To ROLL or not ?

[oldnslow]

  The rolling thing probably goes back to grade school , where we took them out to the playground and raced them down a track we had made on the side of a bank of dirt. A lot of my cars ended up this way.  

Edited December 26, 2016 by oldnslow

[disabled modeler]

I do not care if mine roll or not....however I am a fan of the metal axle chassis had too much trouble with the plastic pins sagging over time.

[426-Hemi]

I make sure they don't roll. Think of it as a display shelf parking brake.

Exception to that may be with an older kit where I might need to position the wheels a bit to get them all to sit flat. Old MPC kits are a great example- seems like the mounting holes for the wheels are always just a touch off-center. But, once all four tires touch the bench- out comes the glue. 

I'm with Chuck! I DON"T make ANY of my builds "roll" I couldn't go the sound of it rolling off a display case shelf and.... WHAMO!!!! --all that work, h-i-s-t-o-r-y!!!!!

I do however "spin" the wheels at the time they're to go onto the model to "find" all of them "touching" the bench, equally. Once all touching the bench, equally, as Chuck says "Out comes the glue"!!!!!

Edited December 27, 2016 by 426-Hemi
Added content

[NYLIBUD]

Yea,Im with the NOT rolling guys.Ive had cars roll off tables and shelves in the past.And as others have said,that sound of a plastic/resin model smashing into pieces,is more than I can stand.Arrrgggg???.I did however,make them roll when I was just starting out building.I thought you had to make them roll.I mean after all,it was part of the instructions.Ha.However,now there is no reason for them to move.In fact most of my cars now,are drag cars,with fat tires,and wheel tubs.So it's just easier for me to glue everything into place.....Great question,though.

[DrKerry]

I build mine so they don't roll, even if it has metal axles it gets glued so they don't roll. Like what's been said, there's nothing worse than having the finished product rolling off a bench or table and hitting the floor.....

[BigTallDad]

M cars don't roll and m airplanes don't fly

Do the propellers spin?

[Snake45]

Do the propellers spin?

In my case, yes. Visitors seem to have an irresistible compulsion to flick a prop blade with a finger to see it spin. If it's glued solid, that prop blade will go flying across the room, possibly never to be seen again.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I like to go "vroom vroom vroom".   

[Jon Haigwood]

Do the propellers spin?

not on the jets

[belfast boyo]

Non roller for me,unless it is  roller -  Rolls Royce!

[Junkman]

I think you and I are in the vast minority. For me they don't need to roll like Hot Wheels but I do like them to rotate.

Funny thing was I had a whole 8'-10' shelf of models that went through the Northridge earthquake without falling off; reason turned out to be that the shelf was painted with latex and the vinyl tires had lightly cemented themselves to it...

Everyone is his minority.

But hey, you invented the best compromise!

[Xingu]

I think I would end up with non-rollers whether I tried to make them roll or not.

[D. Battista]

I think I would end up with non-rollers whether I tried to make them roll or not.

  funny...!

[Frank]

None of my models roll, not since I had a 1/8 big deuce rolled off a shelf and fell 6 feet to disaster onto the floor.

[talon63]

Nearly all of the ones I've built in the last couple of years do roll, but they are almost all in individual display units and inside a cabinet. If they go into longer term storage (space reasons, small apartment) I try to use the original boxes, with some "U" slots cut at a good height from the bottom to put three rubber bands across the box and stapled in place, two spaced and set high enough to keep the wheels off the bottom of the box, and the third set higher to run across the top of the car. Acid free paper goes between the rubber bands and the car. Keeps everything in the center of the box, on its own little shock mount. 

I like mine to roll, not so I can make engine noises, but for other projects, like some film work. Easier for me to shoot the model than it is to do the CGI. I can add the engine noises in post.

[Deathgoblin]

Any more, I build them so they don't roll.  One of my shelves came partway off the wall.  Fortunately all of the models stayed put and only Bludgeon took the dive into the floor.  Fortunately, he's Cybertronian, so he could take it and emerge unscathed. 

 

[D. Battista]

None of my models roll, not since I had a 1/8 big deuce rolled off a shelf and fell 6 feet to disaster onto the floor.

Sorry to hear that...     Excatly why I don't like 'em to roll....   and all my die-cast have wheel chocks.....

Any more, I build them so they don't roll.  One of my shelves came partway off the wall.  Fortunately all of the models stayed put and only Bludgeon took the dive into the floor.  Fortunately, he's Cybertronian, so he could take it and emerge unscathed. 

Good thing...

[cobraman]

Do you guys live on boats ? In 50 years of model building and die cast collecting I have never had a car roll off a shelf. : )  Maybe I am just lucky ???? 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Do you guys live on boats ? In 50 years of model building and die cast collecting I have never had a car roll off a shelf. : )  Maybe I am just lucky ???? 

   Me too.

[D. Battista]

   Me too.

 Yes ...you two must be lucky....  I've had people bump my display case .... and once I forgot to shut one of my cases  ( it's a back loader )  and the cat got in...

Better safe than have a story...!

[Exotics_Builder]

 Yes ...you two must be lucky....  I've had people bump my display case .... and once I forgot to shut one of my cases  ( it's a back loader )  and the cat got in...

Better safe than have a story...!

And don't forget those that live in SHAKER country

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

 Yes ...you two must be lucky....  I've had people bump my display case .... and once I forgot to shut one of my cases  ( it's a back loader )  and the cat got in...

Better safe than have a story...!

I forgot about cats. For being so graceful and lithe, they can cause havoc to delicate things vulnerably displayed...but it's kinda up to the human to compensate for the cat before it happens. Early on, my last one learned pretty quickly what places in the house were verboten to fourpawed creatures, but than, she WAS a lot smarter than most of the people I know.

Seriously, the wheels almost always turn on most of my models, but not freely...kinda like the brakes are dragging. I simply prefer to be able to reposition them or even remove them if the desire should strike.

The only one I've dumped on the floor was when I hadn't locked the top of the workbench, had too much weight on the front, and everything slipped off as the top slid to a 45deg. angle.

My dumb, pure and simple, and the model would have slid off whether the wheels had been glued solid or not. 

 

[cobraman]

Lived in California for many years and went through a handful of earthquakes and never lost a model. I did have a rifle fall over but then again I guess I was just lucky.

[JTalmage]

I like my wheels to roll if possible. I think for me it's just because I like everything on the kit to function as it was engineered to. Plus, if the wheels have spokes, or if the tires have whiteletters, sometimes I like to re position the wheels for photos as certain wheels and tires look better in another position, and especially if the kit can steer.

[Spex84]

I glue my wheels, but mostly because A: I don't want them accidentally moving on me and B: I can never get the wheels straight unless I glue them that way.

If I could engineer 'em so they were perfectly straight/square AND rolled, that would be neat. But it's not priority.

Years ago I picked up a die-cast Impala with big fat low-profile tires (Jada, I think). One day I pushed it aside to dust the shelf and the tires squealed. Cool!

I spent a few minutes "drifting" the car around my desk, complete with in-scale squealing tires. I may have made some engine noises