Wire wheels?

[jaxenro]

What is the best way to replicate early wire wheels in 1/24 scale for things like a early model T? Photo etch? Hand lacing? 3D printing? Ones like these 

Edited March 3, 2019 by jaxenro

[stitchdup]

There's a thread on here somewhere that explains how to build hand laced wheels.

[SfanGoch]

There are a couple; plus, the links in those threads take you to others:

 

 

[Toner283]

If you are building a stock model T, most of them did not have wire wheels. They had wooden 12 spoke wheels. Some aftermarket companies offered wire wheels and some late model T's IIRC were fitted with them.

[Flat32]

I pondered the same question. In my case I thought real wire would look the best and while looking decent enough it didn't look right. Spokes have end attachment points that are difficult to replicate. besides that my wheels are bent spoke Kelsey Hayes type and I wanted that detail.  Hand lacing is just as tedious, at least, as lacing up a real 1:1 wheel and the result will be the best.  3D printing can look good, very good, or best depending on printer used.  I have no experience with photo etched spokes, but if they could be made in the style I want with nipples I'd give them a look.

For real wire that gets painted I'd use insect pins, they are stiff, come in different diameters and have a black enamel coating that should be easier to paint than bare metal wire.

All that said, I'm quite happy with my own 3D printed variety.  There are guys working on them for sale and if you have a good CAD file of what you want I'm pretty sure one of them would be willing to print it.

Shapeways currently can't or doesn't want to print my wheels.  That may change, but I don't expect them to be cheap.

At any rate, if no CAD file exists for your desired wheel you have to get access to an actual wheel and get all the measurements needed to create A CAD file.  A hand drawn sketch that has all dimensions and angles is enough for a CAD guy or even a student CAD guy.  The real work is in the metrology of it all.  Google it if you don't know what metrology is.

Best only comes with best effort in most things.

[jaxenro]

17 hours ago, Toner283 said:

If you are building a stock model T, most of them did not have wire wheels. They had wooden 12 spoke wheels. Some aftermarket companies offered wire wheels and some late model T's IIRC were fitted with them.

Optional in 1926 and standard in 1927 but yes before that they were aftermarket is what I understand 

But a lot of the racers with aftermarket bodies had aftermarket disc (heavy) or wire. Somewhere I have a photo with a racer with a mix of wire and wood spoke on it looks odd