Styrene Kit Tires

[GerN]

Would anyone else be interested in kits having styrene tires again?  This would allow multiple sidewall alternatives to be included fairly cheaply.  And eliminate rubber rot and chemical interaction problems, and probably enable better tread detail.  Also, it would allow more customizing possibilities.  For myself, I prefer painting my resin tire copies for improved realism.  I would not suggest this for starter level kits, only more advanced ones.  

[Snake45]

I'd love to have 'em. And you forgot to mention that styrene tires are 100 times easier to realistically "flat-spot" than either solid or hollow vinyl.

[Bainford]

In the case of white styrene, white letters are easily created by scraping a little paint.

[Casey]

1 hour ago, GerN said:

 and probably enable better tread detail. 

How would you suggest this be be done? I like the idea, but the main advantage of PVC tires is the material's flexibility, allowing it to be removed from a mold while still retaining the memory of its shape-- something not possible with polystyrene. I could see a thin strip the width of the tread, molded so thin such that it could be wrapped around a base "donut" if you will, but a three-piece tire is the minimum to get realistic tread detail, I would think.

Considering how much the model companies already have invested in vinyl tires, even if a new styrene tire design was perfected, I think it would be a very tough sell.

[Art Anderson]

1 hour ago, GerN said:

Would anyone else be interested in kits having styrene tires again?  This would allow multiple sidewall alternatives to be included fairly cheaply.  And eliminate rubber rot and chemical interaction problems, and probably enable better tread detail.  Also, it would allow more customizing possibilities.  For myself, I prefer painting my resin tire copies for improved realism.  I would not suggest this for starter level kits, only more advanced ones.  

The only problem I can see would be the inevitable lack of "adaptability"--that being the ability we've always had with PVC tires, to mount them on wheels they weren't necessarily molded to fit.  After all, many of us have the habit of swapping parts,  INCLUDING tires, between kits, to work up that "unique" build.  Would God that every model company used exactly the same dimensions across not only their own kit line,  but from mfr to mfr--but I know that is an impossible dream to see reach fruition.

With all the possible ways many of us should already know, to prevent "tire melt" of polystyrene wheels with PVC tires mounted, this is a "problem" that can be greatly reduced, if not eliminated.

Art

[GerN]

After I posted this, it finally occurred to me that, as Mr. Littman pointed out, styrene molding tools don't like hollow cylinders.  Sorry to have taken anyone's time.  I didn't consider that military modelers deal with smaller tires.

[unclescott58]

I prefer vinyl tires. At the same time, I've built several kits over the years using the styrene tires that came with the kit. Like the Munster's Koach for example. With pretty decent results. Still, if given the choice, give me the soft vinyl tires found in most model car and truck kits. 

[Snake45]

As a side note, I have at least one old AMT kit--I think it's the '66 Mustang HT/convertible annual--that has styrene sidewall overlays to be used with the kit's regular Firestone Supreme vinyls. This gave a wider-looking tire with the possibility of sanding or scraping off the white lettering. Kind of a clever idea in the days before bigger, better tires started to appear in kits. 

[Draggon]

On 2/24/2018 at 5:36 AM, Snake45 said:

As a side note, I have at least one old AMT kit--I think it's the '66 Mustang HT/convertible annual--that has styrene sidewall overlays to be used with the kit's regular Firestone Supreme vinyls. This gave a wider-looking tire with the possibility of sanding or scraping off the white lettering. Kind of a clever idea in the days before bigger, better tires started to appear in kits. 

The original AMT 68 Corvair had those too. As for molding hollow cylinders, all the styrene tires I've ever seen are 2 piece. Amt made a lot of styrene drag slicks in the last 60's. 

[Snake45]

33 minutes ago, Draggon said:

As for molding hollow cylinders, all the styrene tires I've ever seen are 2 piece. Amt made a lot of styrene drag slicks in the last 60's. 

If you look closely, they're not true cylinders, they're actually very subtle cone segments.

[Draggon]

2 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

If you look closely, they're not true cylinders, they're actually very subtle cone segments.

Oh you're right! Funny how I never noticed that before.