Nacho Z]

This may not be an exact answer to your question, but I had the same problem with my 1:12 78 JPS Lotus. My problem was not so much a seam but a step on the front tires. By step I mean that one half of the time was slightly larger in circumference than the other side. Although it is only a fraction of a mm it would have been hard to get right.

However, while getting reference pictures for my build I came across a very clear, head on, sitting still, picture of my car in the pits with new front tires. There was a definite, unmistakable line around both tires that looked like a seam to me. Knowing that I was going to show this car in different IPMS shows, I scanned that picture and printed it. I took it with me and displayed the picture with the model along with a high-lighted note that said "Please note seam on tires". (I have been burned before by IPMS judges specifically for tire seams). I won a gold medal at this show.

My point is, I understand wanting to get rid of that seam. It is good, basic skill level modeling. But I have seen more than one picture of new tires with what sure does look like a seam down the middle.

[Belugawrx]

Thanks for all the sug.s guys...

John, yes I've seen the new tires with the seam, and thought to just leave them....but

I'm weathering up the rest of the build to look post race.

oh and ya the tires themselves seem to be molded off set just a tiny bit

[atomicholiday]

I had this same problem with a set from the Tamiya Renault RE30B Turbo F1 car (1/20 scale). I chucked it up using a hand drill and still couldn't get rid of that seam. I think they were offset just a bit too. I gave up. They look better, but you can still see the seam.

[mini trucker]

Use a drill to turn them against a fine wire brush to add wear to the tread surface. The wires on the brush will get down into the tiny low spots where sandpaper doesn't. I have done lots of 2 piece drag slicks this way and it works well.