Should Wheels Turn?

[Clay]

Should the wheels on a model turn? I think they shouldn't because these arent toys and mine end up not spinning anyway. Whats you guys opinions?

[Junkman]

Absolutely! I sometimes spend weeks to come up with spinning wheels when the kit manufacturer did not intend them to be turning. These are car models after all.

[Rick Schmidt]

I personally dont allow them to roll. I live in Lawton Oklahoma which is stuck to Ft Sill. Artillery is always going off here to the point if we got attacked we'd think it was the base lol. All the rounds going off combined with other activity tends to wreak havoc with rolling things lol. Just today they were flying Chinooks over town in gangs of 3 and 4 lol ya know how bad that vibrates things?? lol Its to the point where even on my diecasts and snap kits with metal axles I lock up at least one wheel/axle.

[Aaronw]

If they turn they turn, if they don't they don't. That is about as much time as I take with them. I am far more concerned with making sure they all touch the ground.

[Clay]

I personally dont allow them to roll. I live in Lawton Oklahoma which is stuck to Ft Sill. Artillery is always going off here to the point if we got attacked we'd think it was the base lol. All the rounds going off combined with other activity tends to wreak havoc with rolling things lol. Just today they were flying Chinooks over town in gangs of 3 and 4 lol ya know how bad that vibrates things?? lol Its to the point where even on my diecasts and snap kits with metal axles I lock up at least one wheel/axle.

I have the same problem, except I have F-18s and C-130s and C-17s and other various aircraft taking off and landing. And plus I feel if they roll thay can come off easy.

Edited February 27, 2008 by jones_clayton

[george 53]

Since I was just a teeny tiny lad I've always made my cars to roll.Sometimes ,yust sometimes when no one is watching ,I even rollthem around for my own amusement. After all, they ARE cars. But then again the ships traveling down the DEEEtroit River dont tend to upset them the way Jets or Helo's oreven cannon fire would.

[Frank]

I always lock at least one wheel on mine now after having a couple of disasters with finished cars rolling of the shelf.

Edited February 27, 2008 by Frank

[John Goschke]

Though it doesn't seem quite right to me to build a model of something described by some writer (anybody remember?) as "hollow rolling sculpture" with the fixed so that it doesn't roll, I have recently been gluing the wheels in place. Too many close calls on shaky display tables!

[wdcav]

Most of mine end up not turning. But the one I have that's notorious for rolling around is my Corvette z06. I had to strap it down with twist ties after an incident.

[CAL]

simply enough no.

I remember a big IPMS snafu where someone picked up a base thinking the model was fixed and it rolled right off and smashed into a million bits.

[evilone]

TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH I HATE SPINNING WHEELS UNLESS THEYRE ON AXLES

[935k3]

I like them to rotate but only very tightly so I can pose the tire lettering(race cars) for pictures. I like Tamiya's system because they don't relly roll but they can be turned.

[Raul_Perez]

It's not a toy and no matter how hard you try, the little plastic engine won't make it move. Mine NEVER roll!! Typically to get them pointing in the right direction and getting them aligned so the car doesn't look like it's in dire need of a front-end alignment, I always glue them in position.

[Harry P.]

If the kit allows for them to turn, fine...and if not, fine too.

After all, the "engine" doesn't really run, the transmission is hollow and in most cases the suspension doesn't work and the doors don't open...so why should the wheels have to turn?

[bobss396]

As a kid, the sign of a sucessful build was how well it rolled and how little glue was on the windows.

I'll let them roll now if possible, just enough so that I can "dial in" a car so it won't be a tripod on the contest table. Get a mix of resin wheels, aftermarket tires and scrounged up backing plates and you're lucky if it sits square upon completion.

Bob

[Simon]

Very true, Bob! I recall just how delighted I was at age 12 when my Monogram 56 Chevy rolled on its wheels and had clear glazing.

I tend to glue all car wheels these days, mainly because I find they tend to be a little loose on the axle ends otherwise and don't always stand vertically or in line with the body, if you know what I mean. But I do keep ending up with tricycles....

THE loosest wheels I think I've ever encountered were on a Revell '79 McClaren Mustang I built when I was about 8. It practically had 4-wheel steering. I didn't care at the time, I was so enchanted by how I had managed to paint the Ford badge on the cam cover blue.... happy days!

Still, I might leave the wheels to rotate on my current Kenworth K100 project. Trucks can be surprisingly fragile and tricky to move about with all those tyres on the ground.

[MikeMc]

I'm still trying to fill it with coolant and you want to know if it rolls

[Olle F]

I think it's better if they don't turn. Kit tires are never perfect, so I try to turn them in a way that shows as little of the imperfections as possible, then glue them on. Same thing goes for chromed wheels and hubcaps, you don't have to worry so much about the spot where the sprue was attached if you turn it out of sight and glue it solid. I used to try my best and make the wheels turn, but always had to turn them the "right way" when displaying them so I quit doing it. And as some of you have already mentioned, they won't roll away and get damaged either.

[curt raitz]

After picking up a couple of broken models that rolled off the bench ...I glue'em all so that nothing moves

Plus most of the time you need to set them in place to achieve the ptoper stance, camber, caster, etc.

[Billy Kingsley]

Most of mine do...If the kit is made so they do, then they do, but I don't make them roll that aren't molded to, and sometimes ones that should, don't.

[jbwelda]

absolutely not.

but the comment about making them rotate tightly so they can be posed makes sense.

im not much for gimmicks like working steering and all that. opening doors are nice to see interiors but working steering is never good unless you make it work lock to lock with multiple turns of the steering wheel. and i never saw much point in working lights, or most things like that. i would rather concentrate on detailing than working features that dont really add much to the model in my most humble opinion.

all that said jerry cardinal gave me a diagram of a working door latch so now im going to have to cut open some doors to use the latch idea. its a geegaw gimmick but that one i like. and i have to admit a certain fascination with his spinning engine fans when one presses on the accelerator pedal.

but turning wheels? no way. too much chance of an unhappy ending there.

[mikelo]

I used to. Then I had a couple roll off a table, then one rolled across the roof of my car (while I was opening the door to go to a model meeting), bounced on the trunk lid, bounced off the bumper and onto the ground. That ended rolling wheels for me.

[curt raitz]

absolutely not.

but the comment about making them rotate tightly so they can be posed makes sense.

im not much for gimmicks like working steering and all that. opening doors are nice to see interiors but working steering is never good unless you make it work lock to lock with multiple turns of the steering wheel. and i never saw much point in working lights, or most things like that. i would rather concentrate on detailing than working features that dont really add much to the model in my most humble opinion.

all that said jerry cardinal gave me a diagram of a working door latch so now im going to have to cut open some doors to use the latch idea. its a geegaw gimmick but that one i like. and i have to admit a certain fascination with his spinning engine fans when one presses on the accelerator pedal.

but turning wheels? no way. too much chance of an unhappy ending there.

Jerry Cardinal is sick...

[Raul_Perez]

all that said jerry cardinal gave me a diagram of a working door latch so now im going to have to cut open some doors to use the latch idea. its a geegaw gimmick but that one i like. and i have to admit a certain fascination with his spinning engine fans when one presses on the accelerator pedal.

Yeah, I'm still taking Jerry to therapy once a week for that one! He caught that "bug" from my friend Alan Monthei. Fortunately, Curt and I had taken our vacination before we visited Alan that day!

Edited February 28, 2008 by Raul_Perez

[samdiego]

Not in earthquake country!